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Creative Problem Solving (CPS)Module 5
David A. JarvisSalve Regina UniversityMGT567 Creative Problem SolvingOctober 6-7, 20-21 2012
Creative process roles (von Oech)
Explorer Artist Judge WarriorSearching for new
information
Turning your resources into new
ideas
Evaluating the merits of an idea
Carrying your idea into action
Divergent/convergent thinking
Divergent and convergent principles
To Diverge To Converge
Defer judgment Apply affirmative judgment
Go for quantity Keep novelty alive
Make connections Check your objectives
Seek novelty Stay focused
Allow for incubation
Defer judgment
Hold evaluation until a later time
Suspend disbelief Entertain potential
value
Increases your awareness of and respect for possibilities
Replaces a “can’t” mentality with a “can do” mindset
Makes you more open and receptive to new things
Expands your array of usable choices
Helps you to get a different idea or new way of looking at things
Go for quantity
The ability to generate many possibilities
Increases the likelihood of a breakthrough idea
The more your produce, the more you learn
Most original ideas come after a period of extended idea
generation
Prevents jumping on the first idea that sounds like it might
work
“The best way to have a good idea is to have
lots of ideas.”
Make connections
Prevent teams from becoming isolated
Find remarkable idea combinations at intersections
Increases the likelihood of obtaining unusual responses
and solutions
Encourages flexible thinking
Helps to elaborate on or extend initial ideas
Provides cross-fertilization of ideas and results
Seek novelty
Stretch your thinking Generate an idea that
is paradigm breaking Take a new view of a
old problem
Leads to breakthrough ideas
Stimulates other ideas that may be practical
Fosters a playful and creative atmosphere in groups
Apply affirmative judgment
Using effective critical thinking, as opposed to faultfinding
Don’t focus on “wrong” or “why it won’t work”
Consider both the positives and negatives
Keep the momentum of the creative process going
Remember, feedback can either support or hinder creativity
“Leaders should not be unduly critical of developing ideas…”
Keep novelty alive
Entertain original concepts that have been previously generated
Be open to the unexpected
Avoid simply discarding unexpected outcomes as mistakes
Be open to the benefits of new discoveries
Check your objectives
Consider the reality of the situation Understand your criteria for success Work within your constraints True creativity is about developing
something that is novel and meets a need
“You must embrace both realism and creativity
throughout the evaluation process…”
Stay focused
Ensure that the best alternatives are selected and developed
Must deliberately and systematically refine your thinking
Balance and combine intuition with critical analysis (the analytic sandwich)
“Creativity is damn hard…”
Allow for incubation
Take a break from actively pursuing a solution when the problem is not consciously worked on, allowing
options to develop without full awareness
Creative problem solving process
Assessing the
situation
Exploring the
vision
Formulating
challenges
Exploring ideas
Formulating
solutions
Exploring acceptan
ce
Formulating a plan CREATIVE
PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS
CLARIFICATION
TRANSFORMATION
IMPLEMENTATION
Clarification Transformation Implementation
Step(1)
Assessing the situation
(2) Exploring the vision
(3) Formulating challenges
(4) Exploring ideas
(5) Formulating
solutions(6) Exploring acceptance
(7) Formulating
a planDiverge Converge Diverge Converge Diverge Converge
Purpose
To describe and identify
relevant data and to
determine next process step
To develop a vision of a
desired outcome
To identify the gaps that must
be closed to achieve the
desired outcome
To generate novel ideas that address importance challenges
To move from ideas to solutions
To increase the likelihood of
success
To develop an implementatio
n plan
Thinking
Skill
Diagnostic Visionary Strategic Ideational Evaluative Contextual TacticalMaking a careful examination of a
situation, describing the nature of the problem, and
making decisions about
appropriate process steps to
be taken
Articulating a vivid image of
what you desire to create
