Altered Perspective: Search Strategies for Innovators (Volume 1)

Altered Perspective: Search Strategies for Innovators describes and explains specific tools and techniques that can be used to find more and better solutions to whatever problem is at hand.
There is a time-honored five-step method for problem-solving. 1. Define the problem. 2. Generate lots of ideas for possible solutions. 3. Choose the best solution from among the alternatives. 4. Implement the chosen solution. 5. Use the implemented solution to produce the intended benefits. It sounds simple, and it is. But it often fails spectacularly, and the weakest link is the decision-making stage - especially the step where creative thinking takes place and lots of possible solutions are identified. This step is frequently executed very poorly. It may be glossed over with mere lip service. Sometimes it is simply ignored entirely.
Altered Perspective: Search Strategies for Innovators is focused on the idea-generating part of the problem-solving process. The concept of Altered Perspective is about finding a fresh viewpoint, from which we can see a different solution. This concept is leveraged in a variety of "ideation" tools that problem solvers can leverage in the search for innovative solutions. The range of techniques include methods for use with groups as well as personal techniques for use by an individual working alone.
Altered Perspective: Search Strategies for Innovators is intended to be a practical guide to the methods for creating new ideas and discovering new possibilities. To ensure it is a complete and self-sufficient treatment of the subject, it includes an explanation of how and where these techniques fit into the larger problem-solving landscape, and gives examples of how they have been used successfully.