"This is now a heuristic I use in my activity." In case you're interested, there is a method called ASIT (for "Advanced Systematic Inventive Thinking") to help

"This is now a heuristic I use in my activity." In case you're interested, there is a method called ASIT (for "Advanced Systematic Inventive Thinking") to help solve problems in creative ways, by forcing us to look where we wouldn't look otherwise (because of cognitive fixation). One of its main assumption is that creative solutions are often to be found near the obvious solutions, and that they are only different in small aspects. Moreover, it tries to turn the origin of a problem into a part of its solution! The really, really sad thing is that it's a quite formal, very thoughtful, "no bullshit" method (unlike brainstorming) but paradoxically the guys who promote it make IMHO the terrible mistake of selling as if it was some kind of "snake oil" (look at the main website, http://www.start2think.com http://www.start2think.com ) I'm pretty sure it turns genuinely interested people away; myself, I discovered it through a professional training session and wanted to know more but I would never have trusted those websites otherwise. If you can find the ASIT book by Roni Horowitz (I have the self-published french translation, but I guess the original english one is available somewhere), and can read past the first few pages of grand promises, you'll probably learn very interesting stuff about creativity.