Analogical Problem Solving

Explore how celebrated innovations emerged from connecting ideas across distant domains, and train your ability to recognize deep structural patterns linking seemingly unrelated problems. You will practice analogical transfer, biomimicry, the SCAMPER technique, and combinatorial creativity through scenarios spanning biology, architecture, business, and technology. These exercises develop the cross-pollination instinct that research identifies as the single strongest predictor of creative output.

intermediate15 minCreative Thinking

Question 1 of 617% Complete

Architects designing the Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, needed a building that stayed cool without conventional air conditioning in a climate where temperatures swing from 5 to 40 degrees Celsius in a single day. They studied termite mounds, which maintain a nearly constant internal temperature through a network of convection channels. The building uses 90 percent less energy for climate control than comparable structures. This approach is called: