Thinking Tools

Thinking Tools? Yes. There are a few tools which can be used in organized thinking. I came across a many but trained and used the following few:

CEDAC: Cause and Effect Diagrams with addition of Cards this is a modification to the Fishbone diagram (a standard QC tool) by Dr Ryuji Fukuda. It is a very effective tool to get the ideas from all layers of the organization quickly and a wonderful aid to the divergent and convergent thinking technique. Has been very effective if used along with the other Fukuda techniques. (Ref. Building Organizational Fitness by the same author)

Six Thinking Hats: Edward de Bono's six thinking hats technique is very effective when conducting meetings involving people with varied interest. White, red, yellow, black, green and blue hats represent various aspects of a problem and they can be used in a suitable sequence within a meeting for pre-determined durations to channelise the thoughts of all the participants to the specific aspect of the discussion and finally summarizing the meeting with a blue hat.

Mind Maps: Tony Buzan's mind mapping technique uses colours, shapes, keywords in a multi channel thinking technique which will enhance memory and also bring a natural hierarchical thought process towards any problem.

Applying any one or more of the above techniques to the appropriate situations will surely yield better results than just going with the gut feel.