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Creativity

The document introduces creativity and the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) model. It discusses that creativity can be taught and enhanced. The CPS model evolved from the scientific method and involves divergent and convergent thinking. Some techniques discussed for generating ideas in the divergent phase include brainstorming, brainwriting, analogy/metaphor, 5Ws/H questioning, wishful thinking, and problem reversal. Guidelines are also provided for the convergent phase to narrow ideas. The CPS model has been applied to address issues in various industries including software development and express mail companies.

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51 views14 pages

Creativity

The document introduces creativity and the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) model. It discusses that creativity can be taught and enhanced. The CPS model evolved from the scientific method and involves divergent and convergent thinking. Some techniques discussed for generating ideas in the divergent phase include brainstorming, brainwriting, analogy/metaphor, 5Ws/H questioning, wishful thinking, and problem reversal. Guidelines are also provided for the convergent phase to narrow ideas. The CPS model has been applied to address issues in various industries including software development and express mail companies.

Uploaded by

jayavardhan_99
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Introduction to Creativity

• 100’s of definitions of creativity


– An imaginatively gifted recombination of known
elements into something new - Miller
– A means of expressing inner conflict that otherwise
would issue in neurosis, … a mental purgative that
keeps men sane. - Freud
– Something that has novelty or value; is unconventional
(modifies/rejects previously accepted ideas); requires
high motivation and persistence over a considerable
time span or at high intensity; initially vague and ill-
defined. –
The Process of Creative Thinking Newell, Simon,
Shaw
• Many studies show it can be taught/enhanced, likewise
inhibited/suppressed
The Creative Problem Solving (CPS) model
• CPS evolved from the scientific method
• CPS stages have Divergence / Convergence
activities:
1. Opportunity delineation/problem definition
2. Compiling relevant information
3. Generating ideas
4. Evaluating, prioritizing ideas
5. Developing implementation plan
• Cost-effective model to use –
ROIs of 200% or more are common
Couger Variant of the CPS Model

Divergence
S Convergence
T
I A
M Opportunity Compiling
C
Generating Evaluating,
U Delineation, Relevant Ideas Prioritizing
Developing T
Problem Information Implementation
L Definition Ideas Plan I
U O
S N
Boundary 5Ws/H Brainstorming/ Force-Field 5Ws/H
Examination Manipulative Brainwriting Progressive
Manipulative Verbs Analogy/Metaphor Abstraction
Verbs 5Ws/H
Progressive Wishful Thinking
Abstraction Wildest Idea
Wishful Thinking Problem Reversal
Divergence Guidelines
At start of each phase we want to expand range of choices:
• Defer Judgment - give people’s ideas a fair hearing
• Quantity Breeds Quality - more possible a good idea will
appear
• Hitchhiking is Encouraged - piggybacking on ideas of
others is encouraged
• Combine and Modify Ideas - synergy leads to
improvement
• Think in Pictures - visualize your ideas
• Stretch for Ideas - when all appears dead, continue
Convergence Guidelines
At the conclusion of each phase we want to narrow choices:
• Be Systematic - identify all appropriate factors for
evaluating alternatives
• Develop Evaluative Measures - rating and ranking
• Use Intuition - don’t discount feelings and hunches
• Avoid Quickly Ruling Out an Area for Consideration -
don’t rely on ‘pat’ answers, company policy, or status quo
• Avoid Idea-Killer Views - don’t converge too quickly
• “Satisfice” - quit when an acceptable solution identified
• Use Optimizing Techniques if Possible - example: linear
programming
Relevance of CPS model to IS
Creativity Techniques have been applied to:
– Addressing shortage of qualified employees for a
fast-growing, internationally-based commercial
software development firm
– Evaluating pilot tests for a new system in a leading
express mail company
– Developing an enterprise model for a
microelectronics manufacturing firm
– Improving receptivity to CASE tools for a firm in
the petroleum industry
– Reducing programmer/analyst turnover in an
insurance company
Generating Ideas
• An incubation period during which your subconscious
often supports your conscious creative efforts
• Requires preparation including a knowledge of the area of
interest and the ideas of others as well as discipline
• Can be planned: make conscious habits to aid
subconscious process - relaxing, recording, and,
humor/exercise
Brainstorming/Brainwriting
1. Pick a problem/opportunity where each person
has knowledge/motivation to contribute
2. Define the problem in neutral terms.
3. Record the ideas on flip charts where all can see.
4. Suspend evaluation or judgment until all ideas given.
5. Stretch for ideas, do another round even considering outrageous
ideas and accept them all. Quantity over quantity.
6. Encourage embellishment and idea building.

• Brainwriting differs in that ideas are written mitigating dominant


participants, social disapproval, and authority
Analogy/Metaphor
• Analogy - similarity between things otherwise dissimilar,
"make the familiar strange and the strange familiar"
• Metaphor - term applied to another, unrelated
term to create a non-traditional relationship
1. Withholding evaluation, generate a list of objects,
persons, situations, or actions that are similar but
unrelated to the problem.
2. Select one analogy and describe in detail w/o relating to
original problem.
3. Examine the items generated and translate to statements
that apply to problem/opportunity in question.
4. Examine each statement and discuss its application to
problem/opportunity
Interrogatories (5Ws/H)
• Who? – What? – When? – Where? – Why? – How?
• Helps to expand view and ensure all problem aspects
considered
1. Develop a question for each W and the H. For example,
– Who will be affected by the new application?
– How might an application be used for other purposes?
– Why provide this service to our customers?
– What customer category would best use this product?
2. Develop responses to each of your questions.
3. Evaluate alternative approaches suggested by your
responses to your questions.
Wishful Thinking

Expand your horizons in viewing a situation and not be


confined by your understanding of constraints
1. Develop a problem statement
2. Open solution space to all possibilities “anything is
possible”
3. State alternatives in terms of wish/fantasy
4. Convert wishes to practical statements
5. Repeat steps 3. and 4., if necessary
Wildest Idea Technique - generate bizarre wild ideas
Problem Reversal

Premise: reversing your assumptions about a problem


provides new perspectives in thinking
1. Write the problem statement in question form.
2. Identify the "verb" or action content of the statement.
3. Reverse the meaning of the verb or action content and
restate the problem in question form.
4. List answers to the reversed problem statement.
5. Reverse the answers stated in step 4.
Suggested Readings
• Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems
Organizations, J. Daniel Couger
• Creative Problem Solving and Opportunity Finding, J.
Daniel Couger
• Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management
Sciences, James R. Evans
The End

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