Identifying the critical issues that must be
addressed and pathways
needed to move toward the
desired future
Producing original mental
images and thoughts that
respond to important challenges
Assessing the reasonableness and quality of
ideas in order to develop workable solutions
Understanding the interrelated conditions and circumstances
that will support or hinder success
Devising a plan that includes specific and measureable
steps for attaining a
desired end and methods for monitoring
effectiveness
Affective
SkillsMindfulness Dreaming Sensing gaps Playfulness
Avoiding premature
closureSensitivity to environment
Tolerance for risks
Attending to thoughts,
feelings and sensations
relative to the present situation
To imagine as possible your desires and
hopes
To become consciously
aware of discrepancies between what currently exists
and is desired or required
Freely toying with ideas
Resisting the urge to push for
a decision
The degree to which people are
aware of their physical and psychological surroundings
Not allowing yourself to be
shaken or unnerved by the
possibility of failures or setbacks
Key Words Picture, dream,
look at, forecast, contemplate,
see, speculate, ponder, wonder
about
Clarify, untangle, explicate, define, decipher, clear up, uncover, discern why
Come up with, invent, break
through, originate,
innovate, hatch, fashion, think
up,
Develop, elaborate, expand,
evaluate, flesh out, strengthen, refine, analyze, maximize, build
on
Sell, convince, market,
promote, leverage, influence,
persuade, pitch, position,
introduce, advocate,
Execute, implement, do,
script, orchestrate, devise, plot,
outline, organize, rollout,
Tools • 5 W’s and an H
• Why/why diagram
• Hits • Highlighting
• Wishful thinking
• Storyboarding• Success
zones
• Statement starters
• Webbing
• Brainstorming• Forced
connections
• Criteria• Evaluation
matrix• PPC°
• Assisters and resisters
• Stakeholder analysis
• Generating actions steps
• How-how diagram
• Sequencing• Performance
dashboard
CPS skill summaryStep Thinking Skill Affective Skill
1 Assessing the situation Diagnostic Mindfulness
2 Exploring the vision Visionary Dreaming
3 Formulating challenges Strategic Sensing gaps
4 Exploring ideas Ideational Playfulness
5 Formulating solutions Evaluative Avoiding premature closure
6 Exploring acceptance Contextual Sensitivity to environment
7 Formulating a plan Tactical Tolerance for risks
Screening – does this problem need creative problem solving?
Influence?Imagination?
Interest?Immediacy?
Assessing the situation
Leaders need to…
Influence and be influenced Move quickly in response to new ideas
Make adjustments as things change
Act as gatekeepers to the flow of information
Sort through what is important and what isn’t
Make good and wise decisions
Ensure opportunities aren’t missed
Understand the context of the current reality
Interpret data and explore meaning
Be cognizant of both the content and the process
Diagnostic thinking
What needs to be done
Who can help or hinder you
Why you should or shouldn’t do it
How it should be done
First, you need to understand…
Qualities of mindfulness
• Focus on the present moment• Being fully present• Openness to experience• Non-judgment• Acceptance of things as they are• Connection• Non-attachment• Peace and equanimity• Compassion
SOURCE: “Nine Essential Qualities of Mindfulness”, Psychology Today, 2/22/12
How to assess the situation
Take in data
Examine the situation
Analyze choices
Make a decision
Determine process steps
“You see,” he explained, “I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might
be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he
has difficulty laying his hands upon it.”
(Sherlock Holmes, “A Study in Scarlett”)
Data comes from many sources
Information and knowledge Impressions Feelings
Specific knowledge or facts about the area,
news, research, theory, from many disciplines
Personal hunches or guesses, intuition, “sixth
sense”, beliefs, predictions
Emotional responses, sentiments, sympathy,
empathy
Questions Observation
Inquiring, doubting, paradoxes, uncertainty,
confused, unclear, curiosity
Taking into account through the senses,
perceiving,
SOURCE: Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction
The 5 H’s and a W
Remember to ask “else”? Who else? Etc.
Who? What? When?
