A Gem Of An Idea

Whatever your insight problem, ‘Diamond Thinking’ offers a useful way of analysing it. It enables you to address the issue in two quite different stages.

The Thinker’s Toolkit by Morgan Jones identifies four aspects of divergent thinking:

• The more ideas, the better
• Build one idea on another
• Wacky ideas are OK
• Don’t evaluate

• Grouping and clustering
• Causal flow diagrams
• Force-field analysis

The key is to recognise the phase you are in and to apply the right approach at the right time. A full project will typically require many elements of diamond thinking. Some consultancies teach a five diamond approach, with a separate diamond for: 

• Entry – understanding and scoping a problem. First open it out to see every aspect, and then close it down to a clear statement of the real issue.
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• Diagnosis – gathering all relevant information before closing it down to a clear and agreed statement of the real cause (which needs to be resolved).
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• Visioning – may involve classic brainstorming to derive all possible options or solutions, before evaluating these to reach an agreed course of action.
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• Implementation – start with a full planning process, and then close it down by carrying out the plans until everything has been completed.
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• Evaluation – sometimes forgotten, this stage looks broadly at the impact of your implementation, before closing it down to an agreement on its success or relative success. This might then spawn other projects to address items that may not have gone as expected.

No element of Diamond Thinking should be new to you – but it can be a very useful visual approach for structuring your thinking.