The FACT Method: Creative Problem Solving with General Semantics and Lateral Thinking

1. The FACT Method The FACT Method:Creative Problem Solving with General Semantics andLateral Thinking • If you can see the world clearly then your thinking and actions will be appropriate. • Edward de Bono

2. The FACT Method Presentation Outline • Definition • Modes of Thinking • Practical Example • Lateral Thinking Techniques • Other Techniques • Conclusion ...if you can learn how to 'think' in terms of 'facts' instead of definition, we will have achieved what we wanted to achieve. Alfred Korzybski

3. The FACT Method Theme • In order to investigate problem solving, we need to distinguish between a general structure or process for the solving of problems and the techniques used within that process. These techniques will vary depending on the domain of operation and the specific problem.

4. The FACT Method The FACT Method • F = Find the problem or be found by it. Formulate/Feedback/Follow-up/Define.

5. The FACT Method The FACT Method • F = Find the problem or be found by it. Formulate/Feedback/Follow-up. • A = Acquire/Apprehend/Aware/Assumptions (gather information)

6. The FACT Method The FACT Method • F = Find the problem or be found by it. Formulate/Feedback/Follow-up. • A = Acquire/Apprehend/Aware/Assumptions (gather information) • C = Consider/Cogitate/Comprehend/Change (analyse information, create, consider and change solutions)

7. The FACT Method The FACT Method • F = Find the problem or be found by it. Formulate/Feedback/Follow-up. • A = Acquire/Apprehend/Aware/Assumptions (gather information) • C = Consider/Cogitate/Comprehend/Change (analyse information, create, consider and change solutions) • T = Task/Tell/Transmit/Try/Test/Trial (make decision, implement, check)

8. The FACT Method The FACT Method

9. The FACT Method The Scientific Method 1. Identify a Problem 2. Analyse it 3. Form possible solutions 4. Experiment 5. Observe 6. Form conclusions • (From ‘Twelve General Semantics Lessons for Middle School Students’, Martin Levinson, Ph.D.)

10. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 1 • Edward de Bono, consultant, inventor:Vertical and Lateral

11. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 1 • Edward de Bono, consultant, inventor:Vertical and Lateral • Jerome Bruner, American psychologist:Paradigmatic (propositions)and Narrative (story)

12. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 1 • Edward de Bono, consultant, inventor:Vertical and Lateral • Jerome Bruner, American psychologist:Paradigmatic (propositions)and Narrative (story) • Robert Graves, English poet:Prose (logical/scientific)and Poetic (associational/mythic)Analeptic (past) and Proleptic (future)

13. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 2 • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet:Imagination (Primary and Secondary)and Fancy

14. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 2 • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet:Imagination (Primary and Secondary)and Fancy • William Blake, English poet:Daughters of Imaginationand Daughters of Memory

15. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 2 • Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet:Imagination (Primary and Secondary)and Fancy • William Blake, English poet:Daughters of Imaginationand Daughters of Memory • Ships sail the sea(Keels plough the earth):Synecdoche, Metaphor and Metonymy

16. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 3 • Aristotelian and Non-Aristotelian

17. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 3 • Aristotelian and Non-Aristotelian • Waking and Dream:Einstein's Thought Experiments, etc

18. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 3 • Aristotelian and Non-Aristotelian • Waking and Dream:Einstein's Thought Experiments, etc • Part and Whole (Gestalt)

19. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 3 • Aristotelian and Non-Aristotelian • Waking and Dream:Einstein's Thought Experiments, etc • Part and Whole (Gestalt) • Divergent and Convergent Thinking

20. The FACT Method Different Modes of 'Thinking' 3 • Aristotelian and Non-Aristotelian • Waking and Dream:Einstein's Thought Experiments, etc • Part and Whole (Gestalt) • Divergent and Convergent Thinking • Thesis--Antithesis--Synthesis

21. The FACT Method Jung's Psychological Types • Judgement and Perception

22. The FACT Method Multiple Intelligences • Visual/spatial • Verbal/linguistic • Logical/mathematical • Bodily/kinesthetic • Musical/rhythmic • Interpersonal • Intrapersonal (From the work of Howard Gardner.)‏

23. The FACT Method A Practical FACT

24. The FACT Method TEC • T = Target: the precise focus of the thinking • Task: the thinking task that is to be performed • (e.g. review, fault finding/correction, problem finding/solving • E = Expand/Explore (positive and free-flowing) • C = Contract/Conclude (a narrowing down phase; trying to make sense of what was found and to find a conclusion) • A very simple structure for focussing thinking and making of it a deliberate task. Can be done as a ‘five-minute think’:T (1 min), E (3 mins), C (2 mins).