• Who’s involved?• Who created the situation?
• Who will have to help?• Who’s concerned? Excited?
• What has been done before?
• What resources do we have? Need?
• What do we want to happen?
• When did I become aware?• When must action be
taken?• When is the best or worst
time to work on it?
Where? Why? How?
• Where does the action take place?
• Where else has someone dealt with this situation?
• Where would we like to be?
• Why do we have this situation?
• Why hasn’t it been dealt with?
• Why do we want to deal with it?
• How do I see this situation?• How do others view it?
• How do we want things to change?
• How will it be different than the present?
SOURCE: Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction
Exploring the vision
Leaders need to…
Identify future opportunities Help others works towards goals
Ensure high levels of performance Initiate change
Inspire others Create consensus
Provide others with direction Create a sense of purpose
Determine which activities have the greatest potential (anticipating what will be required)
“There is no more powerful engine driving an organization towards
excellence and long-range success than an attractive, worthwhile and
achievable vision of the future, widely shared.”
(Burt Nanus, Visionary Leadership)
“For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the
moon and to the planets beyond, and we have
vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag
of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and
peace.”
“I have a dream that my four children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
“(Disneyland) will be filled with the accomplishments, the joys and hopes of the
world we live it. And it will remind us and show us
how to make those wonders part of our own
lives.”
What do we want the future to look like?
An individual
I want a career that is fulfilling but allows
me to have a full
relationship with my family
A company
We want to be #1 in our industry and provide a sustained
return for our investors
A country
We want to reduce our resource use while preserving
a high quality of life
Exploring the vision
Alternative views of future
directions
Which is the most productive pathway to your
purpose
Creating a wide shared clear sense of purpose, direction and desired future state
Tools – wishful thinking
Think about many positive and negative future outcomes
Identify the topic to explore
(think headlines)
STEP 1 STEP 2
Use statement starters to
create alternatives
(WIBNI, WIBAI)
Identify the key
statements
(the most promising and ones to void)
Reverse any WIBAI
statements
(wouldn’t it be awful)
STEP 3 STEP 4
Tools - storyboarding
Create a sequential story about the future highlighting significant events – from the present to a desired future
Identify the topic to explore
Decide on the number of panels
Define your current situation
Project yourself into the future Sequence the story
Elaborate on the images
(outcomes, obstacles, insights)
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3
STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6
Tools - storyboarding
Formulating challenges
VIDEO: Finding the problem is the hard part (Mike Krieger)
Leaders need to…
Break out of old ways of looking at a problem
Uncover opportunities you didn’t even know existed
Discover the root of issues Identify issues hidden in complex challenges
Not waste resources Avoid rushing to a solution – test assumptions
Reframe challenges Define the issues clearly and efficiently
Strategic thinking
Recognize what must be done to manifest the vision
Identify critical issues that must be addressed
Find paths to move towards the desired future
Understand where problems begin and end
Determine the best way to approach the problem
Creating a good problem statement
Should be in a question form, point to an objective, provoke ideas, be free of limiting criteria and stated concisely
Questioning stem
Someone to take action Action Receiver
• In what ways might…
• How might…• How to…• What might…
• Ownership• Whose
problem are you working on?
• “I” or “we”
• Attract•Increase•Improve•Find•Eliminate•Win•Change•Excite•Ensure•Create
+ + +
Sample problem statements
In what ways might I increase student’s motivation in the classroom?
How might we ensure our environment supports collaboration?
How can we make staff meetings more productive?
How might state government attract new business to the state?
What might improve the rate of adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles by …?
Tools – Webbing
Identify goal or desired outcome
Ask “why” – turn the answer into a question with a
statement starter
Ask “why else is this important?”
Ask “why” and “why else” to
those new challenges you
identified
Ask “what’s stopping me” to
explore more concrete
challenges
Continue asking “what’s stopping me” and “what else is stopping
me”
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3
STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6
Tools – Webbing
VISION OR DESIRED
OUTCOME
Why? Why else?
