By George M. Prince At about the same time that Sullivan was publishing his theories about anxiety, Synectics was beginning. In 1958, I joined Bill Gordon as a member of the Invention Design Group at Arthur D. Little in Cambridge. Shortly after I joined, one of the other groups at ADL asked us to fix a large Ampico tape recorder (we had the reputation, … Continue reading Thoughts About the World of Synectics
One day we were talking about medicine and sickness and he said something I will always remember. He said, “George, not many people know this, but sickness is a behavior. Sounds surprising, doesn’t it? Sickness is a behavior, that is the results — the consequence of — a person’s unhealthy interactions with himself. I know it sounds a little strange, and let me explore this … Continue reading An Experiment to Reduce Self-Punishment
Tree Like A Tractor Exercise: What connections can you make between: An orchid flower and a flannel jacket A movie and a tea kettle An automobile and fish A totem pole and an orange Did you feel the difference? What did it feel like? What was your impulse? In the Synectic®’s process, there is a step called an Excursion. We generate material that does not … Continue reading Tools: Tree Like A Tractor
By Kathleen Logan-Prince and George M. Prince In our combined experience with creativity and psychotherapy, we have come to believe that there is a widespread way of operating that could be called Inhibited Connection Making or ICM. It is analogous to Inhibited Sexual Desire or ISD, but it refers to the everyday capacity of a person to make meaning of the various events that compose … Continue reading Inhibited Connection-Making in Thinking, Learning and Relating
Climate: The atmosphere surrounding a meeting. This is better understood if it is thought of as a ‘field’ as in a magnetic field and each of us is strongly influenced by every aspect of the field in our meeting. Everything, from the venue and all it contains, to the guidelines adopted by the participants in their interaction with one another. Everything adds either positive or … Continue reading Definitions
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George M. Prince was the co-founder of Synectics©, Inc., the company that initiated research into the creative process and then became the leading teacher of inventors for business and industry. As the longtime chairman of Synectics, he and his partners originated the idea of videotaping invention groups to learn how the process of invention occurred. Based on their discoveries, they developed courses in creativity and … Continue reading Biography