25. The FACT Method Dating. Delayed Evaluating. Et Cetera (Etc.). Hyphens. Indexing. Logical Fate. Multiordinality. Multi-valued Orientation. Quotes. Self-reflexiveness. Structure, Relations, Order. Structural Differential. Time-binding. GS Principles and Techniques • The map is not the territory. • The map doesn't cover all the territory. • The map is self-reflexive. • The word isn't the thing. • Extensional/Intensional. • Non-Allness. • Non-Elementalism. • Non-Identity. • Organism-as-a-Whole-in-Environments. • Over-/Under-/Un-Defined Words.

26. The FACT Method Logic bubble • That bubble of perception within which a person is acting and which involves that person’s beliefs, understandings, experience and their perceptions of circumstance, structure, context and relationships.

27. The FACT Method Logical Fate Logic bubble • That bubble of perception within which a person is acting and which involves that person’s beliefs, understandings, experience and their perceptions of circumstance, structure, context and relationships.

28. The FACT Method AGO (F/A) • A = Aims • G = Goals • O = Objectives • This is an example of an attention-directing ‘thinking tool’. Although there are differences between these words, these are ignored for the sake of doing some ‘attention-directing’: the task is to set up objectives or to discover the objectives that already seem to be in use.

29. The FACT Method Multiordinality, Time-binding, Extensional Thinking AGO (F/A) • A = Aims • G = Goals • O = Objectives • This is an example of an attention-directing ‘thinking tool’. Although there are differences between these words, these are ignored for the sake of doing some ‘attention-directing’: the task is to set up objectives or to discover the objectives that already seem to be in use.

30. The FACT Method FIFO (A) • inFormation In, inFormation Out • A deliberate survey of what is available and what is still needed. FI: the information already gathered is examined using ‘dense reading’ (reading between the lines and considering the implications of what is read) and all implications and inferences are extracted. FO: the ‘gaps’ in the information are then identified, and filled in as much as possible. DIV

31. The FACT Method Map/Territory, Multi-valued Orientation FIFO (A) • inFormation In, inFormation Out • A deliberate survey of what is available and what is still needed. FI: the information already gathered is examined using ‘dense reading’ (reading between the lines and considering the implications of what is read) and all implications and inferences are extracted. FO: the ‘gaps’ in the information are then identified, and filled in as much as possible. DIV

32. The FACT Method Brainstorming (A/C) • Generally, a ‘solution-generating tool’. My guidelines: • 1) The more the merrier • 2) The wilder the better • 3) No self-criticism or other-criticism Is better performed individually than in groups. Do something only you can come up with—that none of your friends or family would think of. DIV

33. The FACT Method Delayed Evaluating, Etc. Brainstorming (A/C) • Generally, a ‘solution-generating tool’. My guidelines: • 1) The more the merrier • 2) The wilder the better • 3) No self-criticism or other-criticism Is better performed individually than in groups. Do something only you can come up with—that none of your friends or family would think of. DIV

34. The FACT Method PO (A/C) • Hypothesis—Suppose—Possible—Poetry • PO can stand for provocative operation, an attempt to move thinking into newer, more productive areas, a method of ‘movement’ not of ‘judgement’. Three possible methods: • 1) The Stepping Stone (Po cars would limit their own parking; The po factory should be downstream of itself) • 2) The Escape Method (looking at things in a situation that we may ‘take for granted’) • 3) The Random Stimulation Method (through the use of a random word or object or person or magazine or exhibition, and following associations) DIV

35. The FACT Method Structure-Relations-Order, Non-Allness, Etc. PO (A/C) • Hypothesis—Suppose—Possible—Poetry • PO can stand for provocative operation, an attempt to move thinking into newer, more productive areas, a method of ‘movement’ not of ‘judgement’. Three possible methods: • 1) The Stepping Stone (Po cars would limit their own parking; The po factory should be downstream of itself) • 2) The Escape Method (looking at things in a situation that we may ‘take for granted’) • 3) The Random Stimulation Method (through the use of a random word or object or person or magazine or exhibition, and following associations) DIV

36. The FACT Method APC (A/C) • A = Alternatives • P = Possibilities • C = Choices • This is another ‘attention-directing’ tool. In different situations one or other word may seem more appropriate, but no attempt should be made to distinguish between them. Doing an APC means making a deliberate effort to generate alternatives at any particular point. DIV