What is stopping you?
What else is stopping you?
GLOBAL
CONCRETE
Exploring ideas
VIDEO: Where good ideas come from (Steven Johnson)
People with a lot of ideas
Leaders need to…
Encourage in order to get breakthroughs
Have many, varied, unusual ideas
Get fresh perspectives Go beyond “surface ideas”
Engage in truly original thinking
Create an environment where ideas are welcome
Go to unanticipated places Create competitive advantage
Leaders must believe in the value of creative play
Making things Build and create
Making things up
Imagine and fantasize
Make believe
Doing as if / pretense
Being playful is about asking “what if” – turning reality into fantasy or fiction
Brainstorming tools - SCAMPER
S Substitute What might you use or do instead?
C Combine What things might be combined or synthesized to form new ideas?
A Adapt What might be changed or used in a different why?
M Magnify or minimize What might be made larger or smaller?
P Put to other uses How might something be used or applied in a new or different way?
E Eliminate What could be deleted?
R Reverse or rearrange What if you looked at the problem in the opposite way?
SOURCE: Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction
Formulating solutions
Resist the pressure to produce quick and easy decisions and solutions
Hulk smash your puny
ideas!!!
Leaders need to…
Strengthen the potential of ideas
Keep an open mind on an idea’s potential
Think through the strengths and weaknesses of an idea
Elaborate on less developed ideas
Turn ideas into viable solutions
Prioritize the importance of ideas to grow a plan
Provide a balance between novelty and usefulness
Influence others to appreciate novel ideas
Evaluate ideas and solutions before others see the final results
Bridging the gap between ideas and acceptance
This phase is the transition point between ideas and implementation
StrengthenIdentify weakness
DevelopRefine
EvaluateElaborate
IDEA
SOLUTION
The importance of criteria
Helps to screen ideas
Establishes benchmarks for evaluation
Determines strengths and limitations
Assesses options consistently
Will it… Does it…
Cost Will options be cost effective to implement?
Acceptance Will this possibility be acceptable to others?
Resources Will the materials needed be available?
Time Will the option fit into our schedule?
Space Will there be room to do what’s needed?
EXAMPLES
Evaluation matrix process
Develop criteria to evaluate options
Check to see if the
criteria are distinct and
positive
Build the matrix
Select an evaluation
system
Evaluate each choice
Review the matrix
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3
Develop options and
make a final
decision
STEP 4
STEP 5 STEP 6 STEP 7
Evaluation matrix - exampleCriteria Decision
Criterion 1
Criterion 2 … Criterion
n Accept Refine Reject
Option 1 1 to 5good fair
poor
+-o
Option 2
…
Option n
PPCO
Pluses List what is good, positive, about the idea
Potentials List what might happen if the idea were pursued, what are the possibilities
Concerns What are the shortcomings, weaknesses or limitations of the idea
Overcoming concerns
Generate ideas to overcome concerns, starting with the most important
Miller, Vehar & Firestien, 2001
Exploring acceptance
The importance of contextual thinking
Leaders need to…
Ensure that new ideas are rolled out smoothly Build coalitions of support
Avoid being blindsided by critics
Ensure psychological, social and emotional support for
change
Attract resources necessary for success
Ensure alignment with organizational goals
Facilitate the objective analysis of ideas
Inform action plans with wisdom and social intelligence
Overcome sources of resistance
Anticipate, avoid and overcome
the people, resources and
conditions that will hinder your
progress
Qualities of an effective guiding coalition (Kotter)
Position power
Enough key players should be on board so that those left out cannot block progress
ExpertiseAll relevant points of view should be represented so that informed intelligent decisions can be made
CredibilityThe group should be seen and respected by those in the firm so that the group’s pronouncements will be taken seriously
