© steve whitmore may 2017 - simon fraser...

Planning and Organizing Strategies 1 of 63

Planning and Organizing Strategies(with an Appendix on Creative Thinking)

© Steve Whitmore

May 2017

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The Contract – My Responsibilities

I will treat you with respect

I will arrive at class on time

I will end class on time

I will come to class prepared

I will endeavor to make the classes interesting

I will be fair in my grading practices

I will grade assignments as promptly as possible

I will either answer questions that are posed, or I will suggest resources where you can find the answers

I will help you deal with personal and study problems whenever possible

Planning and Organizing Strategies

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The Contract – Your Responsibilities

Meet deadlines (10)

Participate in class (5)

Learn course content (3)

Prepare for class (2)

Feedback to others (1)


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Your Goals for ENSC 803 To attain better writing skills (6)

Improve writing process (efficiency) (5)

Recognize/improve style (4)

To improve writing quality (2)

Transferring thoughts to words (1)

Increase confidence in writing (1)

Note that the more specific and concrete your goals, the more likely you are to achieve them:

I will learn to write better.

vs.

I will learn to organize technical articlesso they are easily understood.


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Your Concerns about ENSC 803 Good, Fast, or Cheap -- you are only allowed two of

these in any engineering project (includes writing):

1. Fast + Cheap = Inferior

2. Good + Cheap = Slow

3. Good + Fast = Expensive

Skills (Quality: good vs. inferior) 10

Time/deadlines/conflicts (Speed: fast vs. slow) 4

Workload/difficulty (Cost: cheap vs. expensive) 2


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Your Questions about ENSC 803 What are factors to accept non-IEEE Journals?

• The journal should be a technical publication that is peer reviewed and reflects a style typical of the discipline.

Feedback on the “contract”?• I hope that is what I’m providing.

Do I consider speaking skills/pronounciation in grading?• Speaking and presentation skills are a maximum 20% of the

presentation grade. The presentation is the only assignment that can be redone if necessary.

Hours per week required?• Varies a lot depending upon skills, but assume 1 full day per week.

What technical advice can I offer?• Very little (except in the area of Users and UI Design). Best to talk

with faculty and colleagues.


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More Questions about ENSC 803 To what extent can I help with paper?

• My office hours are Monday afternoon and Friday morning. Feel free to make an appointment.

Do we adopt or create our own style?• Typically we adopt a style that reflects the one in the journal where

we hope to publish. However, writing style is often a blend of what is required, what is effective, and what we prefer.

Do I reflect upon lessons/material from the Provincial Instructor Diploma (PID)?• Not too much. But this course was explicitly designed using

approaches from PID. I hope it still shows that.

Why am I not interested in making money from my text?• I’m close to retirement, and there are other things that are more

important to me than the few hundred I make yearly from the text.


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More Questions about ENSC 803 Where do I prefer to fish and why?

• Kitimat River in North-Western BC (because I grew up there and know the area very well).

• Kootenay Lake (because it’s great to cruse around in a small boat and catch Kokanee).

Does Anybody Play Pokemon-Go Anymore?• Not that I know of (which pleases me because last summer I almost

ran over someone playing that game who wasn’t paying attention to surrounding traffic.



Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to apply some

basic planning and organizational skills, including the

following:

Time management

Dealing with procrastination

Rhetorical issues and planning

Outlining papers effectively

Organizational patterns


Planning Strategies

Begin as soon as possible


Issues of Time Management

Length, complexity, and joint authorship make time

management all the more important!

When will you do any necessary research?

How long will it take to draft the document?

Will the document go through a peer or client review

(generally a slow process)?

How long will it take to prepare and duplicate the final

document?

How much time is required to deliver the document?


