Creativity

Creativity is a mental process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the existing ideas or concepts, fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight.

Creativity is typically used to refer to the act of producing new ideas, approaches or actions, while innovation is the process of both generating and applying such creative ideas in some specific context

Process of Idea generation

Creativity is often triggered by the need to solve a problem Problems require intense investigation Forced productivity Seek stimuli Constant conscious thought Engagement in rest and unrelated activities Incubation

Idea Screening
Out of 100 ideas or more, there may be only one or two real opportunities. Superior business ideas that have the potential to become opportunities have 4 anchors: 1. They create or add significant value to a customer or end user. 2. They do so by solving a significant problem, or meeting a significant want or need, for which someone is willing to pay a premium.
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3. They therefore have a robust market, profit margin, and moneymaking characteristics. 4. They are a good fit with the founder(s) and management team at the time and in the marketplace with a risk/reward balance.

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

What is creative problem solving?

Some Additional Thoughts

The creative person uses information to form new ideas. The real key to creative problem solving is what you do with the knowledge. Creative problem solving requires an attitude that allows you to search for new ideas and use your knowledge and experience. Change perspective and use knowledge to make the ordinary extraordinary and the usual commonplace.
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DEFINITION

Creative problem solving is - looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.
Adapted from a famous quote from a former Nobel prize winner, Albert Szent-Gyorgi.

BARRIERS THAT GET IN OUR WAY

Time Why change? Usually dont need to be creative Habit Routine Havent been taught to be creative
What are some other barriers that get in our way?
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MENTAL BLOCKS

Mental blocks are reasons (attitudes) why we dont think something different.

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MENTAL BLOCKS

1. The _______ answer. 2. Thats not _________. 3. __________ the rules. 4. Be ______________. 5. ________ is frivolous.

6. Thats not my _____. 7. ________ ambiguity. 8. Dont be _________. 9. __________is wrong. 10. Im not __________.

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MENTAL BLOCK # 5
1. 2. 3. 4. The right answer. Thats not logical. Follow the rules. Be practical.

5. Play is frivolous.

When do you get your best ideas?

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MENTAL BLOCK # 10
Thats not my area. Avoid ambiguity. Dont be foolish. To err is wrong.

6. 7. 8. 9.

10.Im not creative.

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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

STEP 1. State what appears to be the problem.
The real problem may not surface until facts have been gathered and analyzed. Therefore, start with what you assume to be the problem, that can later be confirmed or corrected.
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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

STEP 2. Gather facts, feelings and opinions.
What happened? Where, when and how did it occur? What is its size, scope, and severity? Who and what is affected? Likely to happen again? Need to be corrected? May need to assign priorities to critical elements.

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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

STEP 3. Restate the problem.
The real facts help make this possible, and provide supporting data. The actual problem may, or may not be the same as stated in Step 1.

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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

STEP 4. Identify alternative solutions

Postpone evaluating alternatives Be sure all involved individuals generate alternatives Specify alternatives that are consistent with goals Specify both short- and long-term solutions Build on others ideas Specify alternatives that solve the problem

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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

STEP 5. Evaluate alternatives.

Which will provide the optimum solution? What are the risks? Are costs in keeping with the benefits? Will the solution create new problems?
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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

STEP 6. Implement the decision!

Who must be involved? To what extent? How, when and where? Who will the decision impact? What might go wrong? How will the results be reported and verified?
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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

STEP 7. Evaluate the results.

Test the solution against the desired results. Make revisions if necessary.

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TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

BRAINSTORMING Purpose: To generate a large number of ideas in a short period of time.

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BRAINSTORMING
Rules for Brainstorming:
The more ideas the better! No discussion No idea is a bad idea Build on one anothers ideas Display all ideas

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BRAINSTORMING GUIDELINES
Remember Creative Thinking

1. Practice question: How Do We Motivate Our Local Optimist Club Members?

Re-state the question to keep the process going

What did you mean by that?!!!

2. Clarify understanding. Once all the ideas have been generated (it may take approximately 5 to 6 minutes), review ideas offered.

