Think clearly and creatively, even when under pressure

1. Think clearly and creatively, even when under pressure  

2. Creative thought The techniques of creative thought stem from the evaluation of the incompleteness of the rational method and its inapplicability It rises from the crisis of the doctrine of the rational actor. It tries to find out a kind of rationality which takes in account the emotive and creative elements for producing ideas.     

3. Main constraints for the elaboration of creative ideas • Psychological elements • Elements related to the role • Context elements

4. Main constraints for the elaboration of creative ideas • Psychological elements • Autocensure • Group conflicts • Lack of confidence in the group as an element able to produce creative solutions • Low self-esteem • Too strong leadership • Not good relationships among the single persons

5. Main constraints for the elaboration of creative ideas • Elements related to the role • Lack of real power • Lack of a precise mandate and delegation • Explicit conflicts of power

6. Main constraints for the elaboration of creative solutions • Features of the context • Previous disappointing experiences (the ideas raised have not been used) • An organisational context inflexible and impermeable to changes • Impossibility to concretise ideas

7. Main constraints for the elaboration of creative solutions • Premature rationalisation • Lack of confidence • Humiliation of proponents • Premature request for concretisation • Premature identification of solutions • Unsuitable communication dynamics

8. Main expedients for the elaboration of creative solutions • Brain storming • OST

9. Main expedients for the elaboration of creative solutions: brain storming • Techniques designed to generate ideas within a group. It assumes the maximum expansion of creativity and the total absence of censure in the production of ideas • The phases are: • Creative production • Selection of the best ideas • Feasibility analysis of the best ideas • implementation

10. Main expedients for the elaboration of creative solutions: OST (Outdoor Small Techniques) Technique for the production of ideas which can be applied to large and small groups. Its foundation is the absolute freedom of participants which can choose to stay outside or inside the group and to take upon themselves the full responsibility of a specific cognitive process.

11. Main techniques of dealing with pressure • Visualisation • Splitting up of the problem • Simplification and restitution of responsibility

12. Main techniques of dealing with pressure: visualisation This technique is designed to transpose the problem that I’m dealing with into someone else and into another environmental and historical context. It helps to make it relative and it is often linked to the Role Play, which consists in thinking about a problem from someone else standpoint (even when this is our antagonist or the person who keeps us under pressure).

13. Main techniques of dealing with pressure: splitting up the problem Technique designed to not immediately deal with the problem I’m facing, but rather to split up the problem in more simple parts and work out a plan which enables me to find partial solutions step by step.

14. Main techniques of dealing with pressure: simplification and restitution of the problem This technique is designed to recognize the persons which – in my organisation - are more responsible than me for a specific problem and to share the responsibility among those which are in charge of that task.