Sunday, March 9, 2014

The Merlin Technique

The Merlin Technique
Whether you’re a business owner, a manager, an employee, or just an individual, knowing how to problem solve is an essential part of life. Sometimes, though, problems that present themselves in an organization are much more complex than a simple solution can handle. In situations like these, knowing how to brainstorm—either individually or as a group—is a critical skill. One type of brainstorming technique that’s used for product, service, or situation improvement is known as the Merlin technique. The Merlin technique subjects the problem at hand to a number of hypothetical changes. Here’s how to implement the Merlin technique into your next creative session:
Involve the Group
While the Merlin technique can be done alone, as the old adage goes, “two brains are better than one.” And with that, a whole group of brains is certainly even better. The Merlin technique takes brainstorming to a whole new level, so encourage group members to put on their thinking caps and really get crazy with their ideas. With the Merlin technique, no idea is a bad idea—think big, and don’t hold back.
Get the Proper Materials
Whenever you hold a group brainstorming session, make sure that you have all the proper materials you need. Depending upon the size of employees you have present, divide people up into manageable groups, small enough that everyone’s idea can be heard. Each group should have access to flipcharts or large pieces of paper, individual notebooks and pens, and markers. The flipcharts should be divided into four columns, titled Enlarge, Reduce, Eliminate, and Reverse.
Enlarging the Problem
The first step of the Merlin technique encourages thinkers to enlarge the problem at hand, whether that be the product, the service, or a negative situation. Extend the problem beyond one customer or one malfunctioning piece of equipment, beyond a price that’s slightly too high or an area that’s too complex. What would happen if the problem were magnified to this hypothetical extent?
Reducing the Problem
The second part of the Merlin technique involves reducing everything about the product, the problem, or the service. Just as you just enlarged the problem to a very unreasonable scale, now think about the problem using a much smaller scale. If you thought about a service problem that involvedevery single customer, now think about that service problem only affecting a single customer. How does this change the problem? How does it change the solution?
Eliminating the Problem
In this step of the Merlin technique, ask group members to completely eliminate the problem at hand. If the problem didn’t exist, what would the company look like? Would the problem be replaced with something else?
Reversing the Problem
The fourth step in the Merlin technique is to reverse the problem entirely. For example, instead of your company having to pay x amount of money for a product, what if that product had to pay your company x amount of money? How would that change the dynamic? A lot of fun and creative ideas are usually generated during this part of the process.
Putting Ideas Into Action
You should allow group members approximately ten minutes to work on each of the four sections of the Merlin technique. When everyone’s finished, review everyone’s list as a group for idea that jump out, and work together to create solid proposals from even the wildest of suggestions. In essence, elaborate on the best ideas, and put together a plan of action. You’ll be surprised with just how effective the Merlin technique really is.

by Olga Santo Tomás Monroe   919-604-0104   olgamaria3@aol.com
Social Media and Online Marketing  Management

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