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Criterion
Rich Picture workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Rich Picture
How Might We
Innovation
How Might We
Paper illustration of the Lotus Blossom working structure.
Innovation
Lotus Blossom
Paper illustration for Reverse Brainstorming
Innovation
Reverse Brainstorming
Purposedifferent
A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early.With a stuck problem carrying many implicit assumptions, the method translates observations into open, workable questions. It sharpens the problem frame without pre-thinking the solution, turning frustration or fuzziness into a search space with clear direction.When a central question feels too large, the method breaks it into neighboring topic fields with their own depth of ideation. It holds structure and openness at the same time, so adjacent perspectives don't get lost. This grows an idea space out of a core problem.For persistent errors or blockages, the method shifts the view to the opposite of the desired effect. It exposes the mechanics of failure and makes hidden causes easier to grasp. This makes improvement more concrete and the problem clearer.
Complexitysame
LowLowLowLow
Timedifferent
30-90 min30–45 min45-90 min30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
2-101-103-103-12
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Rich Picture, Problem Framing NotesHMW Questions, Challenge Framing, Idea PromptsLotus Diagram, Idea Themes, ShortlistReverse Ideas, Risk Themes, Solution Ideas
Tagsno overlap
Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization
FramingOpportunityIdeationQuestions
BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop
BrainstormingIdeationCreativityRisk
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