Time Management for Reports

Planning guidelines for 4 Environmental

Engineers writing a 50 page technical

report (some “boilerplate” text available)

Organization and research 5 days 25%

Drafting 3 days 15%

Peer review 1 day 05%

Revising and editing 5 days 25%

Formatting and duplication 2 days 10%

Delivery by courier 1 day 05%

Contingency 3 days 15%


Time Management

Example of a Simple Gantt Chart

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Deliver Report

Format Report

Final Editing

Revise 1st Draft

Create Figures

Write 1st Draft

Research Topic

Weeks

For lengthy reports written by multiple people, consider

using scheduling software such as MS Project.


Procrastination

The consequences of procrastination


Procrastination

Common reasons for procrastinating?

Hard work

Dislike writing

Uncertainty about where to start

Perfectionism

Apprehension about audience’s criticisms


Dealing with Procrastination

Recognize that procrastination makes it harder in the end

Overcome a dislike of writing by focusing on positive goals

Deal with the uncertainty of starting by asking questions

Replace a desire for perfection with a quest for excellence

Deemphasize potential criticism by viewing your drafts as

provisional (temporary)

Distinguish between procrastination and incubation


Rhetorical Issues and Planning

Consider audience, purpose, and tone

Use standard forms when required

Determine an appropriate perspective:

Perspective Possible Uses

1st Person (I, We, Organization) Letters, memos, reports, proposals

2nd Person (You) Manuals, procedures, letters

3rd Person (She/He, They, One) Reports, legal documents

No Person (Passive Voice) Scientific reports & articles, specifications


Organizational Strategies

Creating outlines

Using organizational patterns

Writing introductory paragraphs

Creating graphics


Topical Outlines

1. Fiber Optics in Telecommunications

1.1. Architectures

1.1.1. Active Pedestal

1.1.2. Double Star

1.1.3. Star Bus

1.2. Materials

1.2.1. Fiber Types

1.2.2. Strand

1.2.2.1. Core

1.2.2.2. Cladding

1.3. Applications

1.3.1. Residential

1.3.2. Commercial

1.4. Advantages and Disadvantages

1.4.1. Cost

1.4.2. Flexibility

1.5. Installations

1.6. Computer Simulations


Computer Outlines


Mind Maps


Taxonomies (Top-Down) Deductive

Fiber Optics in Telecommunications

Architectures Strand

Applications Advantages

Disadvantages

Star Bus Double Star

Active Ped.

Core Cladding

Residential Commercial 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

1.

2.

3.


Brain Storming

(Bottom-Up)

Inductive

Mike’s Process

(MindStorm)



Mike’s Process (MindMap)

Mike’s Process (Outline)


. . . . . .

Could then be entered into

MS Word “Outline View” and

expanded into the paper.


Patterns of Organization

Pattern Description

Chronological Sequence of events through time, as for describing a process.

Spatial According to physical relationships, as for describing an object.

Comparison/Contrast Explanation of similarities and differences, as for comparing old

and new designs.

Order of importance From most important to least important, as determined by

audience and purpose.

Problem solving Explanation of problem, method, and solution followed by

recommendations.

General to specific A general point followed by a more detailed explanation

and/or specific examples.


More Organizational Patterns

Place the obvious before the remarkable

Place the presentation before the refutation

Place the explanation before the complication

Place the solvable before the unsolvable

Place the agreement before the disagreement

Place the likely before the speculative

Place the rules before the exceptions


Introductions & Graphics

Some writers like to “perfect” the introduction prior to

starting to work on the rest of the paper.

• Useful for papers where the structure or conclusions

are unclear

• Recognize risk of perfectionism and procrastination

Experienced Engineers sometimes create all the

graphics for a document and then fill in the blanks.

• Useful for papers with a high visual content

• Recognize risk of insufficient explanation and

transition

Building from PowerPoint An alternative to starting in a document is to start with

PowerPoint and then transfer the material to MS Word:



Conclusion

Reflections: How much do you procrastinate and why?

Creative Thinking 32 of 63

Creative Thinking

© Steve Whitmore

May 2016

“You can’t depend upon your eyeswhen your imagination is out of focus.”

