Creative Problem Solving:

The One-Hour Approach(or You’ve Got to be Kidding!)

Cynthia E. Rolfe

May 18, 2007

Exercise

Creativity: My Definition

Definitions

• “Novelty that is useful.” - Stein • “The mental capacity to visualize,

to foresee, and to generate ideas.” - Alex Osborn

• C=fa(K,I,E) - Creativity equals the Function of open attitude, Knowledge, Imagination and Evaluation Skills - ~Dr. Ruth Noller

Outside the Box Thinking

To be creative you need to be able to view things from different perspectives.

Creativity is linked to fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility and tolerance of ambiguity

~Robert E. Franken

Exercise

Visual Connections

Four P’s Framework

• Press – Climate / environment

• Person – Characteristics

• Product – Produces a creative outcome

• Process – Through which people are creative . . . .

PRESS

• Physical– Office, conference

room, etc.– Shape– Clutter– Light– Decor– Schtuff

• Psychological– Idea support– Challenge– Dynamism /

Liveliness– Playfulness / Humor– Debates– Risk-taking– Trust/Openness– Freedom– Idea Time– Conflicts

PERSON

• Personality

• Cognitive

• Biographical

There are three types of characteristics that combine to produce creativeness:

~Davis – 1998

PERSON: Personality

Aware of Creativeness

Original

IndependentCurious

Risk-Taking

Thorough

Energetic

Capacity for Fantasy

Sense of Humor

Attracted to Complexity

Needs time alone

PerceptiveEmotional

Ethical

Artistic

PERSON: Cognitive

• Fluency

• Flexibility

• Originality

• Elaboration

• Sensitivity

PRODUCT

• Artifacts of thought

• The tangible result of the creative process

• Physical objective – article or patent

• Theoretical system

• Equation

• New technique

PROCESS: CPS

• Identify Goal / Wish Challenge

• Gather Data

• Clarify the Problem

• Generate Ideas

• Select and Strengthen Solutions

• Plan for Action

Dynamic Balance

Divergent Thinking

Generating lots of ideas

Convergent Thinking

Judging options / making decisions

~Alex Osborn, Applied ImaginationTwo distinct kinds of thinking essential to being creative

Divergent Thinking Guidelines

• Defer judgment

• Combine and build on ideas

• Seek Wild ideas

• Go for quantity

Divergent Tools

• Brainstorming

• Stick-’Em Up*

• Brainwriting

• Forced connections

• Visual Connections*

• Ladder of Abstraction

• SCAMPER

Convergent Thinking

• Be deliberate

• Check your objectives

• Improve your ideas

• Be affirmative

• Consider novelty

Convergent Tools

• Card Sort

• Evaluation Matrix

• Highlighting

• I3 (Influence, Importance, Imagination)

• PPCo (Pluses, Potentials, Concerns)

Explore the Challenge

Generate IdeasPrepare for Action

The CPS Model

(Creative Problem Solving)

~Osborn-Parnes

Tips for Tomorrow

• Carry a notepad . . . And use it!

• Observe, observe, observe

• Take time out to people watch

• Ask questions– Of others . . . . But more importantly– Of YOURSELF!!!

• Take time to breathe and enjoy!!!