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Attributes Listing a Tool

Creativity Challenge 1999 #22

In June 1978 at my first Creative Problem Solving Institute in Buffalo, New York one of the first Creative Thinking Techniques or Tools I heard about was called "Attribute Listing". Since then I have used and recommended the technique many times.

It is a simple and rational or left-brained technique for generating creative thoughts or links that may lead to leaps and breakthroughs in thinking.

First step.....list all the aspects of the problem or challenge you can think of

Second step...choose one aspect and generate a list of how that aspect may be changed

Third, Fourth, Fifth, etc. step...choose additional aspects one by one and generate lists of ideas of how these aspects, features, traits, details, factors may be changed, improved, removed.

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Checklist technique created by Bob Eberle often is used to make the use of Attribute Listing easy and straight forward. You simply take each of the seven checklist idea promoters to base your lists of ideas on.
 
S-SUBSTITUTE
C-COMBINE
A-ADAPT, ALTER
M-MINIFY, MODIFY, MANIPULATE
P-PUT TO OTHER USE
E-ELIMINATE
R-REVERSE

That is right.

Yet do you use them very often. Do you practice them so often that they become second nature, automatic, instinctive for you?

This week I encourage you to use Attribute Listing and SCAMPER both AFTER you do the Creativity Challenge exercise each day. For the CC for this week is the reverse.

The Challenge is to find and list 12 to 24 things that have changed since the day before or that you hadn't noticed the day before or that had been changed since the day before. These can be natural things, artificial, abstract, social, psychological, human-made, small, infinite.

This was sparked by my noticing that the beautiful, large flower, gardenia I have in my backyard is now blooming. Nearly a dozen flowers have opened up overnight. Over the past couple weeks I have looked at the 7 foot high and about 6 foot diameter bush/tree several times inspecting its buds. Yesterday I could see a tiny white spot, looking out the sliding glass door to my deck indicating, that possibly one flower would open up and blossom out today. That one warmed my heart for a moment. My great surprise is that nearly a dozen have.

Yes I get excited about nature. The very personal meaning for me is that this is the anniversary of Merry, my wife's birthday, it would have been her 50th. We initially recognized our feelings of love for each other 21 years ago sitting under a similar gardenia bush in front of the College of Education Building on Florida Atlantic University's campus in Boca Raton, Florida.

One event. One small flower opening and an ocean of details, memories and feelings are filling me this morning.

Back to the challenge. Beginning today deliberately look, listen, smell, taste, feel (physically and emotionally), think about changes in your environment and list 12 to 24 each day.

At the end of the week review your lists to look for what these changes may tell you about how to handle a professional or personal challenge or problem. Seeing other changes may very well provide you with clues of how to solve other problems.

May the changes you see produce breakthroughs for you, bring back happinesses for you. If the changes bring back unhappy or sad memories I suggest that you accept the sadness, let yourself feel it and then ask yourself what good possibly has come since or from it.

Creativity produces change, yet change may not produce creativity. It's up to you to help change yield creativity.

Have a significant week. Share your discoveries with your friends and family.

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