–Mark Twain


Learning Objectives

At the end of this module, you will understand some

alternative approaches to creative thinking:

Problem Posing and Creativity

The Creative Process

Types of Creativity

Brain Research and Creativity

Techniques for Creativity

Warning: This presentation is quite speculative in nature.


Inventions

What is the most important invention in the past 2000

years?

Scientific method, civil rights, rudders on boats, western

classical music, space travel, laser, transistor, hay,

internet, steel, moveable type, antibiotics, atomic bomb,

steam engine, the clock, television, idea of free will,

unconscious mind, birth control, internal combustion

engine, education . . .


Inventions“The question is impossible to answer with one thing; one could for instance say with some justification “the germ theory of disease” but then that goes back to the microscope -- otherwise no one would ever have seen a germ -- and that to the lens, and eyeglasses may be as important as germs . . . and so on.”

-Philip W. Anderson

“There is no such thing as the single most important invention of the last two thousand years. The evolution of technology doesn't work like that. It's a web of ideas, not a zero-sum game.”

-Howard Rheingold


Some Bad News Research indicates that pre-school children are incredible

engines of creativity.

Consider, for example, what a child can do with a blanket, a table, and a cardboard tube – defend a fort or ride a unicorn –whole new worlds where anything is possible.

Measured levels of creativity then decline throughout elementary and secondary school.

Perhaps this decline has something to do with the expectation by adults that children adhere to certain structures, rules of conduct, and patterns of thinking (Nurture?)

Or perhaps it has to do with the rapid and abundant production of neurons in children, and the tendency of the brain to prune unused neurons as we age (Nature?)

Whatever the reason, by the time people get to university, many are about as creative as rocks.


Some Good News Recent research indicates that we are not simply born

with certain levels of creativity (and intelligence).

The brain is rather plastic in nature (i.e., changeable). Not only can we learn to become more creative with practice, but with the right training, it is also possible to increase measured levels of intelligence.

Biology IS NOT destiny! (Hard work may be ;-)


Creativity and Engineering: Problem Posing

Observe how existing industrial, commercial, or consumer products and systems work.

Note when some device or system irritates you (coin rollers).

Identify the purpose of existing products or systems with an eye to finding inefficiencies or problems.

Analyze the nature of the problem by considering whether solving the problem is physically possible.

Determine how best to improve the product or how to resolve or restate the problem.

Consider how to develop and market the product (is solving the problem fiscally or socially possible?).

See the following for an alternative seven stage model of creativity:

http://www.mgtaylor.com/mgtaylor/glasbead/7stagcrp.htm

http://www.mgtaylor.com/mgtaylor/glasbead/7stagcrp.htm


Problem Posing

Baby Monitor Heart Monitor

Things you can improve:

• Reduce cost, size, complexity

• Increase reliability, lifetime, user interface


The Creative Process

1. Saturation: Once the problem or creative challenge has been

defined, the next stage of creativity is a left hemisphere activity that

paradoxically requires absorbing one's self in what's already

known. Any creative breakthrough inevitably rests on the shoulders

of all that came before it. For a painter, that might mean studying the

masters. For me, it involves reading widely and deeply, and then

sorting, evaluating, organizing, outlining, and prioritizing.

2. Incubation: The second stage of creativity begins when we walk

away from a problem, typically because our left hemisphere can't

seem to solve it. Incubation involves mulling over information,

often unconsciously. Intense exercise can be a great way to shift

into right hemisphere in order to access new ideas and solutions.

After writing for 90 minutes, for example, the best thing I can do to

jog my brain, is take a run.


The Creative Process (cont’d)

3. Illumination: Ah-ha moments -- spontaneous, intuitive, unbidden --

characterize the third stage of creativity. Where are you when you get

your best ideas? I'm guessing it's not when you're sitting at your desk,

or consciously trying to think creatively. Rather it's when you've given

your left hemisphere a rest, and you're doing something else,

whether it's exercising, taking a shower, driving or even sleeping.