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BRAINSTORMING GUIDELINES
Lets combine ideas!!!

3. Combine items that are similar and/or eliminate duplicates.

Are we done yet?

4. Completion.

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Synectics
Synectics is a problem solving process that encourages the separation of the original problem by creating analogies or problems similar in relationship to the first.

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The method was originally developed by William Gordon, and the general principal of synectics brainstorming is to trust things that are alien and alienate things that are trusted. It puts for the possibility for new, fresh ideas and creative solutions to appear from your brainstorming sessions.

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Three Lessons The Synectic Attitude The Synectic Trigger Mechanisms The Synectic Ways of Working

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The Synectic Attitude

Synectics encourages the ability to live with complexity and apparent contradiction Synectics stimulates creative thinking Synectics mobilises both sides of the brain, the right brain (the dreamer), and the left brain (the reasoner) * Synectics provides a free-thinking state of consciousness In a free-thinking state, analogies between perceptions, concepts, or even systems and abstractions tend to occur repeatedly.
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The Synectic Trigger Mechanisms

Synectic Trigger mechanisms catalyse new thoughts, ideas and inventions Synectic Theory is based on disruptive thinking - similar to the PO operation of Edward de Bono The creative process is a matter of continually separating and bringing together, bringing together and separating, in many dimensions affective, conceptual, perceptual, volitional and physical
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The Synectic Ways of Working

Synectics is based on the fusion of opposites Synectics is based on analogical thinking Synectics is Synergistic. Its action produces a result which is greater than the sum of its part

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Six Thinking Hats

Early in the 1980s Dr. de Bono invented the Six Thinking Hats method. The six hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking. That is, the hats are used proactively rather than reactively. The six hats system encourages performance rather than ego defense
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There are six metaphorical hats and the thinker can put on or take off one of these hats to indicate the type of thinking being used. This putting on and taking off is essential. The hats must never be used to categorize individuals, even though their behavior may seem to invite this. When done in group, everybody wear the same hat at the same time.

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White Hat thinking

This covers facts, figures, information needs and gaps. 'I think we need some white hat thinking at this point...' means Let's drop the arguments and proposals, and look at the data base.'

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Red Hat thinking

This covers intuition, feelings and emotions. The red hat allows the thinker to put forward an intuition without any ned to justify it. 'Putting on my red hat, I think this is a terrible proposal.' Ususally feelings and intuition can only be introduced into a discussion if they are supported by logic. Usually the feeling is genuine but the logic is spurious.The red hat gives full permission to a thinker to put forward his or her feelings on the subject at the moment
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Black Hat thinking

This is the hat of judgment and caution. It is a most valuable hat. It is not in any sense an inferior or negative hat. The rior or negative hat. The black hat is used to point out why a suggestion does not fit the facts, the available experience, the system in use, or the policy that is being followed. The black hat must always be logical
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Yellow Hat thinking

This is the logical positive. Why something will work and why it will offer benefits. It can be used in looking forward to the results of some proposed action, but can also be used to find something of value in what has already happened.

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Green Hat thinking

This is the hat of creativity, alternatives, proposals, what is interesting, provocations and changes.

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Blue Hat thinking

This is the overview or process control hat. It looks not at the subject itself but at the 'thinking' about the subject. 'Putting on my blue hat, I feel we should do some more green hat thinking at this point.' In technical terms, the blue hat is concerned with meta-cognition
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Value Analysis
In Value Analysis, developed by Larry Miles at GE during WWII, multi-functional teams (design, production engineering, purchasing, quality) use a formalized process to identify alternative materials, manufacturing processes, and designs to improve function while reducing costs.

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JOB PLAN
Pre-Study
Collect customer data Collect product and process data Build product and process models Form the multi-functional team

Study
Information Phase -- analyze data Function Analysis Phase -- identify and cost functions Creative Phase -- brainstorm ideas Evaluation Phase -- rank then develop ideas Development Phase -- quantify benefits and plan actions Presentation -- make oral report and prepare written reports

Post-Study (added more recently)

Complete changes Implement changes Monitor changes
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