Protected: Morphological Analysis/Matrix

The original morphological box technique was created by Fritz Zwicky, an astrophysicist, to solve complex problems in three dimensions. This adaptation renders it in two dimensions and focuses on encouraging variation and combination of ideas. It is a powerful tool for generating lots of ideas quickly, by combining the attributes of the challenge in new and innovative ways. It is especially well-suited for adaptive (doing better) innovation, suggesting ideas for improvement and variation in existing products and processes. It can also be combined with SCAMPER to generate even more ideas.

1. State the problem.

2. Identify the parameters of the problem. Make sure and identify all important parameters, to maximize idea generation.

3. List all possible variations of each parameter. Here is where you want to take the time to proliferate as many variations as you can. Again, the more variations you identify, the more ideas you can generate.

4. Begin combining variations across the parameter columns, systematically or at random, to stimulate new ideas. A 4-column, 5-variation matrix will yield 5×5x5×5=625 possible combinations.

Example: a startup company wanted to come up with a new name. It decided that three words would suffice.

1. Number of parameters = 3, the number of words in the company name. They decided the first word should be an adjective, the second a noun describing their area of expertise, the third a noun referring to their organization.

Adjective

Noun

2. For each parameter they came up with a few variations.

Adjective	Noun	Noun
Applied	Management	Concepts
Strategic	Business	Systems
Allied	Marketing	Associates
Creative	Idea	Team

3. Then they combined the variations across the parameter columns to come up with different two- and three- word titles. They developed a short list to use as the basis for their company name selection: