Identifying the combination of people and different techniques (including quantitative and non-quantitative, the mathematical, the hunches, the insights, the guesses), to innovate or to advance the decision-making process in planning. Essential to this process is ensuring that only techniques relevant to the problem and only the relevant parts of each applicable technique are used.
Synectics is derived from a Greek term meaning the fitting together of different and apparently irrelevant elements. The term synectic relevance is used to denote the applicability of a technique.