PARAPHRASING KEY WORDS

C

Idea generation

This technique requires you to alter the meanings of key words in the problem statement (or any sentence that contains key words) to reveal assumptions and generate alternative perceptions. See also Boundary Examination, and the software packages: Batmemes, and Paramind.

Replacing Key words with Synonyms

This method devised by De Bono (1970) requires you to identify key words in the sentence, substitute them one at a time with other words that have the equivalent general meaning, and create different emphases and a different rhetoric.

It can be achieved in a simple and informal way from general knowledge, or at a deeper level with imaginative use of a thesaurus. E.g. look at the example below, which an average word-processor thesaurus gave the direct and indirect synonyms for the 3 key words in the problem statement:

‘We have	Underused	Reprographic	Resources’
We have	Overcapitalised	Duplicating	Capital
We have	Wasted	Copying	Property
We have	Squandered	Remaking	Machines and people
We have	Derelict	Transcribing	Mechanisms
We have	Superfluous	Facsimile	Holdings
We have	Excessive	Mimicking	Agency
We have	Bountiful	Mirroring	Investment
We have	Generous	Reproducing	Means
We have	Redundant	Mimeographing	Belongings
We have	Ignored	Cloning	Facility

Altering just one word at a time produces very distinct shifts in the meaning and boundary assumptions such as:

Obviously the amount of potential paraphrasing is very large, just using the synonyms in the table above, this simple problem statement may well be reworded in at least 1000 (10 x 10 x 10) ways, many of which correspond to very different meanings. Paraphrasing as such can be used either to alter the problem statement itself, or to trigger different streams of ideas about possible solutions.

Use Synonym Pairs to Trigger Ideas

A variation of the method above devised by Olson (1980) takes just 2 key words from the problem statement (ideally a grammatically linked pair such as noun-verb, verb-noun, verb-adverb, adjective-noun), generates lists of synonyms for each word (as above), and then uses word pairs generated from the 2 synonym lists to stimulate ideas. For example:

Select grammatical keyword pair: I choose: Reprographic resources (adjective-noun pair).

Generate synonyms: e.g. the two right hand columns of synonyms in the table above.

Select some interesting word pairs: e.g.: mimicking agency; transcribing investment; cloning capital; mimeographing belongings etc.

Use these to trigger ideas: e.g. from mimicking agency: Develop an agency to make copies of photos; develop a service for transcribing hand-written records; start to forge bank notes (!) – well, not really, but perhaps a service to print cheque-books or pay-in books or toy money for children ….etc….

[Source: www.mycoted.com]

• BOUNDARY EXAMINATION

• E. De Bono, Lateral thinking: creativity step by step, Harper & Row Publishers 1970
• www.mycoted.com