4. Verification: In the final stage of creativity, the left hemisphere

reasserts its dominance. This stage is about challenging and

testing the creative breakthrough you've had. Scientists do this in a

laboratory. Painters do it on a canvas. Writers do it by translating a

vision into words.

Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2011/11/how-to-think-creatively.html

http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2011/11/how-to-think-creatively.html

Brain Lateralization is . . .


An over-used and over-stated over-simplification!


Types of Creativity (cont’d)Cognitive Emotional

Isaac Newton

Thomas EdisonAha!

TherapeuticMoment

Spontaneous

Deliberate

Artists & Musicians(Writers?)

Source: Dietrich, A. (2004). The cognitive neuroscience ofcreativity. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 1011-1026.


Types of Creativity (cont’d) Source is unknown (Boder?). Where does Engineering fit????

1. Combine:a. Field: Business

b. Value: Synthesis

c. Example: Steve Jobs

2. Explore:a. Field: Science

b. Value: Curiosity

c. Example: Charles Darwin

3. Transform:a. Field: Art (also politics/religion, psychology)

b. Value: Change

c. Example: Walt Whitman, Martin Luther King, Carl Jung

Meta-Creativity?

Perhaps Engineering is meta-creative in that it brings

together

» Combining, Exploring, Transforming

» Synthesis, Curiosity, Change


?


Brain Research & Creativity (1) In its 100 billion neurons, a toddler’s brain has about double the

average number of neuronal connections as the adult brain (2,000/1,000 to 20,000/10,000 average synapses per neuron). Does this excess allow the brain to respond to novel and uncertain situations faster and more creatively?

The brain massively rewires itself between 3-6 years (particularly in the frontal cortex, which controls organizing, planning, and focusing). Less creative and more predictable response to reality?

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change in terms of structure and function in response to the environment. This may make the question, “Is it nature or nurture?”, increasingly meaningless. Nature is nurture; nurture is nature?

The brain wires itself in response to stimuli. It can rewire itself following trauma: some blind people appear to echolocate arising from the brain rewiring the visual and hearing centers.


Brain Research & Creativity (2) Distinction sometimes made between fluid intelligence (the capacity

to think logically and solve problems in novel situations) and

crystallized intelligence (the ability to use skills, knowledge, and

experience).

Mathematical/logical problems are the domain of fluid intelligence;

language/rhetorical problems are the domain of crystallized

intelligence.

Younger brain (0-24 yrs) solves novel problems faster than older

brain; but older brain (24-120 yrs) solves known problems with

greater precision.

Recent (emerging) research indicates that through the use of

computer-assisted learning-technologies, the older brain can

increase its fluid intelligence. Use it or lose it.

Are limits on the ability/willingness to change a barrier to creativity?

“Nothing endures but change” – Heraclitus (c. 535-475 BC)


Brain Research & Creativity (3) What is the source of creativity in the brain? We don’t yet know

precisely, but some have put forward the Fusiform Gyrus as a

candidate that points to a possible answer:


Brain Research & Creativity (4) “What do artists, poets, and novelists have in common? …. The

propensity to link seemingly unrelated things. It’s called metaphor. So

what I’m arguing is, if the same gene [linked to Synaethesia], instead of

being expressed only in the fusiform gyrus, is expressed diffusely

through the brain, you’ve got a greater propensity to link seemingly

unrelated brain areas in concepts and ideas. So it’s a very phrenological

view of creativity.” (V.S. Ramachandran, cited in http://www.noahbrier.

com/archives/2009/05/neuroscience_and_the_creativity_of_connections)

For more info see:

http://www.ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind.html and

http://www.psy.cuhk.edu.hk/~mael/papers/RamachandranHubbard_Synaesthesia.pdf


Techniques for Creativity

Mature creativity is not innate nor does it arise from

mystical inspiration. It comes from observation of the world

around us with a “what-if” attitude – a willingness to

suspend our dependence upon rules – a view that anything

is possible.

