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What
is Synectics?
The
term Synectics from the Greek word synectikos which means "bringing
forth together" or "bringing different things into unified
connection." Since creativity involves the coordination of
things into new structures, every creative thought or action draws
on synectic thinking.
Synectic
thinking is the process of discovering the links that unite seemingly
disconnected elements. It is a way of mentally taking things apart
and putting them together to furnish new insight for all types of
problems. It is a creative problem solving technique which uses
analogies. This technique has been developed by Gordon and Prince.
The synectics method distinguishes 2 phases:
- making
the strange familiar;
- making
the familiar strange. (see Roozenburg and Eekels, 1995)
It
can also be described as a body of knowledge and a series of techniques
designed to induce imaginative problem-solving or creative activities.
Techniques include deliberate efforts in right-brain thinking and
positive supportive behaviour.
What is its purpose?
-
Encourages the ability to live with complexity and apparent contradiction
- Stimulates
creative thinking
- Mobilises
both sides of the brain, the right brain (the dreamer), and the
left brain (the reasoner)
- Provides
a free-thinking state of consciousness
- Synectic
Trigger mechanisms catalyze new thoughts, ideas and inventions
- Synectic
Theory is based on disruptive thinking
How
do I do it?
Synectic
thinking is like a mental pinball game. Stimulus input bounced against
the scoring bumbers (the Trigger Questions) is transformed. Ordinary
perceptions are turned into extraordinary ones; the familiar or
prosaic is made strange. Synectic play is the creative mind at work.
- First
of all, you must identify the problem you have and write it down.
- Next,
you must gather information about it to mix in with the information
already stored in the brain.
- Take
creative action by using the trigger questions to transform your
ideas and information into something new. These questions are
tools for transformational thinking and may lead you to some great
discoveries.
Trigger
Questions for Synectics
SUBTRACT
Remove certain parts or elements
Compress or make it smaller
What can be reduced or disposed of?
What rules can you break?
How to simplify?
How to abstract, stylise or abbreviate?
ADD
Extend or expand
Develop your reference subject
Augment, advance or annex it
Magnify, make it bigger
What else can be added to your idea, image, object, material?
TRANSFER
Move subject into a new situation
Adapt, transpose, relocate, dislocate
Adapt subject to a different frame of reference
Move subject out of its normal environment
Transpose to a different historical, social, geographical setting
Adapt a bird wing model to design a bridge
How subject can be converted, translated, transfigured?
EMPATHIZE
Sympathize with subject
Put yourself in its shoes
What if subject has human qualities?
Relate to subject emotionally, subjectively
ANIMATE
Mobilize the visual and psychological tensions
Control the pictorial movements and forces
Apply factors of repetition and progression
What human qualities subject has?
SUPERIMPOSE
Overlap, place over, cover, overlay
Superimpose dissimilar images or ideas
Overlay elements to produce new images, ideas, meanings
Superimpose elements from different perspectives, disciplines, time
Combine sensory perceptions such as sound and color
Superimpose several views to show different moments in time
CHANGE
SCALE
Make subject bigger or smaller
Change time scale - seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months,
years
Change proportion, relative size, ratios, dimensions
SUBSTITUTE
Exchange, switch or replace
What other idea, image, or material can you substitute?
What alternate or supplementary plan can be employed?
FRAGMENTATE
Separate, divide, split, dissect
Take your subject or idea apart
Chop up, disassemble it
What devices can divide it into smaller increments?
How to make it appear discontinuous?
ISOLATE
Separate, set apart, crop, detach
Take only part of your subject
"Crop" your ideas with a "mental" viewfinder
What element can you detach or focus on?
DISTORT
Twist subject out of its true shape, proportion or meaning
Make imagined or actual distortions
Misshape it, yet produce unique metaphoric/aesthetic quality
Make it longer, wider, fatter, narrower
Melt, crush, bury, crack, tear, torture, spill something on it
DISGUISE
Camouflage, conceal, deceive, encrypt
Hide, mask, "implant" subject into another frame of reference
Conceal by mimicry, like chameleons and moths
Create a latent image that communicate subconsciously
CONTRADICT
Contradict the subject's original function
Contradict visually and intellectually, yet remain structurally
integrated
Contradict laws of nature such as gravity, time, human functions
Contradict normal procedures, social conventions, rituals
Contradict optical and perceptual harmony (eg. illusions)
Deny, reverse
PARODY
Ridicule, mimic, mock, burlesque or caricature
Make fun of your subject, roast it
Transform it into a joke, limerick or pun
Make zany, ludicrous or comic references
Make a humourous cartoon drawing of the problem
PREVARICATE
Fictionalise, "bend" the truth, falsify, fantasize
Use subject as a theme to present ersatz information
Interprete information differently to mislead or confuse
ANALOGIZE
Draw associations
Seek similarities between things that are different
Compare with elements from different domains, disciplines
What can I compare my subject to?
Make logical or illogical associations
HYBRIDIZE
Cross-fertilise - wed subject with an improbable mate
What would you get if you crossed a _____ with a ______?
Cross-fertilise color, form and structure
Cross-fertilise organic and inorganic elements
Cross-fertilise ideas and perceptions
METAMORPHOSE
Transform, convert, transmutate
Depict your subject in a state of change
Change color, configuration
Make structural progressions
Make aging (cocoon-to-butterfly) transformation
Make "Jekyll and Hyde" transmutations
SYMBOLIZE
A visual symbol stands for something other than what it is
Design an icon for your idea
How can your subject be imbued with symbolic qualities?
Public symbols are cliche, well-known and understood
Private symbols are cryptic, have special meaning to its originator
Works of art are often integrations of both public and private symbols
Turn your subject into a symbol (public or private)
MYTHOLOGIZE
Build a myth around your subject
Transform your subject into an iconic object
FANTASIZE
Fantasize your subject
Trigger surreal, preposterous, outlandish, bizarre thoughts
Topple mental and sensory expectations
How far out can you extend your imagination?
What if automobiles were made of bricks?
What if alligators played pool?
What if insects grew larger than humans?
What if night and day occurred simultaneously?
REPEAT
Repeat a shape, color, form, image, or idea
Reiterate, echo, restate or duplicate your reference subject in
some way
Control the factors of occurrence, repercussion, sequence and progression
COMBINE
Bring things together
Connect, arrange, link, unify, mix, merge, rearrange
Combine ideas, materials and techniques
Bring together dissimilar things to produce synergistic integrations
What else can you connect to your subject?
Connect different sensory modes, frames of reference, disciplines
Teacher
Resources
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