37. The FACT Method Non-Allness, Non-Elementalism, Non-Identity, Etc. APC (A/C) • A = Alternatives • P = Possibilities • C = Choices • This is another ‘attention-directing’ tool. In different situations one or other word may seem more appropriate, but no attempt should be made to distinguish between them. Doing an APC means making a deliberate effort to generate alternatives at any particular point. DIV

38. The FACT Method EBS (A/C) • Examine Both Sides • This type of exploration of both sides of a situation/argument is meant to be neutral and objective. The intention is to examine the territory of the situation for a constructive purpose. The tool leads easily into ADI. DIV

39. The FACT Method Organism-as-a-Whole-in-Environments EBS (A/C) • Examine Both Sides • This type of exploration of both sides of a situation/argument is meant to be neutral and objective. The intention is to examine the territory of the situation for a constructive purpose. The tool leads easily into ADI. DIV

40. The FACT Method OPV (A/C) • Other Person's Views • This thinking tool overlaps with the EBS and the ‘logic bubble’. In using this tool, the thinker tries to put him/herself into the shoes of the other person, in order to be able to perceive the world as that person sees it. There are two parts: 1) identifying the people involved and 2) putting oneself in their shoes. The tool effectively requires the thinker to be objectively trying to see the world from the other person’s point of view. DIV

41. The FACT Method Non-Allness OPV (A/C) • Other Person's Views • This thinking tool overlaps with the EBS and the ‘logic bubble’. In using this tool, the thinker tries to put him/herself into the shoes of the other person, in order to be able to perceive the world as that person sees it. There are two parts: 1) identifying the people involved and 2) putting oneself in their shoes. The tool effectively requires the thinker to be objectively trying to see the world from the other person’s point of view. DIV

42. The FACT Method ADI (A/C) • A = Agreement • D = Disagreement • I = Irrelevance • Used after the EBS mapping exercise. The two maps are compared (from the examination of both sides) and the areas of agreement are noted. Next, the areas of disagreement; finally, the areas of irrelevance. CON

43. The FACT Method The map doesn't cover all the territory. ADI (A/C) • A = Agreement • D = Disagreement • I = Irrelevance • Used after the EBS mapping exercise. The two maps are compared (from the examination of both sides) and the areas of agreement are noted. Next, the areas of disagreement; finally, the areas of irrelevance. CON

44. The FACT Method CAF (A/C) • Consider All Factors • Another ‘attention-directing’ tool. The tool means considering all the factors that are pertinent to a particular situation, without any effort to evaluate the factors. When doing a CAF, we are trying to discover ‘what has been left out’ and ‘what we ought to consider as well’. DIV/CON

45. The FACT Method The word isn't the thing. CAF (A/C) • Consider All Factors • Another ‘attention-directing’ tool. The tool means considering all the factors that are pertinent to a particular situation, without any effort to evaluate the factors. When doing a CAF, we are trying to discover ‘what has been left out’ and ‘what we ought to consider as well’. DIV/CON

46. The FACT Method HV/LV (A/C) • High Value/Low Value • A useful ‘attention-directing’ tool, to distinguish the ‘values’ occurring in any situation. In general the high values are those that determine action and the low ones are those that have need to be taken into account. They can be different for different people involved in the situation. DIV/CON

47. The FACT Method Non-Allness HV/LV (A/C) • High Value/Low Value • A useful ‘attention-directing’ tool, to distinguish the ‘values’ occurring in any situation. In general the high values are those that determine action and the low ones are those that have need to be taken into account. They can be different for different people involved in the situation. DIV/CON

48. The FACT Method PMI (A/C) • P = Plus (the good points; the things that worked) • M = Minus (the bad points; the things that may not have worked or could have work better) • I = Interesting (the interesting points; ‘It might be interesting to see if...’) • Another attention-directing tool, usually done over a two- or three-minute period. DIV/CON

49. The FACT Method The map is self-reflexive. PMI (A/C) • P = Plus (the good points; the things that worked) • M = Minus (the bad points; the things that may not have worked or could have work better) • I = Interesting (the interesting points; ‘It might be interesting to see if...’) • Another attention-directing tool, usually done over a two- or three-minute period. DIV/CON

50. The FACT Method C & S (A/C/T) • Consequences and Sequels • This tool is used to consider the consequences of an action or a decision. Four time zones are established (usually arbitrary): Immediate (up to one year), Short-term (one to five), Medium-term (five to 20), Long-term (over 20). Each time zone is focussed on in turn. CON