Discovered another good resource for creative thinking techniques.  This piece lists out some techniques and is a basic primer on how they can be used and applied, with easy-to-follow DIY casework.  Useful for people starting out on a creative thinking journey.  It covers techniques like brainstorming, idea generation questioning, blocking and block busting, and checklists.

What interested me was the approach to checklists, where the author lists out some interesting checklists borrowed based a creative thinker can add to his or her own.  Will be adding them to my toolkit! 

Checklists

A checklist is a standard collection of items (things, verbs, questions, approaches, attributes) used to remind the creative thinker of possible ways to approach a problem or shape a solution. When running through a typical checklist, the creative thinker might ask, "Have I taken this into account? How might I change or use this aspect? What effect will this attribute have on my problem or solution or idea?"

Here are a few checklists, which you should supplement with your own customized ones, developed for your particular problem, or the kind of work your do. You might also locate or develop some additional general lists like these: 

I. The Five Senses

1. Touch. Feeling, texture, pressure, temperature, vibration.
2. Taste. Flavor, sweet/salt/bitter.
3. Smell. Aroma, odor.
4. Sound. Hearing, speech, noise, music.
5. Sight. Vision, brightness, color, movement, symbol.

II. Human Needs

1. Physical Comfort. Food, clothing, shelter, warmth, health.
2. Emotional Comfort. Safety, security, freedom from fear, love.
3. Social Comfort. Fellowship, friendship, group activity.
4. Psychological Comfort. Self-esteem, praise, recognition, power, self-determination, life control.
5. Spiritual Comfort. Belief structure, cosmic organizing principle.
(Note: some needs cross boundaries. These include: pleasure, recreation, activity.)

III. Physical Attributes

1. Shape.
2. Color.
3. Texture.
4. Material.
5. Weight.
6. Hardness/Softness.
7. Flexibility.
8. Stability. (rolls, evaporates, decomposes, discolors, etc.)
9. Usefulness. (edible, tool, esthetic, etc.)
10. State. (powdered, melted, carved, painted, etc.)

IV. Aristotle's Categories

1. Substance or essence. What is it and what makes it unique or individual?
2. Quantity or magnitude. How many, how much, what degree?
3. Relation. Rank, comparison, derivation.
4. Quality. Value, attributes, shape, habits.
5. Action. What is it doing or does it do?
6. Affection. Reputation, attitudes toward.
7. Place. Where is it?
8. Time. When? (now? historical? future?)
9. Position. Sitting, standing, displayed, hidden
10. State. Planned, broken, untried, changing.

V. General Comments

Customized checklists should be developed for individual problems or ideas when several factors must be considered. Listing each condition to be met or part to be covered will assure that none are overlooked. The mind can attend to only about seven items at one time; more than that will have to be recalled from memory, either by force of will or through a checklist. Checklists help enormously in keeping the idea maker or problem solver alert to multiple aspects of the issue at hand.

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