Cross stimulation
Cross stimulation uses other people’s ideas, or old ideas revisited in a changed context, to prompt new thoughts. A suggestion can be useful even when someone misunderstands it or combines it with an unrelated idea.
THE IDEA
The fractionation technique and the reversal technique are methods for getting ideas moving. One needs to move to a new arrangement of information and then one can carry on from there. The new arrangement of information is a provocation which produces some effect. In a brainstorming session the provocation is supplied by the ideas of others. Since such ideas come from outside one’s own mind they can serve to stimulate one’s own ideas. Even if one misunderstands the idea it can still be a useful stimulus. It often happens that an idea may seem very obvious and trivial to one person and yet it can combine with other ideas in someone else’s mind to produce something very original. In a brainstorming session one gives out stimulation to others and one receives it from others. Because the different people taking part each tend to follow their own lines of thought there is less danger of getting stuck with a particular way of looking at the situation.
During the brainstorming session the ideas are recorded by a notetaker and perhaps by a tape recorder as well. These ideas can then be played back at a later date in order to provide fresh stimulation. Although the ideas themselves are not new the context has changed so the old ideas can have a new stimulating effect.
Although the ideas in a brainstorming session are related to the problem under discussion they can still act as random stimuli for they can be far removed from the idea pattern of the person listening to them.
When to use it
Facilitating brainstorming sessions in product design or marketing teams to encourage idea cross-pollination.
Personal creative work: deliberately reviewing old notes or sketches to find new inspiration.
Educational settings: using peer ideas as prompts for essays or projects.
Innovation workshops: leveraging 'bad' or off-topic suggestions as stimuli for novel solutions.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Brainstorming a new product feature
During a brainstorming session for a mobile app, one person suggests adding a simple timer. Though the idea seems trivial to some, another team member combines it with a wish for social accountability, leading to the concept of a shared timer for group tasks. The original trivial idea acted as cross stimulation.
Reviewing old ideas for fresh insight
A design team revisits notes from a brainstorming session six months earlier. The ideas, though previously dismissed, now spark new concepts because the context (market trends, user feedback) has changed. This playback provides cross stimulation from the team's own past outputs.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
How can you intentionally expose yourself to ideas outside your current field to trigger cross stimulation?
Think of a time when an idea you considered obvious or irrelevant turned out to be a valuable stimulus for someone else. What does that teach you about sharing ideas freely?
In your next group problem-solving session, how might you record and later revisit ideas to provide cross stimulation in a changed context?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Lateral Thinking A Textbook of Creativity (Edward de Bono)