Invented in 1925 by Dr. C.C. Crawford, professor of education at the University of Southern California, the Crawford Slip Method is an idea generator without equal. It's an easy-to-use, effective group survey tool that enables the collection of ideas from audiences of almost any size rapidly and anonymously.
Brainpower Networking Using the Crawford Slip Method explains how to focus the creativity and expertise of people with knowledge of a subject on the problems and challenges associated with solving them. This book provides step-by-step guidance for anyone to mobilize collective brainpower to identify and solve problems at any level, from the personal to the highest levels of large organizations. By following the simple, easy to understand, fully illustrated instructions in this book, system improvers can be effective with the Crawford Slip Method in a matter of days, or even several hours.
The book is logically organized into chapters that lead the reader through:
- A brief history of the method
- A general description of various applications
- How to create the "target" for slip writers
- How to prepare for a slip-writing workshop
- How to motivate slip writers
- How to conduct the slip-writing workshop
- How to sort and classify written slips
- How to convert sorted slips into a useful form
Appendices provide examples of actual slip-writing targets for various specialized purposes that the reader can use exactly as provided to get started with the Crawford Slip Method.
H. William Dettmer is a professional management consultant. His clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Lucent Technologies, Weyerhaeuser, NEC America and Ericsson Cellular, as well as the U.S. Navy and the Department of Commerce's Management Extension Partnership. He learned the Crawford Slip Method directly from C.C. Crawford in the 1980s and has applied it to solve complex problems, develop strategy and plan its implementation. A retired Air Force pilot, Dettmer is a student of maneuver warfare and the philosophy of John Boyd. He holds a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and is the author of four books on constraint management: Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (1997), Breaking the Constraints to World-Class Performance (1998), Manufacturing at Warp Speed [with Eli Schragenheim] (2000), and Strategic Navigation (2003).