Creating Ideas

Expert knowledge of ideation methodologies, lateral thinking, and creative problem-solving. Grounded in de Bono (lateral thinking, Six Hats), Osborn (brainstorming, SCAMPER), design thinking, and first principles reasoning.

Mode Detection

| User Says | Mode | |-----------|------| | "brainstorm", "generate ideas", "think creatively", "fresh perspective" | APPLY | | "is this idea good", "evaluate concept", "how original is this" | AUDIT | | "stuck", "no ideas", "concept isn't working", "make this more creative" | FIX |

If ambiguous: "APPLY creative frameworks, AUDIT existing ideas, or FIX creative blocks?"

Relationship to rsn-reasoning-problems

This skill generates ideas. For reasoning about ideas once generated:

• Use rsn-reasoning-problems.dialectical to evaluate trade-offs
• Use rsn-reasoning-problems.analogical for deeper domain transfer analysis
• Use rsn-reasoning-problems.causal to plan execution

---

APPLY Mode

Core Principles

| Principle | One-Liner | |-----------|-----------| | Diverge then Converge | Generate many ideas first, evaluate later | | Suspend Judgment | "Yes, and..." not "No, but..." during ideation | | Quantity Breeds Quality | More ideas → higher chance of breakthrough | | Combine and Build | Best ideas often merge multiple concepts | | Challenge Assumptions | Question every "obvious" constraint |

Top 10 Techniques

1. First Principles: Strip to fundamentals, rebuild from truth
2. SCAMPER: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse
3. Lateral Thinking: Escape dominant patterns via provocation
4. Analogical Transfer: Borrow solutions from other domains
5. Constraint Manipulation: Remove, add, or flip constraints
6. Random Stimulation: Force connections with unrelated inputs
7. Reverse Brainstorming: "How could we make this worse?"
8. Worst Possible Idea: Start terrible, extract useful elements
9. Six Thinking Hats: Structured parallel thinking perspectives
10. Morphological Analysis: Systematic combination of attributes

Full catalog: references/patterns.md

Process

1. Define challenge — What problem are we solving? What does success look like?
2. Gather inputs — Current constraints, past attempts, domain knowledge
3. Select technique(s) — Match technique to problem type
4. Diverge — Generate 10-50+ ideas without judgment
5. Incubate — Allow unconscious processing if time permits
6. Converge — Cluster, combine, evaluate, select
7. Develop — Strengthen selected ideas

Output Format

## Creative Exploration: [Challenge]

### Challenge Reframe
- Original: [How it was stated]
- Reframed: [More generative framing]

### Technique Applied: [Name]

### Ideas Generated
1. **[Idea Name]**: [One-line description]
   - Mechanism: [How it works]
   - Novel element: [What's new]

[Repeat for top ideas]

### Combinations Worth Exploring
- [Idea A] + [Idea B] → [Combined concept]

### Recommended Next Steps
1. [Most promising direction]

---

AUDIT Mode

Evaluation Dimensions

| Dimension | Check | |-----------|-------| | Originality | Is this genuinely new or recombined familiar? | | Feasibility | Can this actually be built/implemented? | | Value | Does this solve a real problem meaningfully? | | Clarity | Is the concept clear and communicable? | | Defensibility | Can competitors easily copy this? | | Scalability | Does this grow or stay niche? |

Full rubric with 0-3 criteria: references/audit-rubric.md

Process

1. Understand the idea — Can you explain it simply?
2. Score dimensions — 0-3 on each criterion
3. Identify strengths — What's working?
4. Identify gaps — What's missing or weak?
5. Suggest improvements — How to strengthen?

Output Format

## Idea Audit: [Concept Name]

**Score:** X/18 | **Verdict:** [Breakthrough/Promising/Incremental/Weak]

### Dimension Scores
| Dimension | Score | Assessment |
|-----------|-------|------------|
| Originality | /3 | [Finding] |
| Feasibility | /3 | [Finding] |
| Value | /3 | [Finding] |
| Clarity | /3 | [Finding] |
| Defensibility | /3 | [Finding] |
| Scalability | /3 | [Finding] |

### Strengths
- [What's working]

### Gaps
- [What's missing]

### Enhancement Recommendations
1. [Specific improvement]

---

FIX Mode

Common Creative Blocks

| Block | Symptom | Fix Technique | |-------|---------|---------------| | Functional Fixedness | Can only see obvious uses | Analogical transfer, SCAMPER | | Einstellung Effect | Stuck on first solution | Constraint removal, reverse brainstorm | | Analysis Paralysis | Overthinking, no output | Worst idea first, time pressure | | Premature Judgment | Killing ideas too early | Diverge/converge separation | | Domain Blindness | Only seeing industry norms | Random stimulation, cross-domain | | Scope Creep | Idea too complex | First principles, constraint addition |

Diagnostic Process

1. Identify block type — What's preventing progress?
2. Select antidote technique — Match technique to block
3. Apply technique — Generate new options
4. Extract value — What's useful in the output?
5. Iterate — Refine or try another technique

Idea Strengthening Process

1. Isolate weakness — What specifically is weak?
2. Diagnose cause — Why is it weak?
3. Apply targeted fix — Specific enhancement
4. Validate improvement — Re-audit the idea

Output Format

## Creative Fix: [Problem/Block]

### Diagnosis
- **Block type:** [Category]
- **Symptom:** [What's happening]
- **Root cause:** [Why it's happening]

### Technique Applied: [Name]

### Before
[Original state/idea]

### After
[Improved state/ideas]

### What Changed
- [Specific improvement and why it helps]

Examples: references/examples.md

---

Technique Selection Guide

| Problem Type | Best Techniques | |--------------|-----------------| | Need more ideas | SCAMPER, Random Stimulation, Worst Idea | | Stuck on one solution | Constraint Manipulation, Reverse Brainstorm | | Need breakthrough | First Principles, Analogical Transfer | | Too many ideas | Six Hats evaluation, Morphological narrowing | | Idea too vague | First Principles, Constraint Addition | | Idea too complex | Elimination, Core extraction | | Need team alignment | Six Thinking Hats, structured brainstorm |

---

Failure Handling

| Situation | Action | |-----------|--------| | Technique produces nothing useful | Switch technique; try opposite approach | | All ideas seem bad | Use "Worst Idea" to lower pressure; extract elements | | Can't escape existing solution | Add extreme constraint; remove core assumption | | Ideas too incremental | Ask "What would 10x require?"; analogize from distant domain | | Overwhelmed by options | Apply Six Hats structure; force ranking | | Time pressure | Use rapid SCAMPER (30 seconds per letter) |

Anti-patterns: references/anti-patterns.md

---

Boundaries

In scope:

• Ideation and brainstorming
• Problem reframing
• Creative problem-solving
• Concept development
• Breaking mental blocks
• Innovation methodologies

Out of scope:

• Implementation planning (use rsn-reasoning-problems.causal)
• Market validation (use rsn-perceiving-information)
• Visual/artistic design
• Technical feasibility deep-dive

---

References

| File | Content | |------|---------| | patterns.md | Full technique catalog | | audit-rubric.md | Detailed scoring criteria | | anti-patterns.md | What to avoid | | examples.md | Worked examples |