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The Pugh Concept Generation technique is an ideation technique that is often used to facilitate brainstorming sessions focused on finding a solution for a problem. The technique compares various concepts to identify ones with the most promise and benefit.

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Quick reference

Pugh Concept Generation

Pugh concept generation technique is an ideation technique that is often used to facilitate brainstorming sessions focused on finding a solution for the problem. The technique compares various concepts to identify the ones with the most promise and benefit.

When to use

Pugh concept generation can be used in any brainstorming session. Within Lean Six Sigma projects, it is most commonly used in the Improve stage.   

Instructions

Lean Six Sigma builds on an existing process or product.  The issue to be solved is normally waste or defects in an existing process or product.  The Analyze phase identified the root causes that must be addressed with the solution. The Pugh concept generation technique can be used to facilitate a brainstorming session whose goal is to identify an acceptable solution that addresses the root causes.

The Pugh concept generation technique will quickly evaluate competing ideas to pick the “best” and lends itself to the creation of hybrid ideas that are often very innovative.  To create a Pugh Concept Generation matrix:

  1. Identify the key criteria to be used for evaluation.  These are normally the CTQs for the project and often include the resolution of the root causes.  Specific numeric goals are not needed, just the category and direction of improvement – such as low cost or high accuracy.
  2. Describe the current product or process concept.  This is the baseline concept for comparison purposes and is one of the clever aspects of the Pugh analysis.  Rather than evaluating concepts against an arbitrary or ideal criteria that may be impossible to achieve, the evaluation will be a relative comparison to the baseline.  This avoids the trap of no idea is acceptable because it misses one of the criteria goals. Pugh just wants a concept that that is as good or better than the baseline.
  3. Brainstorm additional product or process concepts.  It is OK to be wild and wacky on these.  Try to get at least half a dozen and more is better.
  4. Using the current product or process as a standard or baseline and the key criteria, assess each concept relative to the baseline with respect to the criteria.  An additional clever aspect of the Pugh analysis is that this assessment does not require precise testing and analysis.  Instead, it is a subjective analysis using pluses and minuses.  Plus means the new concept is better than the baseline and minus means worse.  Double plus is much better and double minus is much worse.  If it is about the same, then mark it as a zero.  For this reason, the baseline concept is all zeros – since the baseline compared to itself is no different.  The rest are subjective – quick guesses.  You don’t need precision so the evaluation can be done quickly.
  5. If there is one clear winner – the concept is all pluses and double plusses, then go with that one.  Otherwise, synthesize a new concept(s) using the best features of the other concepts.  Start with a concept that has mostly pluses and no double minuses.  Then look to combine aspects from other concepts to get minus levels on the chosen concept up to zero or plus.  Eventually, you should be able to create a concept that is all plusses or zeros meaning it is as good or better than the current approach on every dimension that matters.
  6. Repeat the process of steps 3, 4, and 5 until the team reaches a consensus.

