What do you get when you combine an elephant with a bicycle?
I don’t know either, but did you think of something funny? Combinations, the sillier the better, are excellent tools for sparking the imagination.
Many creativity techniques use combinations to spark ideas; one of them is “Relational Algorithms,” which sounds very serious and scientific, but is actually quite fun.
Relational Algorithms was developed by Herbert Crovitz. Creativity teacher Arthur VanGundy adapted the technique and called it “Preppy Thoughts.” Now that sounds better!
This technique works by evoking images in your mind. These will usually be absurd or really strange, which helps give the imagination a kickstart.
How it works
Relational Algorithms combines elements from the problem statement with randomly chosen words from a set.
1. The first thing you need to do is write a brief statement of your problem.
Example: “How might I entertain my mother-in-law over Christmas?”
2. Now underline the action verb and object.
“How might I entertain my mother-in-law over Christmas?”
3. Finally, insert a relational word between the two words you have underlined.
Crovitz suggested these:
| about | at | for | of | round | to |
| across | because | from | off | still | under |
| after | before | if | on | so | up |
| against | between | in | opposite | then | when |
| among | but | near | or | though | where |
| and | by | not | out | through | while |
| as | down | now | over | till | with |
VanGundy expanded the list to include prepositions:
| above | below | except | toward |
| along | beneath | into | upon |
| amid | beside | past | within |
| around | beyond | since | without |
| behind | during | throughout |
For example:
“How might I entertain my mother-in-law over Christmas?”
- entertain/opposite/mother-in-law
- entertain/past/mother-in-law
- entertain/where/mother-in-law
You might come up with something like this:
- ask your mother-in-law to entertain one of the guests
- show her photographs from your husband’s childhood albums, and ask her to tell you what she remembers about them
- play a game of “where is grandma?” with the children; the first one who finds her, gets a treat from her bag of goodies
Another example:
“How might I improve the marketing of my latest book?”
- improve/behind/book
- improve/beyond/book
- improve/when/book
- improve/during/book
Some possibilities:
- make prominent mention of my previous (best-selling) book in the campaign, so search engines will pick up both references
- include a coupon for a discount of my previous book
- offer free information from the book on my website and in my newsletter
- mention updated research and information on my blog
- offer readers discount if they review my book
- schedule my Facebook and Twitter updates to reach more time zones
- include interactive games based on my book on my website
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1. Crovitz, H.F. Galton’s walk: Methods for the analysis of thinking, intelligence and creativity. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
2. VanGundy, A. B. 101 Activities for teaching creativity and problem solving. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2005.
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