Program Management
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Satisfy requirements of all individual
projects with minimal resources
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Human resource is the most expensive
Leadership
Methods of documenting progress
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Project Management
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Manage individual project
Work efficiently
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Monitor project progress
Organize team members
Document critical decisions
Visualize  Plan  Implement  Close
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Multitasking
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Multiple projects, multiple tasks
Multitasking?  loss of focus
Project management: avoidance of
pressure on resources to multitask and
ability to assess and direct the most
beneficial use of resources when there is
apparent contention for their attention
3
Critical Chain Scheduling and
Buffer Management
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Too much time: work expands to fill time
allowed.
Too little time: detrimental pressures,
behaviors and practices
 Buffers
Assign skills rather than persons
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Buffer Management
Feeding
Buffer
Project Buffer
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Project Management Tools
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Concept Fan
FEMA
Mind mapping
Gantt Chart
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Mind Map
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http://www.spicynodes.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/combating-global-warming-map.jpg
Visualize
Visualize
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Clearly picture your desired end result
before you begin
Project vision statement:
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Plan
Implement
Close
Project definition (simple clear statement)
Project expected results
Should be specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant, time-dimensioned
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Plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Visualize
Plan
Implement
Close
Prioritize Performance Factors
Explore risk factors (FEMA) and
alternatives
Break projects into manageable pieces:
a) major pieces, b) minor pieces, c) tasks
Enter sequenced pieces / tasks into Gantt
chart
Clarify who is responsible for each task
Prioritize and schedule the pieces and
tasks
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Determine project budget
www.managementsupport.com
Visualize
Plan: 2) Risk Factors
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List the function of each component
List potential failure modes
Describe effects of the failures
Determine failure severity
Determine probability of failure
Determine detection rate of failure
Assign RPN
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Implement
Close
FMEA stands for Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Methodology of FMEA:
 Identify the potential failure of a system and its effects
 Assess the failures to determine actions that would eliminate the chance
of occurrence
 Document the potential failures
Steps:
Take action to reduce the highest risk
Plan
Design FMEA Analysis
Item and Potential
Function Failure
Mode
List Part
Name,
Number
and
Function
List the
possible
modes of
failure
Potential
Effects of
Failure
List the
consequences
of failure on
part function
and on the
next higher
assembly
 S Potential O Detection
E Cause(s) C Method &
V of Failure C
Quality
Controls
List those
such as:
inadequate
design,
improper
materials,
etc.
D R Recommended
E P
Actions
T N
List these
measures
available to
detect
failures
before they
reach the
customer
List them for
each of the
failure modes
identified as
being
significant by
the RPN
= Critical characteristic which may effect safety, compliance with Gov.
regulations, or require special controls.
SEV = Severity rating (1 to 10)
OCC = Occurrence frequency (1 to 10)
DET = Detection Rating (1 to 10)
RPN = Risk Priority Number (1 to 1000)
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Visualize
Plan
Plan: 3) Break into Tasks
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Implement
Close
Mindmapping each major/minor piece to
identify the tasks
Break down the tasks as far as necessary
for clear accountability
Edit and sequence the tasks
Example
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Visualize
Plan
Plan: 4-7
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Gantt chart: Put To-Do items into Gantt
chart with detailed tasks for each person
updated weekly. Software options include
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Implement
Close
Microsoft Project is preferable (available in
ACS labs
Free Gantt Chart software
http://ganttproject.biz/
Word file Gantt chart template
Weekly Status Reports
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Visualize
Plan
Implementation
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Implement
Close
Milestones
Formality, consistency, and discipline
throughout the scheduling system
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To be completed by next week
and included in Report
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Gantt chart (all groups)
FMEA or mind map or concept fan (at
least one)
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Concept Fan
Why Look For Concepts?
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Identifying and working with
concepts drives the generation of
more ideas
Identifying and working with
concepts drives breadth in the
thinking
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Alternatives
The Concept Triangle
Concept
Third
Idea
Second
Idea
First Idea or
Alternative
Purpose or
Objective
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1. What is the
2. Are there any
concept behind the other ways to carry
out that concept?
idea?
3. Are there any
other concepts?
CONCEPT: Ways To
Punish For Littering
IDEA: Put
Picture In
Newspaper
IDEA: Serve
Time Picking
Up Litter
IDEA: Fine
Those That
Litter
OBJ: Reduce
Downtown Litter
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Alternatives
Selecting & Defining Concepts
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Be very precise about the concept
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Choose the concept carefully
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Look for multiple concepts
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Begin the concept statement with
“Ways to…” or “Methods of…” and
use at least 6-7 words
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Alternatives
The Concept Fan
Purpose or
Objective
Concept
First Idea or
Alternative
Second
Idea
Third Idea
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Alternatives
Key Things To Remember
1. Individual idea generation time is valuable to
reduce channeling, maintain fidelity and drive
efficiency.
2. Extract concepts from individual ideas. Do not
group ideas first.
3. Then, find the Concept behind those ideas; try
to make a lots of concepts. Don’t look for
Similarities.
Say: “Ways to….”
