synectics

Synectics is a problem solving methodology that stimulates thought processes of which the subject may be unaware. This method was developed by George M. Prince (1918–2009) and William J.J. Gordon (1919–2003), originating in the Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit in the 1950s.

According to Gordon, Synectics research has three main assumptions: the creative process can be described and taught invention processes in arts and sciences are analogous and are driven by the same "psychic" processes individual and group creativity are analogous