Course : ENPR6110002-Creative &

Innovative Thinking

Blocks to Creativity

Session 2
 Learning Outcomes

• LO 1: Identify the concept of creative and

innovative thinking.
 Introduction

• Creative thinking and problem solving do not necessarily

come naturally to people.
• In the case of individuals, there are blocks to creative thinking
and creative problem solving.
• The blocks are essentially of two varieties - individual and
organizational.
• First, we examine the need to be ready for change and the
need to deal with new kinds of problem.
• Then we turn our attention to the various personal blocks
that people may encounter when trying to solve problems,
think creatively, and deal with new kinds of problems.
• These blocks are to do with mindset and with factors to do
with perception, emotion, expression, and cultural
influences.
 The Need To Be Ready For
Change
• Executives must be ready for anything which requires
having the necessary tools to combat change proactively.
• We should consider the nature of problem solving within
the information-processing paradigm before going on to
examine individual and organisational blocks to creative
thinking.
• It is the existence of these blocks that gives rise to the
need for a structured creative problem solving process and
for training to help overcome particular mindsets.
 The Need To Be Ready For
Change – Mindset
• Mindset is a condition where an individual is over-
sensitised to some part of the information available at the
expense of other parts.
• It helps us to become sensitised to some important things
and serves us well. for example, red lights act as warnings
and alert us to impending danger.
• Mindset sensitises us to patterns that remind us of ways
which have enabled us to solve past problems.
 Personality

• Most personality types should be able to think

creatively.
• However, those identified as ‘introverts,’ ‘thinking,’
or ‘judging’ types may be less comfortable with
thinking creatively.
• Introverts need time to think and clarify their ideas
while individuals who have a ‘thinking’ preference
try to use logic and analysis during problem solving.
• ‘Judging’ types prefer structure and organisation
and will want the problem solving process to
demonstrate closure.
 Personality

Looking at how personality influences ability to think

creatively is encapsulated in the ‘five-factor model.
• Conscientiousness
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism
• Openness to experience
• Extraversion as relevant personality traits
 Thinking style

• People exhibit two broad creative thinking styles -

‘adaptors’ and ‘innovators.
• Adaptors like to take ideas and improve on them,
preferring incremental innovation and doing things
better rather than seeking to find the very best way
of doing things.
• Innovators like to find new ideas by challenging
and changing accepted ways of doing things.
• These different styles of thinking influence the
way in which people approach a problem.
• This would help to solve a problem but in others
would prevent them from making progress
towards a solution.
 Learning styles

Learning styles present another perspective from

which to understand how people may approach the
process of creative thinking.

Four different types of preferred learning styles :

• Divergers
• Assimilators
• Convergers
• Accommodators
 Moods, Emotions, Beliefs, Attitudes,
Experiences, Motivations, and
Experience
• Individual moods and emotions can impact on the
ability of team members to participate
constructively in the creative problem solving
process.
• Beliefs, attitudes, experience, motivation,
perceptions have a strong impact on a person’s
ability to be creative and to successfully participate
in the creative process.
• Motivation to find insights into a problem is
essential, and a person’s experience will temper
whatever ideas arise as a result of any ideation
that takes place.
 Dealing with an individual’s
blocks to creativity
Jones (1987) identified four typologies of blocks :
• Strategic blocks: ‘one-right-answer approaches,’
inflexibility in thinking
• Value blocks: ‘over-generalised rigidity influenced
by personal values’
• Perceptual blocks: ‘over-narrow focus of attention
and interest’
• Self-image blocks: poor effectiveness through fear
of failure, timidity in expressing ideas, etc
How techniques help to overcome blocks
• By sharing a problem with someone else we can
appreciate how others might view the same
problem and how they might gain insights into the
problem.
 Working With Teams

• Working with teams led by a facilitator who

structures and conducts the ideation.
• Many managers find it difficult to organise
effective creative problem solving teams.
• Teams may lack direction and focus, they may be
uncomfortable with the process, or there may be
boredom, discord, or a lack of motivation among
the participants.
 Working With Teams

• People are most creative when they feel motivated

primarily by the interest, enjoyment, satisfaction,
and challenge of the work.
• It is incumbent on the facilitator to provide such an
atmosphere to creative problem solving sessions.
• A facilitator who is able reduces the group
members’ concern of being negatively evaluated,
and can encourage all group members to believe
that their contributions are essential for the group
to succeed in its task.
 The importance of the
facilitator

The success of a creative problem solving session

may rest in the hands of the facilitator  desirable
facilitator competencies :
• Evoking group creativity
• Blending all earning and thinking styles: being
aware of individual learning/thinking styles;
• Communicating with all styles;
• Drawing out participants of all styles;
• Encouraging creative thinking; accepting all ideas;
• Eliciting the appropriate information from the
group participants.
 Blocks to Organisational Creative
Thinking and Ways of Dealing
With Them
Major Blocks
• Emphasis on managerial control
• Short-range thinking
• Analysis paralysis
• Rigid hierarchical structures
• Tendency to look for one project that is likely to generate a big
payoff
• Market- versus technology-driven product planning
• Pressure to achieve and do more with fewer resources
• Lack of a systematic approach to innovation
• Belief that some people are creative
 Blocks to Organisational Creative
Thinking and Ways of Dealing
With Them
Major Blocks
• Emphasis on managerial control
• Short-range thinking
• Analysis paralysis
• Rigid hierarchical structures
• Tendency to look for one project that is likely to generate a big
payoff
• Market- versus technology-driven product planning
• Pressure to achieve and do more with fewer resources
• Lack of a systematic approach to innovation
• Belief that some people are creative
 Blocks to Organisational Creative
Thinking and Ways of Dealing
With Them
Ways of dealing with such blocks
• Encouraging prudent risk-taking
• Freedom of thought – some degree of autonomy
• Linking rewards with specific performance
• Encouraging different viewpoints on problems
• Positive involvement of top management
• Continual flow of ideas
• Responding positively to new ideas
 Elements and Conditions of Creative
Organisations
• Everyone in an organisation can in theory make a
contribution to problem solving innovation.
• However, they go on to conclude that most
organisations have been operating on beliefs,
originating in the ‘scientific management’
approaches developed at the turn of the century,
which see a split into ‘thinkers’ and ‘doers’ and
which implicitly prevent this from happening.
 References

• Tony Proctor. (2021). Absolute Essentials of Creative

Thinking and Problem Solving (Absolute Essentials of
Business and Economics). 1th . Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-003-
12405-4
• Chris Griffiths and Melina Costi (2019). The Creative
Thinking Handbook (Your step-by-step guide to problem
solving in business. 1th Kogan Page. ISBN : 978-
0749484668