I love helping people think through tricky problems!

I think most of us undervalue things that come naturally to us. We tend to think "it's so easy for me, so why would anyone think it's valuable?" 

In October 2019 I had a couple epiphanies in this area. 

• I was asked to help a high-level productivity consultant work on some diagrams for a book. He had kept me in his files for 15 years(!) after seeing my GTD Advanced Workflow diagram, and reached out now that he was ready for my graphic design help. My role quickly expanded as he realized in our conversations that I was helping him clarify his message, address possible blind spots, integrate his ideas, and consider other options. We talked about my role, and he said that I helped people work through problems, and that it had been tremendously valuable for him. 
• I had lunch the following week with two former coworkers, both seasoned professionals who I greatly respect. I mentioned the work I was doing for the consultant, and they both enthusiastically nodded their heads in agreement. They gave me several examples of how I had done that at our company. I shrugged it off, and said that I just liked to do that, and their immediate reactions told me something I had never realized. They DIDN'T like to do that! I had never considered that helping people think through complex problems, brainstorming, clarifying, visualizing, and packaging it for easy communication was something special. It's just what I like to do. 

In the weeks that followed, I could see that thread throughout my history. It was even there when I recently tried to get a handle on it and thought I was primarily an Instructional Designer. Turns out that was just another expression of my core attributes - using empathy to really understand a problem, and then applying tools to help guide someone to clarity and overlooked solutions. You could call me a Clarity Consultant. Generative Guide. Innovation Initiator. Strategy Steerer. Creativity Coach. Lateral-thinking Liaison. Problem-solving Pro. A Stumped Grinder! Ok, maybe not that last one.  :)

Clarity Specialist

I've been asked to help people think through problems for years. Not just traditional brainstorming, but problem definition and reframing, customer and branding insight, product and company positioning, visualization, and decision making. I've continuously studied the field to keep my toolset updated and have loads of proven techniques for innovative thinking.  I've even built some original tools myself. 

I develop, collect and test thinking tools because they fascinate me. I can't get enough of that feeling of an "aha moment". It's especially excellent when I get to see someone else experiencing an insight that I have helped them find. Maybe that's why I collect these tools. I think it can be very difficult to think in new ways when you don't think you're creative, or if you are really close to a problem. My experience has shown these tools can help anyone approach a problem differently, and I love having them at the ready for when someone needs my help. ​

I'm going to start taking this much more seriously now. Helping people think through their problems is my gift, and I am going to find as many ways as possible to use it.

Here's some of what's in my toolkit for
discovering,
clarifying,
brainstorming,
strategizing, 
visualizing,
reframing,
summarizing,
aligning,
selecting, and
​communicating.

Tools I made:

• Think Inside the Box​
• Idea Grid
• Expectation Abacus

Tools that other people made:

• Sketchnotes - Mike Rohde
• Visual Strategy Facilitation - Holger Nils Pohl
• Business Model Canvas - Alex Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur
• Value Proposition Design - Alex Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur
• BrainSwarming problem-solving framework - Dr. Tony McCaffrey
• Obscure Features Hypothesis for Innovation - Dr. Tony McCaffrey
• Generic Parts Technique - Dr. Tony McCaffrey
• Design Sprints - Jake Knapp at Google
• Design Thinking - IDEO
• Dyadic mind maps for decision making - Tony Buzan
• Oblique Strategies - Brian Eno, Peter Schmidt
• Rory's Story Cubes - Rory O'Connor
• The Extraordinaires Design Thinking Studio - Anita Murphy, Rory O’Connor
• Group mind mapping for collective notes - Tony Buzan
• Post-it Diversity exercise - Tony Buzan
• The Paper Clip exercise 2.0 (proof of unlimited creativity) - Tony Buzan
• Toyota Production Model (origin of Kaizen, Kanban) - Taiichi Ohno
• Circero presentation development deck - Andrea Binasco and Matteo di Pascale
• MindMeister mind map presentations - Mindmeister
  
• Rapid Problem Solving with Post-it Notes - David Straker
• S.C.A.M.P.E.R. model​ - Bob Eberle
• Periodic Table of Visualization Methods - Patrizia Schettino, Christian Milani.

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