LeadershipThe group should have enough proven leaders to be able to drive the change process
SOURCE: “Accelerate!”, John Kotter, HBR, Nov 2012
A management driven hierarchy working in concert with a strategy network
The Eight Accelerators: The processes that enable the strategy network to function
SOURCE: “Accelerate!”, John Kotter, HBR, Nov 2012
Assisters and resisters
Assister Resister
Who? Helpful people Critics or opponents
What? Essentials resources Things that might be unavailable
When? The best time to carry out solution The worst time to carry out solution
Where? Best places to implement the plans; support success Worst places; hinder success
Why? Best, most important justifications Least persuasive justifications
How? Actions others might take to support idea
Actions others might take to undermine idea
Stakeholder analysis
Generate a list of all of
the stakeholders
STEP 1 STEP 2
Identify their current level of support
Estimate where levels of support need to be
Generate action steps to close the
gaps
STEP 3 STEP 4
How to best influence those individuals, groups or organizations that have a vested interest
Formulation a plan
Leaders need to…
Assign resources Establish schedules and deadlines
Monitor progress Manage details
Deal with failures and setbacks
Conduct contingency planning
Questions to ask…
What steps are you committed to take? What resources are required to take them? When and where will they take place? Who will be involved? Why are they important? How will you carry them out?
Implementation planImmediate (next 24 hours)
Action By Whom? By When? Resources?
1. XXX XXX XXX XXX
Short-term stepsAction By Whom? By When? Resources?
1. XXX XXX XXX XXX
Intermediate stepsAction By Whom? By When? Resources?
1. XXX XXX XXX XXX
Long-term stepsAction By Whom? By When? Resources?
1. XXX XXX XXX XXX
“We cannot wait for great visions from great people…It is up to us to light our own small fires in the darkness.”
(Charles Handy)
VIDEO: Garden of your mind
SOURCESBOOKS Arthur, Cropley. Creativity in Education and Learning. Routledge, 2001. ISBN-10: 0749434473 Kelley, Tom, Jonathan Littman, and Tom Peters. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's
Leading Design Firm. Crown Business, 2001. ISBN-10: 0385499841 Lehrer, Jonah. Imagine: How Creativity Works. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Leonard-Barton, Dorothy and Walter C. Swap. When Sparks Fly: Harnessing the Power of Group Creativity. Harvard
Business Review Press, 2005. ISBN-10: 1591397936 Managing Creativity and Innovation (Harvard Business Essentials). Harvard Business Review Press, 2003. ISBN-10:
1591391121 Puccio, Gerald, Marie Mance and Mary C. Murdock. Creative Leadership - Skills That Drive Change. 2nd ed. Sage
Publications, 2011. ISBN-10: 1412977576 Treffinger, Donald, Scott Isaksen, and Brian Stead-Doval. Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction. 4th ed. Prufrock
Press, 2006. ISBN-10: 1593631871
ARTICLES “Developing Creative and Critical Thinkers”, Col. Charles D. Allen, U.S. Army, Ret. and Col. Stephen J. Gerras, Ph.D.,
U.S. Army, Ret., Military Review, Nov-Dec 2009 “Sparking creativity in teams: An executive’s guide”, Marla M. Capozzi, Renée Dye, and Amy Howe, McKinsey
Quarterly, April 2011 “How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity”, Ed Catmull, Harvard Business Review, Sept 2008 “Inside Cisco’s Search for the Next Big Idea”, Guido Joret, Harvard Business Review, Sept 2009 “How to Kill Creativity”, Teresa M. Amabile, Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct 1998 “Cultivating organizational creativity in an age of complexity” (IBM study, 2011) “Defining Systematic Creativity” (LEGO Learning Institute, 2009) “Accelerate!”, John P. Kotter, Harvard Business Review, Nov 2012 “What Doesn't Motivate Creativity Can Kill It”, Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer, Harvard Business Review Blog
Network, April 25, 2012 “KIDS Vision: Imagining Possible Futures for Technology”, Latitude Studios