The ‘Power of 10’. An easy-to-use tool to get the creative juices flowing and generate possibilities.
Have you found it hard to think of new ideas or solutions? Maybe you struggle to find ways to enable people to really participate in their community. The Power of 10 can help generate ideas.
Talking About the Power of 10
It really is a simple tool to use and can have astounding results. Some background first:
- Where did it come from? Discovering the Power of 10.
- Why use it? The benefits .
- What is it? The Power of 10 in practice.
- How can the Power of 10 be used? Many Uses for The Power of 10
Discovering the Power of 10
For those of you who are mathematics inclined, the The Powers of 10 might be familiar in its original mathematical form.
Me, I am not too familiar with maths, but I do understand the maths and the tool I use, have to do with multiples of 10!
A presentation by Ric Thompson through the recreation organisation NICAN was my introduction. Ric offers some wonderful tips and tools along the way to building communities where every person is participating, respected and valued. Here is Ric’s presentation on Creative Thinking and the Power of 10
Ric attributes the original concept of the Power of 10, to Edward De Bono. Until now I had not been able to source this. Well really, I had not done lengthy searching, just a little look. I did continue to use the Power of 10 in all kinds of situations.
Because I want to source the stuff I use on ChangedLivesNewJourneys I went looking for the origins.
As often happens in this fun, blogging life there are unexpected discoveries along the way. This week my research trail re-acquainted me with Ric Thompson’s work and lead me to Michael Hewitt Gleeson. Michael and his work were new to me yet he generously provided resources about X10 thinking. Michael has published a book on The Power of 10 for business.
The Benefits of Using the Power of 10
You can use the Power of 10 in all kinds of situations. Here are just a few benefits you might find using the Power of 10, when supporting people who are not included in their community (often this happens to people after brain injury):
- It generates a range of new possibilities. 100s if not 1000s of new ideas.
- Encouraging you and others to think differently and more creatively.
- It liberates.Like brainstorming and creative thinking tools, it helps free your mind.
- Sharing and multiplying the possibilities. And if you do this with a group of people, ideas build from one and another, further expanding possibilities.
- With a bigger range of choices and solutions you can find yourself with a whole new set of ideas to put into practice.
- When supporting people with brain injury I believe people mostly want to live a full and meaningful life. This includes :
Being able to participate in a range of activities
in a range of places
with a range of people.
The Power of 10 is one tool that can help to generate ideas to enable this to happen.
The Power of 10 in Practice
A very simple format with quite remarkable outcomes. Like brainstorming it can push you to new thinking and new solutions.
You can do this alone but it’s great to work in a group.
Ready to Try it Out
1. List the numbers 1 to 10 down the side of your preferred worksheet: a sheet of paper, whiteboard, new computer document. Or you can use the sheet below.
[box type=”download” border=”full”] Worksheet POWER OF 10[/box]
2. Agree on a clear specific focus for your Power of 10 exercise. Write this on the top of your worksheet.
Rather than “respite” you might say “Jimmy and his family want regular breaks from each other this year.”
Don’t get too worried about the exact words, the tool is very flexible and forgiving.
Just go for it. It’s the ideas you generate thats important.
3. Begin with the first column. List 10 ideas that might meet the focus topic you have identified.
You must go all the way to 10!
For respite the list might include: organised holiday tour, visit with friends, regular interest activity for Jimmy.
4. Once you have a list of 10 options, take 1 of those options and move to the second column. Do another list of 10.
Depending on what your focus is it might be 10 strategies, or resources, or solutions, or wild ideas.
Dana, living with brain injury lists 10 interests in the first column, one being ARCHITECTURE. In the second column ideas to engage in this interest included: study a course, volunteer in an architect’s office, enter a design competition.
5. And again for the third column: Take one option from the second column and make another list of 10. This time you will likely find you are thinking of more specific ways to implement the idea.
Remember:
At times finding 10 will likely push you beyond standard thinking and ideas – go with it. That is often where great ideas come from.
Keep thinking and discussing. You MUST find 10 ideas for each list.
Once you have completed the three:
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- You could stop and start making a firm plan of action based on the ideas that have arisen.
- You could go back to the first column and do the same with each option – imagine the number of ideas you would generate
- You could keep going and do a 4th, 5th etc column until you run out of ideas.
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Please share any new ways you discover to use the Power of 10 in the COMMENTS below.
Many Uses for The Power of 10
Use the Power of 10 in any situation where you want to think creatively, or shift a block in your thinking.
Some of the ways I have used it over many years includes:
- Finding ways to get a person participating in a way that is meaningful for that person
- Enabling people to identify and recognise their own achievements and successful outcomes
- Listing what is already available in the community and looking at creative ways to use these resources
- Develop a wider variety of creative options for “respite” for groups of people living with a range of disabilities
- Identifying potential valued roles for an individual who is marginalised from their community
- Finding new, and possibly wild, but exciting links that might engage people with brain injury
- Encouraging people working in community linking roles to see how they might expand thinking about the possibilities of their role.
And Finally
For inspiration and something a bit different here is a short video documentary “The Powers of Ten” . This documentary by Charles and Ray Eames is one Michael Hewitt Gleeson credits with sparking his interest in the Power of 10 concept all those years ago. This documentary has now been preserved by the USA Library of Congress in the National Film Registry.
Short but amazing.
What do you think? Please share thoughts in the Comments below.
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