4. Then, generate more ideas for each Concept.
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1. Who is this de Bono guy that you are talking about?
Dr. Edward de Bono is a 70 year old Rhodes Scholar that was born in Malta. His
background includes degrees in medicine, philosophy and psychology and faculty
appointments in Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and the University of London. With over
30 years of experience in consulting in business and education he is accepted as the
world’s leading expert in the development of thinking skills in general and specifically
creative thinking skills.
2. Why don’t we just do the brainstorming that we have always done?
Brainstorming is a method that was developed in 1936 for the advertising industry.
While there are a number of strengths inherent in the method, there are also some
weaknesses. The Lateral Thinking skills capitalize on the strengths; even enhance them,
while diminishing the weaknesses.
3. Won’t this take a lot longer?
Speed isn’t the real goal. We are working on an important issue here and perhaps a bit
more time using deliberate skills will bring us a better result. Can you at least give it a
chance?
4. This seems really structured…won’t that inhibit our creativity?
The belief that structure inhibits creativity is a flawed one. It is based on the
assumption that all creativity comes from the removal of inhibitions. Just removing
inhibitions in not enough. Without skills even the uninhibited individual will not be
creative unless they have the “natural creativity” that very few individuals possess.
With learned skills and deliberate structure we can harness and direct the application
of those learned skills.
5.
How come you want us to work alone? Seems like we are missing the
opportunity to build on others ideas.
Later in the process we will have the opportunity to collaborate in the way that you are
used to – like brainstorming. However, we want your original thoughts first so that
each of us can later build on all of the ideas that each of us might have. If we don’t
work individually first we run the risk of channeling down a very few solution paths and
might miss opportunities to broaden our overall thinking efforts.
Additionally, we can simply get more ideas in the same time if we work individually –
by working in parallel instead in serial. Lastly we want you to record your own ideas
so that we get them recorded as accurately as possible.
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Why can’t we just group the ideas we have generated into categories
first in order to get the concepts?
Grouping ideas after fact will lead to our finding a smaller number of concepts and
they will tend to be at a very high level. This can easily inhibit our future efforts to get
a more complete and robust solution set.
1.
2.
What do you mean that we need to break down this concept because it
is too broad? Why?
If the concepts are too broad we might miss an opportunity. We want as many
individual concepts as we can early on so that we have more “thinking paths” to
explore.
I don’t always get and idea when I try random entry. Am I doing
something wrong?
Remember that these techniques are not a guarantee of a creative result. However,
they do increase the probability. We want to continue to make the deliberate effort
knowing that we are increasing the probability by using the skills.
3.
Creativity is a lot like R & D. We can’t guarantee that every time you put effort into
R & D that we will get a result, but we can guarantee that if you never put effort into
R & D, you will never get a result.
4. Why are we timing the use of these tools?
Timing is one of the three disciplines of thinking – focus, method and time. Timing
the application relieves the thinker of the responsibility and anxiety of always getting
a result every time. It is best to use the skills for short periods of time and then go on
to another skill or method.
5. These concepts are similar. Let’s just combine them.
Combining similar concepts will result in concepts that are too broad to drive good
thinking. When in doubt, if two concepts are similar, leave them separate in the
hopes that even a small measure of difference will result in new and more ideas.
6.
Why should we wait until next meeting to decide on what we want to
do? We have some ideas to work with here.
Allowing the thinking to perk or simmer for a while often results in more and better
ideas. There is also the chance that others, outside the immediate team, will
contribute. There is even the chance that accidental (or deliberate) random entry will
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also help.
1. Why should we ask for input (ideas) from those other people? They don’t
have any expertise in our field.
Remember that even bad or flawed ideas could lead us to good concepts that will then
lead to more and different and better ideas. Anyone might contribute an idea that
eventually takes us to new concepts and then to new ideas.
2. How come everyone doesn’t get the chance to vote in this prioritization?
In the selection or “narrowing down” process we are applying judgment. We want the
judgment to be based of knowledge in the field. It is also good to have the people that
will be responsible for implementation to be part of the selection process. This way we
get their buy-in and implementation will be enhanced.
3. Why should we let the boss come in and look at this concept fan? We’re not
finished yet.
Eventually the boss (bosses or stakeholders) will receive our results and the more
guidance they can provide along the way, the more likely we will be to produce a result
that they can and will implement. Guidance at this point helps to focus our efforts in
directions that have a greater chance of success.
4. We have selected these (top 6-10) ideas, so why don’t we just take the top
one and go with it?
Think of these ideas as being raw material that needs to be “processed and refined.” If
we judge them now or try to implement them in their current form we might miss a great
opportunity. We need to try to deliberately build each of these ideas into something
better. We should also consider looking at sets of ideas instead of single ideas to make
the final solution more robust.
5. Why do you say we need at least 6-7 words in the concept statements we
write?
