Powerful integrated
problem solving process
simplex
Introduction
• Simplex is developed by Min Basadur
• Simplex is an excellent, industrial strength
creativity tool
• Simplex Process is a powerful, sophisticated
approach to innovation
• Simplex is a continuous cycle
• Completion and implementation of one
cycle of creativity leads straight into the
next cycle of creative improvement
Cycle of creativity
Problem finding
• Most difficult part of the creative process
• Problems may be obvious, or can be flushed out
using trigger questions
– What would your customers want you to improve?
– What could they be doing better if we could help them?
– Who else could we help using our core competences?
– What small problems do we have which could grow into bigger ones?
– What slows our work or makes it more difficult? What do we often fail to
achieve?
– How can we improve quality?
– What are our competitors doing that we could do?
– What is frustrating and irritating?
Fact Finding
• Use the best ideas your competitors have had
• Understand customers needs in more detail
• Know what has already been tried
• Fully understand any processes, components,
services or technologies that you may need to
use
• Ensure that the benefits of solving the problem
will be worth the effort you will put into it this
This stage assessing the quality of the
information that you have
Problem definition
• Crystallize the exact problem or problems
you want to solve
• Important to solve a problem at the right
level
Idea finding
• Generate as many ideas as possible
• Asking other people for their opinions,
through programmed creativity tools and
lateral thinking techniques
• Do not evaluate ideas during this stage
• Concentrate on generating many ideas as
possible
• Bad ideas often trigger good ones
Selection & Evaluation
• This is a time to select the best one
• Best solution may be obvious. If it is not
important to think through the criteria you will use to
select the best idea.(Decision Trees, Paired Comparison
Analysis and Grid Analysis )
• Essential to evaluate it to see if it is good enough to be
considered worth using
• If your idea does not give big enough benefit, then
either see if you can generate more ideas
• two excellent techniques for doing this
•Edward de Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats –qualitative
• Cost Benefit Analysis- Financial decisions
Planning
• Time to implement the selected worth while ideas
• Set this out as an Action Plan is required
(lays out who, what, when, where, why and how of making
it work)
• Large projects it may be worth using more formal
planning techniques
Sell Idea
• Will have to sell the idea to the people who
must support it
• This might be your boss, a bank manager or
other people involved with the project.
• Address not only the practicality of the
project, but also things such internal politics,
hidden fear of change
Action
• After all the creativity and preparation, idea
comes to action
• This is where all the careful work and planning
pays off.
• Once the action is firmly under way, return to
stage 1, Problem Finding, to continue improving
your idea.
