APPLIED INTUITION - Columbia University
Transcript of APPLIED INTUITION - Columbia University
Identification - 1
leslie hallam CHAOS
APPLIED INTUITION: PROBLEM DEFINITION AND SOLUTION
Background: Psychology & Anthropology
Experience: Qualitative Research
Creative Workshops
Change Agency
Problem definition/re-definition
Creative, actionable solutions…
…and a lot of fairy stories
The Map… Introduction
Warm-up
Briefing
First cut - problem definition…candidate solution routes
Break
Second cut - work up solutions & chart
Present
Discuss/Feedback/AOB
Problems…Solutions
Problems: Closed vs. Open
Solutions: Right vs. Wrong
Treat all problems as open - take responsibility to re-
examine/challenge underlying assumptions
Treat all solutions as valuable contributions to the journey - even when they don’t work!
Intuition…?
Intuition
Inspiration
Random associations, lucky guesses
Precognition
Divining, scrying, fortune telling…
‘Knowing’, without information
‘Cryptamnesia’
Pre-conscious awareness (subliminal perception)
Intuition
Female?
Flaky…?
‘Artistic temperament’
Uncontrollable/random
Some people are…some are not…
Modes of thought…
Linear
Analytical
Rational
Logical
(‘Left hemispheric’ processing)
Modes of thought…
Creative
Imaginative
Divergent
Lateral
Associative
Intuitive
(‘Right hemispheric’ processing)
Modes of thought…
Whole mind thinking: Ø Zen
Ø ‘In the zone’
Ø In flow
Ø Emotional/physical trauma/risk…
Ø Relaxed, detached…
Ø Hypnagogic states (waking/sleeping)…
Ø Post-coital…
First principles… Intuition is available to everyone (not just ‘psychics’/weird
creatives)
It can be harnessed (not just hoped for)
It is ‘normal’ - we all use it, all the time…low level/ unconsciously/unacknowledged
(Entrepreneurs, drivers, parents, children…the British Army)
First principles…
Mostly…
Ø Intuition is a very poor substitute for reasoned analysis…
Ø But reason alone is also a very poor tool
§ ‘To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail…’
Why bother? Why Now?
We live in interesting times…
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In an age of total access to empirical data and rational analysis, subjective creative interpretation and irrational perspectives are required to deliver
competitive advantage
If we all have the potential to be intuitive…
…what stops us?
Education: ‘Having ideas’ challenges the status quo
We’re taught other people’s (men’s!) ideas
And ‘how to solve problems’ - single method, single answer
Socialisation: Affiliation needs
Peer-group pressure to conform
Work culture: ‘We’ve always done it like this…’
‘We tried that five years ago…’
Systems and responsibilities
Hierarchies and reporting
Career trajectories
Society: Families…Communities…Tribes…Societies…Cultures
Normative values that yield cohesive structures
Taboo = potent force supporting this system, mediating…
Ø Behaviour
Ø Speech
Ø Thought
Conformity = Social Approval = Affiliation = …Survival!
EK
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LIK
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FEK IT
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FAK IT
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FLIK IT
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FOOK IT
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PHU’KET
MOTHER
‘GROUP THINK’ = Social stability, cohesion, shared values…
…and stagnation/failure to cope with change/vulnerability to catastrophic events
Shaman Priests Witches Wise Folk Hermits Saints Holy Men Seers
All cultures delegate ‘intuitive function’ to specialised individuals:
Dream Incubation Drumming/dance Psychedelics/entheogens
Story Myth
Legend
Marginalised
Celebrated
Revered
…so that the rest of us can specialize in hunting, farming, building…fighting…
With occasional breaks, to allow incorporation of new
perspectives & insights
Ø Holy days, feast days, travel, drink…
Ø Free to develop ‘creative subpersonalities’
A-game solutions require you to think differently
Intuition is one type of different thinking…
Q: Remove 2 matches so that only 2 squares are left
Q: move 3 matches to make 3 identical squares (and nothing else)
Q: Move 1 match, to make a square
Q: Rearrange the matches to form 4 equilateral triangles, all of the same size
Q: Remove 2 matches so that only 2 squares are left
Q: Remove 2 matches so that only 2 squares are left
Q: move 3 matches to make 3 identical squares (and nothing else)
Q: move 3 matches to make 3 identical squares (and nothing else)
Q: Move 1 match, to make a square
Q: Move 1 match, to make a square
Q: Rearrange the matches to form 4 equilateral triangles, all of the same size
Q: Rearrange the matches to form 4 equilateral triangles, all of the same size
Q: Rearrange the matches to form 4 equilateral triangles, all of the same size
Another route to thinking differently…
Disruption
Stable systems behave predictably
Introducing additional energy or structure produces…CHAOS
…non-predictable (original, creative) outcomes
…start looking at things more softly
Stop looking at things harder…
CASE HISTORIES
Gordon’s Gin
Problem:
‘G&T set’ - comfortable middle classes, aspirational, 55+
Switching to more fashionable drinks - particularly wine
(And dying out!)
Gordon’s Gin
Method:
Explore semiology of gin across wide psychodemographics:
Extreme sports
Ecstasy culture
Fantasy role play
Performers
Gordon’s Gin
Insight:
Gin = ‘Gin & Tonic’
Stimulant…start the evening ‘upper’
Search for ‘peak experience’ (younger target)
- Dramatize, dimensionalize and own ‘peak…’
Perrier
Problem:
Conventional research identified ‘aspirational’ brand values, undermined in price-sensitive market within grocery
Perrier
Method:
Agency planners and consumers placed in challenging environment, to ‘break set’ with orthodox/public arena responses…’stripped’ of pretence and social norms
(Jacuzzi and Sauna suite)
Perrier
Insight:
Brand choice = female principle (‘The Goddess’) in male
environment (Bar)
Conveys ‘potent queen’/Shakti/elementals - Fire, water, air
Empowering, specialness, discernment, potency…
Barnardos
Problem:
Falling support in competitive market
Old fashioned image
Parents culpable
Barnardos
Method:
Bringing together agency creatives and ‘at risk’ group
members -
Ø Prostitutes
Ø Drug users
Ø Abuse victims…
Barnardos
Insight:
All adults were once children…
We were all children, with dreams of how their lives would be…
Guinness
Problem:
80’s - dying brand
Old profile
Traditional/old fashioned positioning
Difficult product -
Ø Storage
Ø Dispense
Ø Taste
Guinness
Method:
Clients taken on a series of ‘guys nights out’ in major cities
Immersion in the drinking culture, the experience, the ambience
They became the target market, in order to derive insight
Guinness
Insight:
Younger males (volume) = affiliation needs, but also status
within their group needs
Identity in the context of friends - individuation
Slightly older, discerning drinker (not father) = peer reference group
Guinness = different, quirky, weird…but also authentic, not mass-produced and identifiable (+ black liquid = dark side)