Brainstorm Technique 10: Phoenix

Brainstorm Technique 10: Phoenix

The last technique that we will learn to open up our creative outlets is called the Phoenix.

The phoenix is technique developed by the CIA. It is a series of questions, a checklist, that the CIA has developed to make sure that its agents look at all cases from many different angles.

So how and why does it apply to creative thinking? Well, the answer is simple. When we question something, we find out more about it. By asking the right questions, we uncover both challenges and potential. Without people who asked the right questions, we would not have any scientific or medical advances we have today.

Using the Phoenix technique is very simple and has only two steps.

Step #1: Identify your problem/ idea

Step #2: Use the phoenix checklist on your idea/ problem

The Phoenix questions are as below:

• Why is it necessary to solve the problem?
• What benefits will you gain by solving the problem?
• What is the unknown?
• What is it you don’t yet understand?
• What is the information you have?
• What isn’t the problem?
• Is the information sufficient? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or contradictory?
• Should you draw a diagram of the problem? A figure?
• Where are the boundaries of the problem?
• Can you separate the various parts of the problem? Can you write them down? What are the relationships of the parts of the problem?
• What are the constants (things that can’t be changed) of the problem?
• Have you seen this problem before?
• Have you seen this problem in slightly different form?
• Do you know a related problem?
• Try to think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown.
• Suppose you find a problem related to yours that has already been solved. Can you use it?
• Can you use its method?
• Can you restate your problem? How many different ways can you restate it? More general?
• More specific? Can the rules be changed?
• What are the best, worst, and most probably cases you can imagine?

An example

Let us imagine that I own a football pitch. People in my area love to play football, it is extremely popular. People can book this pitch and play with their teams, but the problem is that our area is a really hot one. 7 months of the year, the temperatures are over 35 degrees Celsius and it’s sunny almost every day. The result is that I have a pitch that can only be used at night and in the day time I have a piece of land that is not making me any money.

So my problem is that my pitch is too hot. Now I can apply the Phoenix questions to it and see if I get any answers or ideas that I may use.

We will not answer all the questions in their entirety. In fact, if you like, you can go ahead and answer the rest of the questions about the pitch yourself. You may find it to be quite intriguing and who knows you might change your business to providing pitch cooling products. You can answer the question in one line or be as detailed as you need to be. The idea is to get you thinking about the same situation in different ways.

Let’s examine our situation by asking the first few phoenix questions:

• Why is it necessary to solve the problem?
  It is necessary so I can rent pitches during the day and most days of the year.
• What benefits will you gain by solving the problem?
  I will be able to rent out on most days, players will feel more comfortable playing.
• What is the unknown?
  I do not know how to make the temperature less without making my pitch an indoor pitch.
• What is it you don’t yet understand?
  I don’t understand how to cool my pitch, provide shade from the sun and provide cooling in an outdoor area with a jump in electric cost.
• What is the information you have?
  There are shades available in the market that can spray water on players while playing.
• What isn’t the problem?
  The problem isn’t that people don’t want to play football. I have a large number of customers ready to play.
• Is the information sufficient? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or contradictory?
  The information is insufficient. I need to research more cooling and shading systems.
• Where are the boundaries of the problem?
  The boundaries are in the problem are lack of existing outdoor cooling systems.
• Can you separate the various parts of the problem? Can you write them down? What are the relationships of the parts of the problem?
  The high temperature. The glaring sun.
• What are the constants (things that can’t be changed) of the problem?
  The weather
• Have you seen this problem before?
  Yes.
• Have you seen this problem in slightly different form?
  Not certain.
• Do you know a related problem?
• Some pilgrimage places that are hot use underground cooling systems to cool from the floor up.
• Try to think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown.
  Another outdoor sports field.
• Suppose you find a problem related to yours that has already been solved. Can you use it?
• Some pilgrimage places that are hot use underground cooling systems to cool from the floor up.
• Can you use its method?
  Yes.
• Can you restate your problem? How many different ways can you restate it? More general?
  Too hot to play football. Pitch has no usage during day.
• More specific? Can the rules be changed?
  Yes, perhaps I can use the pitch during the day for some other activity.
• What are the best, worst, and most probably cases you can imagine?
  Best case is that my pitch is always used, worst case is that people don’t use it at all.

So, you can see that just from this exercise we got to know a lot about pitches and how they work. Imagine applying these questions to your existing business or personal problem or idea. You already have so much information on it, and using this technique will give you amazing clarity.

So, the next time you are looking for an answer, try asking some CIA questions.