Observing nature

Focused meditation

Role playing

Free writing

Journal writing

Problem-Solving Heuristics


Observing NatureWhitcomb Judson, inventor of the zipper in 1893

Did it arise from observing how feathers are held together?

George de Mestrel, inventor of velcro in 1948

Observed how the burrs of certain plants adhere to clothing

and animal fur.

Andrew & Steve, inventors of SSTF (Slug Slime Thin Film)

After characterizing the electrical, optical, and mechanical

properties of slug slime, they found that only slugs have a

use for it. (More recent research indicates that slug slime may

well have a variety of biomedical applications. Oops, we

missed that opportunity -- sigh)


Focused Meditation

Put on relaxing music.

Find a comfortable chair or lie on the floor.

Close eyes, and breathe slowly and deeply.

Relax muscles in body, starting with face and moving through

the torso down to the legs.

Visualize ideas in your mind as clouds slowly passing by on a

sunny day.

Switch focus to the particular problem or idea you want to

consider.

Look at it from various perspectives as if it were a cloud

floating by.

Later record any insights or ideas that occur.


Role Playing

Imagination is limited by our experiences.

Overcome this by seeking out new experiences.

Example: Learn how to best design products for the

blind by wearing a blindfold at home for a few

hours. Or spend a day in a wheelchair up at

SFU to appreciate the difficulties faced by the

physically disabled.

Talk with your intended user group


Free Writing & Brainstorming

OK So I need to write about brainstorming. Usually its done in a

group but not always sometimes individual. Works best in a

group though people feed off each others creativity especially if

they have different backgrounds – social professional – etc. So how

does it work as a group

- get people together for a time period ½ to 1 hour

- anything goes. no criticism – insane crazy ideas are ok

- need to ensure nobody gets censored though so need a group

leader to facilitate stuff. should also record

- Also good to later sort out ideas by being critical and

further exploring them

But the biggest point is to make sure there is no criticism & that

people can come up with all sorts of ideas. Should also be fun

laughing – sort of like a creative party with stuff written on the

blackboard


Informal Journals


Formal Engineering Journals

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Problem-Solving Heuristics

Create analogies

Generate contraries

Synthesize ideas

Research the Literature

Problem-solving heuristics are structured methods that

allow one to discover new information or unexpected

solutions to problems:


Create Analogies

X is like Y – a very powerful technique

Static (or particle) perspective

( i.e., How do jet engines work?)

Dynamic (or wave) perspective

(i.e., What are the historical changes in jet engine design?)

Relative (or field) perspective

(i.e., How are jet engines like rocket engines?: Vectored thrust)


Generate Contraries

Thinking Inside the Box

(Thesis)

Thinking Outside the Box

(Antithesis)

Praise success and praise failure

Praise success and punish failure


Synthesize Ideas

The First Post-It-Note (Art Fry)

Remem

ber to Invent

the Post-It Note

Tomm

orrow!!

Need a glue that's

not very sticky

®

AKA: Serendipity

“Chance favours the prepared mind.”

–Louis Pasteur


Research the Literature

See what other people have to say about the problem.

Friends and colleagues? The web? Popular press?

Libraries? Databases?

www.lib.sfu.ca

IEEE

INSPEC

SPIE

scholar.google.com


Phrases that Kill Creativity

We tried that before.

It costs too much.

It’s too radical a change.

Let’s get back to reality.

You’re right, but . . . .

Not that again.

We did all right without it.

Let’s form a committee.

It can’t be done.

Quit dreaming.

NO!

Et cetera


Conclusion

“Computers are useless. They can only

give you answers.”

–Pablo Picasso

“To invent, you need a good imagination

and a pile of junk.”

–Thomas Edison

© steve whitmore may 2017 - simon fraser...

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