Associations: Free/Random, Regular

You've read how important it is to break old habits in order to do something creative but how do you break old habits?

Do things differently. Practicing new techniques forces your brain to open wider and think harder. Trying new things (writing Haiku poerty) sparks new synapses in your brain.

To solve a problem allow your mind to wonder and explore those hidden places to find perhaps, an answer that makes no sense at all. DO NOT decide on the first solution that comes to mind. List all of the options you can think of whether they make sense or not.

This is brainstorming. In creative thinking you will almost always use a form of brainstorming as part of the creative technique.

We will look at Associations, free and forced, that can help expand your thinking and creative problem solving.

Association involves making a mental connection between two objects or ideas. There are three main ideas, originally introduced by the ancient Greeks: contiguity, similarity, and contrast.

• Contiguity means nearness—for example, when you see a shoe you are reminded of socks.
• Similarity means that one object or thought will remind you of a similar object or thought. For example, when you see a BMW you might think of a Porsche.
• Contrast refers to dissimilarities that are nearly opposites—black/white, man/woman, child/adult.

Association involves thinking of something near, similar to, or in contrast to the object or idea in question.

Free / Remote Association
In free association, you say whatever comes into your mind relative to a word you just wrote or relative to a one or two-word definition of a problem. A trail of thoughts is pursued in this way.

Free association is a good group exercise as well as an individual one. The purpose is simply to get thoughts onto a whiteboard or sheet of paper that will triger new thoughts about the problem. You don't expect find solutions really; rather, you are looking for thoughts that might lead to solutions.

EXAMPLE: A group of bank managers started free associating on the word "fast." "Fox" and "jet plane" were among the associations that resulted; so was "Federal Express." "Federal Express in turn, led the group to think of bar codes and optical scanners, which were perceived as a possible solution to the problem: differentiating among home equity loans. The bar codes could be used to inform customers of the status of the loan at any point in the approval process. Later the bank instituted 24-hour approvals for home equity loans, which left this solution without a problem, but the free-association technique had been used effectively.

EXAMPLE: At Campbell Soup Company, product developers began by randomly selecting the word "handle" from a dictionary. Through free association the word "utensil" was suggested. This led to "fork." One participant joked about a soup that could be eaten with a fork. The group reasoned that you couldn't eat soup with a fork unless it was thick with vegetables and meat... and Campbell's Chunky Soups, an extremely successful product line, was born.

EXAMPLE: Creativity consultant Roger von Oech used names of celebrities to trigger ideas. The problem was to develop icons for a new software package. When Vanna White's name was introduced, the group thought first of letter turning/ then pretty women, and finally, for some reason, airhead. Bingo! The new icon was a vacuum cleaner for a function that collected something from one place and put it somewhere else.

Regular Association
The difference between free association and regular association is that in regular association, the associated word must somehow be related to the word before it. Thus, "airplane" could lead to "pilot" but not to "tree." In free association, in contrast, any word, the first word that pops into your mind, can be used.

FREE ASSOCIATION TECHNIQUE: SUMMARY OF STEPS

1. State (write) your challenge/objective in one sentence.

2. Write down at least 10 words that may or may not represent your
problem or some aspect of it. Can't think of a word? Use the RANDOM IDEA Technique.

3. SPONTANEOUSLY write down whatever word comes to mind relative to each random word. Be quick. Don't dwell on whether it makes sense or not.

4. After you have created your list and are looking to see the relationship between the random word and the spontaneous response word, remember to think about the three main ideas: contiguity, similarity, and contrast.

5. After completing a series of such associations, study the words to
see if any of them lead to insights or solutions to your problem.
See how each of them gives you some insight into your problem.
Can you use any to draw analogies that could lead to solutions?
Take the words that grab you and use them to brainstorm solutions or use them to form new associations that can then be used to brain- storm solutions.
WRITE ALL YOUR IDEAS. Even the most far out and crazy ones will trigger things you have never thought of before.

UNCOMMON RELATIONSHIPS
Melding of ideas that seem to be incompatable can open a world of possibilities. Original ideas happen when you create new sets of patterns in your mind.

You will ideas where none existed before when you force yourself to see relationships between dissimilar things. Think about the remote/free association technique. Putting uncommon words together can help develop new ideas and solutions.

Here are some common combinations we are all familiar with:
ham and eggs
bread and butter
peanutbutter and jelly
sister and brother
mom and dad
table and chair

Uncommon combinations: the melding of two or more unlikely products/objects together:
- Swiss Army knife...knife, scissors, screw driver etc.
- Peanut butter cup...chocolate and peanut butter
- Wine and soda - wine coolers
- chips coated with sourcream and onion flavered dip
- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - swirled together in same jar

In the world of art and invention, it is common to put objects together which have
no obvious connection. New ideas and thoughts can be provoked by this unfamiliar pairing of dissimilar objects. Forcing these dissimilar connections will open your mind to ideas you probably never could have imagined otherwise. The human brain will eventually make a connection between two separate objects or ideas and the two objects or ideas will eventually wind around each other and become connected even though they are not related at all. The trick is to look for the connection or relationhip between the two unrelated objects or ideas. Once you become aware of the many creative options that will arise from using this technique, you will begin to routinely see connections between dissimilar things.

To get ideas: Observe how people think and behave.
Observe the person in front of you at the Express line in the grocery store. Start combining the things they are about to purchase. What new product can you invent as you wait and observe?

This is a fun and useful technique. Start a notebook with words and spontaneous responses to them. A great help when you need creative solutions.

The more you practice the easier it becomes!

HAVE FUN!