Idea creation method “mandalat”
Hi! This is Kei.
Today, I introduce “mandalat”.
(Please see also osborn’s checklist.)
This method, which is sometimes used to achieve goals, has become famous for being used by Shohei Otani of Los Angeles Angels’s baseball player.
It is recommended that there are no detailed rules and that it is easy to understand intuitively.
The method is introduced below using specific examples.
First, prepare a 3×3 grid.
In the middle box, write what you want to invent and its functions.
In this example, I want to consider a new scissor.
Next, write words associated with “scissors” on the eight surrounding squares.
Fill in the 8 squares with the feeling that it is important to fill it first because anything you can think of, such as functions or parts, is fine.
I will expand this further.
Increase the 3×3 square so that the eight words written around it are in the center.
I will fill the newly created cells (64 cells). This gives us 64 seeds of ideas.
I ended up with the same content …
If there is a theme that you can deepen, you can further expand the mass.
Combining some of these ideas, this time
“It doesn’t stick even if you cut the tape”
“Easy to cut finely”
“Easy to carry (small and safe)”
“Easy to take out with one hand and cut”
Consider scissors.
(I like to work with masking tape, so I want the above features)
I went to a stationery store while thinking of …
I got it.
Surprisingly as desired.
Well, new ideas are very difficult.
However, since the frame is fixed like “Mandarat”, I mainly focus on “Isn’t it possible to devise something like a blade?” Unexpected ideas come out concretely.
Also, if you just think about it normally, you may overlook the seeds of an idea without even realizing it, such as “This is going to be difficult …” or “I don’t want this much idea …” I think this “quantity over quality” strategy is also good.
By the way, there is a way to expand “Mandarat” in the opposite direction.
In this case, we bring the scissors to the corner and think about their function. In case of scissors, it is “cut”, so put “cut” in the center of Mandarat. If you think so, you will notice that there are many other ways to cut it apart from scissors.
This not only adds new scissors but also adds new ideas from a new perspective.
This time I did not come up with a good idea, but “Mandarat” itself is a very good tool, so you can make good use of me!