Additional detail in a concept statement drives more concepts. It is better to have two
or three clear concepts instead of a single vague one. With clear concepts our thinking
efforts will be more productive and all team members can make the effort to generate
ideas for each of the more specific concepts that come from a single vague concept. 25
LATERAL THINKING™
1

Select &
Define
 Area Focus
 Purpose Focus
 List Several
Definitions
 Display Focus
3
2
Generate Ideas
 Challenge
Alternatives/Concept
Triangle & Fan
 Random Entry
 Provocation Movement
A
Alltteerrn
naattiivveess
F
Fooccu
uss
 General Area Focus - Defines the area,
but not the purpose of the thinking.
 Purpose Focus - A specific purpose or
desired outcome is defined or implied.
 Try alternative definitions
C
Ch
haalllleen
nggee
Never An Attack
 Why C (Cut) - Can We Drop It?
 Why B (Because) - Are the reasons valid?
 Why A (Alternatives) - Immediately seek
alternatives
Capture
& Work With
Output
P
Prroovvooccaattiioon
n
Move back from the first idea or
alternative to identify the overall
concept or fixed point.
This is
termed concept extraction. Once the
concept is identified, new ideas and
alternatives can be generated and
new concepts can be identified.
Keep moving back and forth from
concept to idea. A concept fan can
also be used when a large number of
different ideas and concepts are
needed.
New
Ideas
Concept
 Harvesting
 Treatment
 Assessment
 Arising - When a bold or unusual, but illogical idea is
put forward (arises), not intended as a provocation,
but is treated as one.
 Reversal - Simply reverse the normal direction of
action to create instability.
 Escape - First, put down things taken for granted
about the situation. Second, drop or escape from
them to create instability.
 Wishful Thinking - Create a “fantasy” desire that is
very bold to create instability.
Start with
“Wouldn’t it be nice if…”
 Exaggeration – Greatly exaggerate weights, speeds,
dimensions, volumes etc. either up or down to
create instability.
R
Raan
nd
doom
mE
En
nttrryy
Checklist Of Current Thinking
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Dominating Ideas
Boundaries
Assumptions
Essential Factors
Avoidance Factors
First
Idea
Purpose/
Objective
C
Coon
ncceep
ptt F
Faan
n
A graphical way to display and work with ideas
and concepts to drive the development of more
ideas. The focus is be displayed above concepts
and concepts above ideas/alternatives. Extract
the concepts from individual ideas instead of
groups of ideas.
1.
2.
Repeatedly Ask These Three Questions
What is the overall concept behind the idea?
Are there any other ways (ideas) to carry out
the concept?
Use a purely random method to get a word
then simply let your mind move forward to
connect up with a new idea. (extract a
principle, broad direction or use simple
association) Nouns are usually best.
FOCUS/OBJECTIVE
Concept
Idea
Idea
Idea
Concept
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Concept
Idea
Concept
Idea
Idea
Idea
Concept Concept
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
4
Results:
Creative Thinking
and New Ideas
M
Moovveem
meen
ntt
 Top-Of-The-Head - Make a general effort to move
forward to an idea. No special process is necessary.
 Extract Something - Extract a concept, principle,
feature or value and try to build a new idea around
it.
 Focus On The Difference - Focus on the points of
difference between the normal way of doing things
and the provocation.
 Moment To Moment - Visualize in your mind the
provocation being put into action and imagine what
happens.
 Positive Aspects - Focus on the positive aspects of
the provocation and attempt to move on to a new
idea.
 Special Circumstances - Ask yourself if there are
special circumstances where the provocation would
have direct value.
H
Haarrvveessttiin
ngg
Specific Ideas - Immediately valuable, practical and usable
Beginnings of Ideas - Not practical or usable, but interesting
Concepts - Identify and extract any concepts from the ideas
Approaches - Very broad concepts should be noted
Changes - Note any changes in approaches or concepts
 Flavor - Note the general ”taste” of the entire session





T
Trreeaattm
meen
ntt
 Shaping - Use real life constraints to mold the idea
 Tailoring - Similar to shaping, but deals more with resources
 Concept Extraction - Identify the concept behind the idea
 Strengthening - Make a deliberate effort to strengthen the idea
 Fault Correction - Make a deliberate effort to correct faults
 Focus On The Difference - Focus on the difference between the
usual way and the way being proposed.
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Six Thinking Hats (Parallel Thinking) Elevator Speech
References
Six Hats is Framework for thinking in teams that results in better decisions in less time
because it facilitates a much faster and more complete exploration of the issue/subject.
With the framework, the thinking is broken down into smaller units making it far simpler.
And… since the team members think in parallel…less time is wasted in argument and drift.
Individual perceptions are shared quickly and argument is greatly reduced. I’m excited

about what it has done in my team.
Matthew Hedayatnia and MAE156B
May I _____________________?
Lateral Thinking Elevator Speech
Lateral Thinking is a series of tools that teams…and individuals can use to help produce
new ideas and concepts in an organized and directed way. The tools can be used in either
virtual meetings or physical meetings. Individual thinking and group collaboration are both
included in the process. And…you end up with a tangible documentation of the results that
can be used or even archived for future reference. (I really like the fact that this approach
to team creativity even appeals to technical people and that it doesn’t involve any silly
games that make some people so uncomfortable.) I’ve been surprised and pleased with
the results we‘ve been able to produce in my team.
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