How Do You See the Obvious?

First a story and then a question for you to think about.

It seems that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. They pitched their tent under the stars and then went to sleep. In the middle of the night Holmes awakened and exclaimed, “Watson, look up and tell me what you deduce.” Watson opened his eyes, and said, “I see billions and billions of stars. It’s likely that some of these stars have planetary systems. Furthermore, I deduce that there is probably oxygen on some of these planets, and it’s possible that life has developed on a few of them.” Is that what you see? Holmes replied, “No, you idiot. Somebody stole our tent!”

This humorous story brings to light an important idea, namely, the obvious can sometimes be difficult to see. Like Dr. Watson in the above story, we bring in our own agendas, biases, and filters.

I think most of us would agree that when we're solving problems or developing concepts, it's important to understand the "obvious" elements of those problems and concepts.

Lately I've been engaged in a product-naming process. As I've been doing this, a question I've been puzzling over is: 

"How do you see the obvious?"

One strategy that I employ is to step back from the issue and ask myself, "What are the most obvious things I can say about this issue?" Another is to ask, "What's my blind spot?"

Yet these approaches feel unsatisfactory. They work sometimes, but often I feel like I'm blathering on like Dr. Watson. That's because it's not always easy to be aware of my biases.

So here's my question for you: When you're in a situation (especially problem-solving, concept-developing), what questions do you ask that help you grasp the obvious aspects of that situation? I'd really like to hear your ideas.

 

Comments

[Roger von Oech]

Tom: I checked out your blog. I encourage all of the Creative Think blog readers to give it a visit. There's a lot of interesting "takes" there.

I like this one: "Knowing what's missing requires a sense of the big picture." Tom wrote that about the Holmes story about the dog that didn't bark. Good stuff.

[jeanie]

Sometimes it helps to just turn whatever it is you're looking at upside down. When you can't do this literally, do it figuratively. I used to be Managing Editor at Dolby Laboratories, and sometimes proofing something by looking at it upside down was the fasted way to see if something was where it shouldn't be, or to see if spacing was off. (I do the same thing in the kitchen: which muffin needs more batter? give the pan a turn and then look again.)

another method is to imagine you're explaining the situation to a cave-age dweller, who knows nothing of what we take for granted: telephones, plumbing, typing, etc.

[Shirley]

I love that story - and what a great question. I would say that you have to step back and gain perspective to see the obvious. I like to meditate, ask opinions of others (especially those that have no idea what I'm talking about), and if there's time, do a little research to see what others have done.

[Graham Horton]

I believe that being able to see the obvious is the most important creative thinking ability (along with being able to associate quickly and voluminously).

Here are two methods we often use in innovation workshops (and which I teach to students):

1) Kids day. It's open day at work, and kids have come in to look around and see what their parents do all day. Explain to them what you do and how things work here. Encourage the "kids" to ask that classic question "why?" You will find yourself (re-)discovering all sorts of fundamental facts and assumptions about what you do.

2) The Pathologist. Act like a forensic pathologist conducting an autopsy. Examine your subject carefully and record even the smallest observations into the microphone ("The subject is male, about 30 years old, and roughly 180cm tall...") With practice, you will learn to see lots of obvious things this way.

[PatriciaJ]

If you really want to see the obvious and the not so obvious talk to a nine year old child. They have no big picture in mind and are not limited by corporate directives.

[Mary Durfee]

In some cases, I use a great bit of advice from Neustadt and May's book, Thinking in Time.

When a fire lands on your desk, the first question should always be "why today?"

Whenever I ask that, it helps me imagine where the problem came from, so that I can ask the various groups and individuals what they thought. It helps me see where it might go later. It prevents rash action that would only make the fire worse, and helps me see both the obvious and less obvious features of the situation. It leads to a kind of procedural creativity.

I don't know if asking "why today" about a product or concept would help one see the obvious, however.

Great question.

[Yellow SEO]

Very thought provoking Roger, I would say ask other for opinions, and maybe list your bias, patterns and tendency on the subject and ask others. If you can ask others try asking yourself what would people you know think based on your knowledge of them. Attaching a know personality makes it easier understand other opinions for me.

what would I do if I was friend?
what would I do if I was my wife?
what would I do if I was my kids?