Every organisations is different, but there’s one key thing that unites them – they face problems on a daily basis. Some of those problems are huge, some are, relatively minor. Problems are just a fact of business and a fact of life.
As a result, solving problems is an activity that we all have to do. But problem solving isn’t just an activity, it’s a skill. There are good and bad ways of tackling a problem. Some people are naturally good at solving problems and thrive when faced with new challenges. Others struggle and don’t know where to begin.
And sometimes, very big problems are simply ignored. The easiest solution is to ignore it and hope it goes away. Spoiler alert – they very rarely go away!
What if there was a toolkit that guided people through a proven problem solving process?
That’s what I want to create and that’s why I need your help.
We’re now ready to move onto the next stage of our journey. And that’s where you come in. Software development of this kind is expensive. But I take a no compromise approach to this and everything I do. Your support will help me help more people.
The money is important, but I also want people that share my vision to come on this journey with me. I want them to help me make the product better. In short, I want them to shape the software.
If you would like to join us on our journey, or even just help us get there, go to our Crowdfunder page.
The Concept Garden is a web based application that consists of a series of thinking tools. These are the tools I’ve developed and used throughout my career. For the first time ever, I’ve packaged them digitally in a way that guides you through the process. Think of it as a self-serve, on-demand, problem solving tool. Ideally, five stages are involved.
 | Preparation: First, we start with the preparation. With gardening, we would have to prepare the ground but with problem solving, we have to fully understand what the problem is and why we want to solve it. |
 | Planting: Next, we would plant some seeds, which is when we start to conceive our first ideas. We would always plant many more seeds than we need and the same applies to idea generation – one definitely isn’t enough! |
 | Thinning: After our seeds start to grow, we would thin-out the plants to ensure the remainder have enough room to flourish. Similarly, once we have a number of ideas, it’s time to start looking at them more closely to identify the ones that will most likely lead to a viable solution. |
 | Growing: But it’s not enough to then just leave the plants alone, we have to support them as they grow. With our ideas, we must also nurture them into strong concepts that become long-term solutions. |
 | Harvesting: Finally, we would harvest our fully grown plants and present them to others as desirable items, such as fruit, vegetables or flowers. The same goes for our solutions. Even if it’s a ground-breaking concept, we still have to persuade other people that this is the most effective way to solve the problem. |
Concept Garden provides the tools and techniques for each stage of the problem solving process - we’ve covered it all!
| Preparation | Problem Space, PESTLE, Selection Criteria |
| Planting | Brainwriting, SCAMPER, Random Word/Picture, Challenge Assumptions |
| Thinning | Simple Matrix, Scoping and Grouping, Matrix Evaluation, Pairwise Comparison |
| Growing | 3 Hats, Virtual Implementation |
| Harvesting | Concept Memo, DOIT |
