HARNESSING THE YIN-YANG FLOW OF INNOVATION

Two weeks ago, we discussed how to embrace the Yin-Yang concept of Chinese philosophy as a simple but effective way to talk about creativity and innovation, especially here in Asia where Thinkergy has its home base.

We learned that to make an organisation more creative, we need to focus on expanding its creative Yin energy: hire and promote more creative Yin people, have a leader with a creative Yin mindset, and gradually build a creative Yin culture. Today, let’s talk about the fourth and final aspect: the creative process — and how to use the dynamic interplay between Yin and Yang to guide your thinking.

Almost all creative processes unfold in a harmonious rhythm of divergent thinking alternating with convergent thinking:

Yang energy represents convergent thinking, meaning we “narrow down” our thinking by employing more left-braindirected cognitive processes such as analysis, critical evaluation and rational decision-making.

Yin energy aligns with divergent thinking, broadening our horizons by using more right-brain-directed cognitive activities such as empathising, ideating and imagining.

How does the Yin-Yang flow of innovation unfold? I designed a simple creative process flow that unfolds in seven YangYin cycles. Each starts with convergent thinking (Yang) that is followed by a phase of divergent thinking (Yin). A team can apply these seven cycles over seven time intervals (half-days, days or weeks). Here’s how it works:

Yang 1: State your case. Specify what the innovation project is all about, the creative challenge, and what you know about the case. We converge our thinking to what we perceive to be the essential facets of the case.

Yin 1: Explore your challenge. Next, diverge the thinking by examining the case more broadly, based on the four cardinal points of the compass:

Check for “True North” by examining facts, assumptions, beliefs and rules.

Go West to curiously ask and answer questions related to the case, especially those that make people feel uncomfortable.

Head South to study new viewpoints, especially those of your customers and other key stakeholders.

Look East to map and sketch what you know about your case.

Yang 2: Frame your real challenge. Condense all your learning from Phase 1 by framing what you uncovered as your real innovation challenge, which typically differs from what you initially perceived.

Yin 2: Generate hundreds of ideas. Have fun and enjoy brainstorming. Make an effort to generate at least 250 ideas. Follow the ground rules of brainstorming and ideation, especially Rule No.1: “No killing of ideas.”

Yang 3: Discover intriguing ideas. Review what you’ve generated to find roughly 50 that are more interesting — or maybe even a bit wild. When you narrow down your idea pool and throw away all conventional and obvious ideas, you engage in Yang-style convergent thinking.

Yin 3: Design realistic, meaningful concepts. Use the three creative principles of elaboration, combination and transmutation:

Detail and enlarge on interesting ideas that already have enough potential by themselves (elaboration).

Find ideas that seem to connect, then combine those into more valuable concepts (combination).

Take a wild idea and creatively look for ways to tame its wild nature while preserving its intriguing aspects (transmutation).

Shoot for at least a dozen idea concepts in this phase.

Yang 4: Evaluate your idea concepts. Now it’s time for critical convergent thinking. Evaluate and critique each concept to better understand its pros and cons.

Yin 4: Enhance and rapidly prototype promising concepts. Take a look at the cons of each concept and ask: “How can we creatively fix these bugs?” Then, rapidly prototype the most promising concepts to quickly learn more about their value potential and feasibility through trial and error coupled with feedback.

Yang 5: Select your top concept. Select at least one top idea for real-life activation. Use simple voting techniques to reach a consensus, or employ more advanced decision-making tools to settle diverging views.

Yin 5: Design a winning pitch. Every top idea needs support from superiors, sponsors and suppliers to secure the resources to bring it to life. Create an impactful pitch that animates the benefits of your idea by addressing both the functional and emotional needs of those whose support is critical.

Yang 6: Pitch your top idea. Use Yang energy to convincingly respond to any questions raised. If your pitch succeeds, move to the next Yin phase; otherwise lick your wounds and go back to the previous one.

Yin 6: Party. You’ve succeeded and earned the funding and approval needed to activate your top idea. Celebrate the moment. You’ve worked hard to create a winning idea, and you will have to put in lots more effort to bring it to life.

Yang 7: Plan for idea activation, then activate your top idea. Specify key parameters and begin with the activation of your funded idea, reviewing your progress at every critical milestone and adjusting your plan if needed.

Yin 7: Release the idea into the market. Create a momentum-building launch event. Then, start shipping and continue creatively promoting your “wow” innovation.

Note: The Yin Yang flow of innovation is a simplification of Thinkergy’s awardwinning innovation process method X-IDEA. If you’d like to learn more, check out an earlier article published on March 31, 2011 titled “Understanding the YinYang of Innovation”.

Dr Detlef Reis is the founding director and chief ideator of Thinkergy Limited (www. Thinkergy.com), the Innovation Company in Asia. He is also an assistant professor at the Institute for Knowledge & Innovation-Southeast Asia (IKI-SEA), Bangkok University, and an adjunct associate professor at the Hong Kong Baptist University. He can be reached at dr.d@thinkergy.com