Design thinking aims to create new thoughts about the solution or answer we seek and then visualize and shape those thoughts into concepts that will result in new strategies or tactics. It is how we solve problems and create new or improved sources of revenue.
Wikipedia defines concepts as abstract ideas or general notions occurring in our minds, speech, or thoughts. A concept is challenging to describe, but we need to look for them, design them and use them. This discussion is based on information from Edward de Bono and his books on thinking.
A concept consists of two parts: the concept and its implementation. Concepts are essential but very difficult to generate. However, In hindsight, almost all successful concepts seem obvious.
An idea is how you put a concept into action. For example, traveling along the road is a concept. Still, you have to do something specific in practice, such as walking, riding a bike, or driving a car.
A Concept vs. Perception
There is a difference between perception and a concept. Perception is seeing a group of things when we look at the world we haven’t named, like flowers or mountains. A concept is a group of things with a purpose or benefit like sales tax, traffic control, or a restaurant.
There are some exceptions. The restaurant is both a description and a concept, it sells people food, and there’s a place to eat it. The purpose and benefit are apparent.
Forming concepts
With perception, we can only receive information in the patterns that we have already formed. So, an analysis of data is unlikely to create new concepts. However, we can select from concepts we already have. However, you can form a new concept by modifying or improvement of an existing concept. Also, a simple piece of information can give rise to many concepts, but they will come from concepts we already have in our minds.
The critical point is the need to do conceptual work in our head and not just wait for information to provide concepts because that is unlikely to happen.
Business use of concepts
Many businesses are impatient with concepts and prefer “doing things rather than thinking.” However, the world is getting crowded with products and services, so creating new concepts is critical as we move into the future.
A new concept is unquestionably the best and cheapest way of getting added value out of existing resources. Businesses have been approaching concept development haphazardly. They wait for someone else to develop the concept and then jump in with a similar copy.
In the future, we must take concepts more seriously. Major companies spend billions on technical research, but new concept creation is as important as technical resources.
Conclusion
Learning how to analyze information and make decisions is not going to be enough. These skills are necessary for maintenance management in a competitive market. But, in a globally competitive market, you need to shift part of your focus to conceptual thinking in addition to analysis and decision making.
Why? Because analysis of information can never yield the concepts hidden in data. Also, we now know from the research into self-organizing information systems like our mind, we know what we need to do to get creative concepts.
Also, because the brain was not designed to be creative, we have to use methods that are “not natural,” like the random word method, to generate innovative concepts.
For a quick start to creating new concepts, check out the information on the Random Word method to get creative concepts and ideas. It is easy and powerful.