Hints & tips

  • It is often hard for subject matter experts to consider novel ideas.  Include some individuals who are not invested in the current product or process in your brainstorming session to get different brainstormed ideas.
  • Encourage “unworkable” ideas in the Pugh analysis for evaluation.  Often they will rate very high against some of the criteria and that will spur innovation in the hybrid concept to incorporate bits and pieces of those ideas that are workable.
  • Don’t try to get overly precise when doing the assessment – no fractional pluses and minuses.  It doesn’t add to the solution and can create needless debate. 
  • If you don’t have any idea at all about how to rate a concept with respect to one of the criteria – then do a quick “Google analysis” to get enough background to make your rating.
  • Don’t weight the criteria. It unnecessarily complicates the analysis.  We will do that with the solution selection matrix in a later lesson. At this time we are trying to find an idea that works.
  • Don’t add up pluses and minuses for a concept to pick a winner.  You want a concept that has all plusses or zeros.  If necessary, you can go with a single minus, provided the stakeholders agree with that degradation in performance. However, no double minus concepts, the hurdle is too high to overcome
  • Your final solution may be a combination of multiple good solutions.  As long as they are not mutually exclusive, implement as many as you can given your time and money constraints.
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  • 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite techniques for organizing and
  • 00:09 running a brainstorming session.
  • 00:11 If you require some out of box thinking, this technique is for you.
  • 00:16 So what is Pugh concept generation?
  • 00:20 This is a technique developed by Professor Stuart Pugh.
  • 00:23 It combines brainstorming and ideation techniques with concept assessment.
  • 00:28 One of the reasons I like it is because it has a goal to always make things better.
  • 00:33 Some people have a tendency to be always seeking perfection, and
  • 00:37 they let that get in the way of making things better.
  • 00:39 Pugh helps to overcome this mindset.
  • 00:42 Another problem we can have with ideation and
  • 00:45 assessment is to get bogged down trying to overanalyze a concept.
  • 00:50 Pugh gives us a way to quickly assess and keep moving forward.
  • 00:55 A Pugh analysis may only take 30 minutes when other approaches could
  • 00:59 easily take hours before getting to the same answer the Pugh gets to.
  • 01:04 In addition, it's a graphical technique, so it works well on a brainstorming or
  • 01:08 storyboarding session.
  • 01:09 Let me take you through the steps.
  • 01:12 You start by selecting the criteria you want to use for optimizing or
  • 01:15 selecting concepts.
  • 01:17 Things like faster, cheaper, better performing,
  • 01:19 more durable or whatever other customer needs you're trying to work with.
  • 01:24 But caution here, we need the category, but
  • 01:26 don't spend a lot of time trying to create a precise goal for that category.
  • 01:31 Next, you take a few minutes to describe the current product or
  • 01:35 process that you will be using as a baseline.
  • 01:38 It may be an older product, or
  • 01:40 maybe the current market leader being offered by a competitor.
  • 01:43 This is a key aspect of Pugh analysis.
  • 01:46 You must have a baseline concept with a basic understanding of how that concept
  • 01:50 performs against each of the criteria from step one.
  • 01:55 Now you start brainstorming other concepts.
  • 01:58 They could be totally new concepts or just tweaks and
  • 02:00 upgrades on the existing product.
  • 02:02 And keep in mind this is brainstorming, so no critique right now and
  • 02:06 there are no dumb ideas at this point.
  • 02:08 Once you have your list, you can start the quick Pugh assessment.
  • 02:12 Now our assessment is not meant to be a detailed technical analysis.
  • 02:17 Instead, you take the brainstorming concept and
  • 02:20 with respect to each of the criteria from step one,
  • 02:23 ask the question that the brainstormed idea will be better or worse,
  • 02:28 a lot better, or a lot worse, or about the same as the baseline concept?
  • 02:33 Notice that, we're always comparing it to the baseline not to some
  • 02:38 outside standard that may or may not be achievable.
  • 02:42 We compare it to something that actually exists and works.
  • 02:46 Now, when you're done with that, you look for
  • 02:48 a concept that has all pluses or zeroes.
  • 02:51 That concept makes some things better and doesn't go backwards on any dimension.
  • 02:55 And it's okay now to synthesize a new concept.
  • 02:59 That is, a hybrid of several concepts or
  • 03:01 possibly even adding another concept now that comes out of your discussion.
  • 03:06 The point is that you can cycle through this assessment several times if
  • 03:09 you need to.
  • 03:10 Eventually, you'll find a concept that moves things forward.
  • 03:15 Let me illustrate with a generic example.
  • 03:18 I start with my criteria.
  • 03:20 I've I arbitrarily use 7 because, well, it fits nicely on the page.
  • 03:25 In reality, I've had as few as 3 and as many as 20.
  • 03:29 Next, I set up my baseline concept.
  • 03:31 If some people in the brainstorming session aren't familiar with it,
  • 03:35 we explain it and its performance with respect to our criteria.
  • 03:39 Now we brainstorm other ideas.
  • 03:41 By the way, it's okay to have a really stupid or wacky idea on the board.
  • 03:46 For really is stupid, the scoring will show that and it's better to let the Pugh
  • 03:50 matrix indicate that it's a bad idea rather than having a team member,
  • 03:54 tell someone else in the room that their ideas are stupid.
  • 03:58 So evaluate each idea against the criteria.
  • 04:01 Let's say the first criteria is time.
  • 04:03 Well, the square and parallelogram are faster than the baseline.
  • 04:07 The triangle is a lot faster, but the circle is a lot slower.
  • 04:12 We continue with all the criterion ideas.
  • 04:15 But we have a problem here and there is no one idea with all pluses and zeros,
  • 04:20 everything has at least one minus some have a double minus, and
  • 04:24 the circle really stinks.
  • 04:25 It's only good at one item and that's Criteria 5.
  • 04:29 So now I consider how I can take some of the good points in each of these and
  • 04:33 turn it into a hybrid superstar concept.
  • 04:35 Keep in mind this approach must be viable.
  • 04:38 So if the only way to get the parallelogram doubled plus performance
  • 04:41 with respect to Criteria 6 means you also have to take the parallelograms double
  • 04:46 minus with Criteria 7.
  • 04:47 Well, then we're not going to use the parallelogram for those features.
  • 04:51 Finally, a few hints and insights with Pugh.
  • 04:53 Select an option with only pluses and zeros.
  • 04:56 You don't want to go backwards.
  • 04:57 If there's something that's a game changer in every other category,
  • 05:01 except one where there's a minus, be sure to coordinate that with your stakeholders
  • 05:05 before you pursue that approach.
  • 05:08 Often you can improve a concept with only a few minus ratings by combining
  • 05:12 its features with another concept that can compensate for its weaknesses.
  • 05:17 Again, the goal is pluses or zeros in every category.
  • 05:20 In fact, hybrid approach is usually the route I go with.
  • 05:23 Even if I have an approach that has all pluses and zeros, I'll still look
  • 05:27 at the other options to see if there's a way we can enhance the initial concept.
  • 05:33 Many times I find that I start with the current approach and
  • 05:37 just put in some minor tweaks, but we get significant benefit even from that.
  • 05:43 Sometimes the current approach is the best option.
  • 05:46 When that's the case,
  • 05:47 you'll probably need to find ways to better leverage that performance.
  • 05:50 Pugh concept generation is quick and easy to use, and
  • 05:55 I found it to be a very powerful ideation
  • 05:59 methodology when working on improvement projects.

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