This article is the key to unlocking group genius.
It’s been said that the task of an anthropologist is to “make the strange familiar, and the familiar strange.” Some argue this is paraphrasing the German author, poet, and philosopher Novalis, who said, “to romanticize the world is to make us aware of the magic, mystery and wonder of the world; it is to educate the senses to see the ordinary as extraordinary, the familiar as strange, the mundane as sacred, the finite as infinite.” Regardless of its original intent or author, the phrase inspires my approach to workshop design.
I believe the task of a collaboration designer is to create the context, the conditions, and the containers that facilitate group genius. Often, designers need to bring many diverse people and perspectives together to tackle a new, sticky problem. In cases like these, the way to get diverse groups thinking differently is to challenge what they already know and to get comfortable with what they don’t know. This approach to inspiring creative thinking can be achieved through a technique called Synectics.
Synectics comes from Greek and means “the joining together of different and apparently irrelevant elements.” I use Synectics to help people make the strange familiar and the familiar strange by creating connections between what they know and what they don’t. For example, I can have a group look at how their organization is like a bonsai tree or relate their new employee onboarding experience to a coral reef.
In both these situations, groups can develop deeper understanding of one concept by exploring something different and seemingly unrelated. In the examples above, comparing the elements of a bonsai tree to elements of an organization can generate creative ideas about how we might “feed” our organization, what “weeds” should be pulled, and how we think about our “trunk”, “branches”, “leaves”, and “roots”? Synectics help groups explore, discover, and create connections to find new, innovative solutions.
Synectics utilize analogies and metaphors. When groups consider how there business is like a tree, our how their strategy is a tree can simplify complex concepts and empower those with less knowledge, experience and expertise to innovate. This divergent thinking can help generate more creative solutions by helping groups more confidently explore what may have previously been considered unrelated or unrealistic.
I recently utilized a synectict activity that involved the LEGO Botanicals Tiny Plants kit pictured above. The kit came divided into six building bags. We separated the participants into six groups. Each group was asked to build their kit as per the instructions. After they built the kit, they were asked to create a metaphoric story. For example:
- The Venus Flytrap was meant to explore the “dangers/risks” the group would face going forward.
- The Prickly Pear was meant to explore the “prickly decisions” they would have to make to be successful.
- The Butterfly Plant was meant to explore the “curious questions” they need to answer.
- The other models in the kit were used to explore the “rosy opportunities”, “weeds to pull”, and “what we need to nurture and grow”.
At the end of the round of work, each group shared their approach to building their model (a metaphor for strategy and execution), shared their metaphoric story, and placed their plant into a metaphoric garden where they also had to explain the relationship between plant placements.
One group put the Prickly Pear at the front of the garden as they believed the prickly decisions should always be front and center in their strategy. Another group moved the decisions to the side to share that while the decisions were not their core focus, they should always be in their periphery. As each team shared their stories, their models, and their placement, the more the group explored and discovered how they thought about their collective strategic approach.
There are many ways to help people connect with each other to solve sticky problems. Over the years, I have learned that there is no single way to success. Synectics offers one more arrow in your facilitation quiver. Here’s how you can can use Synectics to enhance your next group gathering:
Step 1: Identify a Metaphor
Identify possible metaphors relevant to the purpose of your gathering. If you have a planning team, ask them what analogy they might use to compare the intention and outcomes.
For example: If you are doing a workshop about articulating a vision or mission, you might ask your planning team “What is this problem like?” or “What metaphor or analogy would you use to describe to someone who has never done this type of work?” From there you may find interesting options such as a sports team, a political speech, a pod of whales etc.
Step 2: Curate Artifacts
Curate artifacts both physical and digital to help your audience explore the metaphor. Try to find as many different types of artifacts as possible: books, articles, videos, props, presenters, tools, etc. If your metaphor is about sailing, you might offer your audience a model of a ship, a piece of a ship’s sail, books on sailing, videos, a presentation by a boat captain, paintings of ships, etc.
Take note of how many people in your gathering to ensure there are enough materials to go around. Be mindful of how artifacts are distributed. You can separate and give out, or you can put artifacts in a central location and allow your participants to go gather artifacts of interest.
Step 3: Write an Assignment
Test your ideas and your metaphor by writing an assignment that explains what you want your audience to do to explore your metaphor and how you want them to share the results of their work. Writing will help you get an understanding of how much Synectic thinking you are asking of your audience.
Step 4: Practice
Rehearse your activity to get it right. This activity can be somewhat complex in delivering. Go over your steps to determine how you will manage people, time, transitions, presentations and debriefs. You will also make decisions that create the space and opportunity to deepen Synectic exploration.
Step 5: Guide (But Don’t Steer)
Guide your participants but don’t steer. The beauty of Synectic activities and metaphoric exploration is the plethora of potential outcomes. Your goal as a facilitator, should be to help the group get the most out of the activity but resist the urge to steer them towards any hypothetical outcomes or lessons you may want to deliver.
As I said at the beginning of this article, the task of a collaboration designer is to create the context, the conditions, and the containers that facilitate group genius. One powerful way to unlock group genius is through the use of Synectic activities to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar. Whatever metaphor or analogy you choose to explore, consider that relevance need not be part of your decision making. The stranger you can make the familiar, and more familiar you make the strange might just be the key to your success.
Curiously yours, Garett.
