Fractionation
Fractionation is a thinking technique for breaking down complex subjects into component parts to generate new perspectives and facilitate creative problem-solving. It is often taught through exercises like listing fractions, reassembling parts, or working backwards to infer the original subject.
THE IDEA
Fractionation
Fractionation is a technique used to decompose a subject, problem, or theme into smaller, manageable parts (called fractions). This helps reveal hidden structures, stimulate new ideas, and improve understanding. The following practice exercises are designed to develop skill in fractionation:
- Fractionation
- Students are given a subject (e.g., unloading ships in harbour, restaurant meals, catching and marketing fish, organization of a football league, building a bridge, newspapers) and asked to list its fractions.
- The lists are collected and analyzed for variety or uniformity of approaches.
- Reassembly
- From fractionation lists, small groups of two or three fractions are extracted and given to students.
- Students are asked to combine them in a way that generates a new perspective on the original subject.
- Picking out fractions
- The subject is presented to the group, and students volunteer fractions one by one.
- Overlap is allowed; direct duplication is pointed out, and the student explains the perceived difference.
- Working backwards
- A list of fractions from another group is given, with obvious references to the subject replaced by ‘blank’.
- Students guess the original subject.
- Alternatively, students are given five subjects, each fractionated by a different student, and must identify which subject a given list refers to.
- Two unit division
- Students are asked to divide a subject into two units.
- The first two units chosen by different students are compared to show variety of approaches.
- Sequential two unit division
- One student divides the subject into two units, then another student divides one of those units into two, and so on.
- This demonstrates that any unit can be further divided by picking one part and treating the remainder as the other part.
When to use it
Project planning: Break a large project into phases (fractions) to assign tasks and identify dependencies.
Design thinking: Decompose a product experience into user actions, touchpoints, and feedback loops to prioritize improvements.
Conflict resolution: Fractionate a disagreement into underlying interests, facts, and emotions to find common ground.
Learning: When studying a new topic, list its key components (theories, examples, applications) to build a structured understanding.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Fractionating 'Restaurant Meals'
A student might break down 'Restaurant Meals' into fractions such as: menu selection, kitchen preparation, dining ambiance, customer service, payment processing, and cleanup. This breakdown helps analyze each aspect separately and identify improvement opportunities.
Working Backwards on 'Newspapers'
Given a fraction list like 'editorial decisions, printing schedule, distribution routes, advertisement sales, reader feedback', students try to guess the original subject was 'Newspapers'. This exercise reinforces how fractions uniquely characterize a subject.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a complex problem you are currently facing. Can you fractionate it into at least 10 distinct parts? What new insights emerge from this list?
How might the process of reassembling fractions (exercise 2) help you generate innovative solutions compared to tackling the problem whole?
When would using a two-unit division (exercise 5) be more useful than a detailed fractionation? What are the trade-offs?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Lateral Thinking A Textbook of Creativity (Edward de Bono)