Creativity

1. Creativity

2. Agenda • Questions • Creativity topics

3. Creativity • Changing paradigms • Use creative problem solving • Also useful for opportunity finding

4. The 4-Ps model of creativity • Person • Process • Product • Press (environment)

5. That’s impossible! Translation: Based on the paradigm we use today, we don’t know how to do it

6. What’s a paradigm? • Greek origin • A pattern or set of rules that defines boundaries • The way we look at, or accept things

7. Paradigm examples

8. Selling your house

9. Selling your house • Call a realtor • Keep the house spotless at all times • Give up 7% of the selling price to the realtor

10. New house selling paradigm • Call a realtor Sell it yourself • Keep the house spotless at all times • ‘Extra clean’ the house only when showing it • Give up 7% of the selling price to the realtor Keep it all!

11. What’s the importance of this Paradigm stuff? • Watch example • Bicycle example

12. Definition • To be considered creative, a solution or idea must: • Be new, or unique • Have utility or value (solve the problem)

13. Why are we teaching this? • Yet another tool in your toolbox • INFS 6000 is a first course for many in the MBA program • When you were young....

14. There are twenty-two creativity techniques • Not all apply to a certain situation • Many apply to more than one type of situation

15. Warm up exercise • In 15 minutes you are scheduled to give an important presentation • Your boss and her boss will be there • You stop by the restroom to give your appearance a last minute check • You notice a large ketchup stain on your blouse (or tie) • Come up with some creative solutions

16. Creativity research • You’ll never be more creative than you are today • You’ll gain more knowledge, but you’ll continually lose your creativity

17. Creativity research • A drastic drop-off in creativity occurs at about the 4th grade • Discouraged from inquiry • Parents not as patient • Education process tells you there are right and wrong answers • Peer pressure to conform

18. Creativity research example • Architecture seniors are far less creative than architecture freshmen • Taught building codes, constraints of materials, consumer tastes • Narrowing our perspective

19. The good news • Creativity can be restored • The CPS methodology can be used to bring our creativity back to where it was when we were younger • Supported by 100’s of studies on CPS and creativity

20. Five steps common to all problems (p. 119) • Problem definition • Compiling relevant information • Generating ideas • Evaluating, prioritizing ideas • Developing implementation plan

21. Creative thinking Generative thinking Divergent thinking Critical thinking Evaluative thinking Convergent thinking Each CPS Phase

22. Couger variant • Three refinements • Opportunity finding, not just problem solving • Emphasis on starting point/iterative process • Identification of creativity techniques useful for each phase

23. Interrogatories • An analytical technique • Phrase a question about the problem using each of the 5 Ws and H • Why, who, where, what, when, and how

24. Application exercise • Your boss asks you to help on the problem of reluctance of some employees to use the computer for their job activities • Use the interrogatories technique (5 Ws and H)

25. Application exercise Why are people in our company reluctant to use the computer for their job activities? Who... Where... What... When... How...

26. Analogy/Metaphor • Intuitive technique • Use an analogy, and apply that to the problem • Recommend using nature analogies

27. Analogy/Metaphor • Apply the baby birds analogy to the previous problem of employee reluctance to computer use

28. Baby bird analogy • Fear of flying from the nest • Does the organization allow employees to take chances? • Pressure to behave like the other birds • Does that pressure exist in our organization?

29. No company and no organization within a company is immune to creativity improvement All employees need creativity as a part of their skill-set

30. 1st part summary • Twenty-two techniques • Analytical and intuitive techniques • Help restore the creativity we lost around the 4th grade, and continue to lose • CPS can restore our creative levels • Every company/department needs improvement

31. Creativity exercise • In one minute, generate as many uses as possible for a paperclip

32. Creativity exercise • Using attributes association, you could have doubled your output • The objective here is to improve your fluency of ideas • The more ideas you generate, the more likely an optimal one will emerge

33. Attribute association • Identify the attributes of a paperclip

34. Attribute association • Identify the attributes of a paperclip • Smooth edges • Flexible • Sharp, pointed • Light weight • Low cost • Curved

35. Attribute association • Identify the attributes of a paperclip • Smooth edges smooth paper, clean ear • Flexible fastener, hook, jewelry • Sharp, pointed weapon, pop balloons • Light weight ammo • Low cost • Curved

36. Conceptual blocks to creativity • Perceptual • Emotional • Cultural • Environmental • Intellectual

37. Perceptual blocks • Accepting as ‘facts’ data that are really unsubstantiated assumptions • Difficulty in isolating the problem • Narrowing the problem too much • Broadening the problem too much • Failing to use all the senses - over reliance on sight

38. Emotional blocks • Fear to make a mistake, to fail, to risk • Preference for judging ideas, rather than generating them • Fear and distrust of supervisors, associates, and subordinates • Difficulty in changing our ‘mind-set’ • Overly strong desire for closure

39. Cultural blocks • Overly strong desire to ‘belong’ • Desire to be ‘practical’ and ‘economical’ • Feeling that it is ‘not polite’ to question • Stereotyping • Fear of asking questions that show ignorance • Belief that problem-solving is serious

40. Environmental blocks • Lack of cooperation and trust among colleagues • Distractions - phone, easy intrusions • Lack of support to bring ideas into action • Over-emphasis on cooperation or on competition • Punishment for risk-taking that doesn’t work out

41. Intellectual blocks • Strong tendency is to use only those solutions that worked before • Reliance on logical thinking • Hesitancy to use intuitive thinking approaches • Too much faith in statistics and past experience

42. Intellectual blocks • Fear of exploring the unknown • Mind-sets • Paradigm fixation, where we have difficulty viewing things outside our normal view of the world

43. Key objective • Once we are aware of our conceptual blocks, we can begin to tear them down • Doing so will enable us to identify a myriad of alternatives and possibilities that were hidden to us

44. Torrence test of creativity • Measures fluency • Measures originality • How many of your ideas were rarely mentioned by others taking the test

45. Lotus blossom technique • Continually breaking things down into simpler units • Like peeling back the petals of the Lotus blossom

47. Wishful thinking technique • State the question, goal, or problem • Assume anything is possible • Make a wish • Examine each fantasy statement, use it as a stimulation, and react with statements like, “We could do that if...”, or “That would work if...”

48. How practical is this? • Average return on investment of 300% • TQM returns 100% • R&D returns 20%

49. Creative vs. critical thinking • What is the difference?

50. Creative thinking • Gives us new ideas • An exercise in imagination • Produces various conceptions of the problem or issue, various ways of dealing with it, and possible responses to it