Concept Fan
The Concept Fan is a structured creativity technique developed by Edward de Bono that helps escape mental fixation when direct approaches to a problem have stalled. By stepping back to increasingly abstract levels of purpose β from a specific approach, to the goal, to the broader purpose, to the wider context β the Concept Fan expands the solution space and reveals alternative approaches invisible from the original problem framing. It's particularly powerful for problems where "thinking harder" in the existing direction has produced diminishing returns.