Skip to content

Observation Skills and Contradictions

Phil McKinney
Phil McKinney
— 1 min read
Observation Skills and Contradictions

Dateline:  Sunnyvale, CA

Segment 1:  Observations Skills (exercise)

  • Observe a man and a woman
  • Document everything they do (touch their hair, holding hands, reaching into their pockets) until you get to 20 items on your list
  • Look at the list and try to understand who they are (are the friends, are they married, are they co-workers)
  • Repeat the process with a new couple
  • Now, only list items that are of interest to you (emotional, aesthetic, etc.) until you get to 20 items

Why did you choose the items you did?

Compare the two lists?  What would you have missed had you not forced yourself to list everything?

What things are you missing when brainstorming?

Segment 2: Contradictions Leading to Innovations

One of TRIZ’s fundamental tools is to look at contradictions as a starting point for creativity, invention and innovations

There are two types of contradictions: physical and technical

Segment 3: Killer Question Of The week

Segment 4:  Final Thought

“Do not confuse motion and progress.  A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress”
Alfred A Montapert

Closing

Past ShowsStudio Sessions

Phil McKinney Twitter

Phil McKinney is an innovator, podcaster, author, and speaker. He is the retired CTO of HP. Phil's book, Beyond The Obvious, shares his expertise and lessons learned on innovation and creativity.


Related Posts

Succession Planning: Why I Cried on Stage as CEO

Good succession planning isn't a press release. It takes time, a ready successor, and relationships you share instead of hoard. How I'm handing over CableLabs.

AI generated by Adobe Firefly

How To Build Innovation Teams (My Playbook From HP and CableLabs)

How to build innovation teams, from the playbook I used at HP and CableLabs: culture before hiring, the right roles, the Idea Fund, and the right metrics

Image of how to build innovation teams. Portions are generated by AI.

How To Improve Your Analytical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking judges a claim. Analytical thinking works the problem: break it apart, find what is really driving it, and test your read before acting.

How To Improve Your Analytical Thinking Skills