     Vincent Nolan  Vincent Nolan, Former Chairman of Synectics
Europe  By Vincent Nolan  Synectics is usually classified as a
Creative Problem-Solving (CPS) Technique along with
Brainstorming and Lateral Thinking. So what does Synectics, as a
CPS technique, have in common with Brainstorming and the others?
And how does it differ?  An independent answer to that question
is provided by Dr. John Martin of the Open University in the UK.
In his notes for the Creative Management module of their MBA
Course in 1997, he wrote: “In practice, different schools of
creativity training borrow from one another. The more elaborate
forms of creative problem-solving, such as the Buffalo CPS
method (basically brainstorming), incorporate quite a number of
features found in Synectics. However there is still a
discernible split between the ‘psychological’ approaches such as
Synectics that emphasize metaphor, imagery, emotion, energy etc.
and ‘procedural’ approaches that concentrate on private
listings, round robins etc..  Of cour