Organizational

Innovation &
Problem Solving
Presented by:
The Creative Process
Process/processes that lead to products, ideas, procedures and
discussions that are original and useful
-Creativity is the thinking associated with Ideas, Imagination,
Inspiration, Intuition and Ingenuity.
Creative Problem Solving
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 one
assumes to be the problem, that can later be confirmed
or corrected.
4
Creative Problem Solving
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
5
Creative Problem Solving
STEP 3. Restate the problem.
The real facts help make this possible, and provide
supporting data.
The actual problemmay, or may not be the same as stated in
Step 1.
Four tools to use in defining the problem are:-
1.Determining where the problem originated
2.Defining the present state and the desired state
3.Stating and restating the problem
4.Analyzing the problem
6
Creative Problem Solving
STEP 4. Identify alternative solutions.
Generate ideas.
Do not eliminate any possible solutions until several have
been discussed.
Once done, start selecting the ideas
Possible techniques:-
- Brainstorming
- Brain writing
- Mind mapping
- Analogies
Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Modify/ Magnify
Put to other uses
Eliminate
Reverse or Rearrange
Divergence
Convergence
7
Creative Problem Solving
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?
8
Creative Problem Solving
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?
9
Creative Problem Solving
STEP 7. Evaluate the results.
Test the solution against the desired results.
Make revisions if necessary.
The Creative Personality
They daydream
Creative types know, despite what
their third-grade teachers may have
said, that daydreaming is anything but
a waste of time.
They observe everything
The world is a creative person's oyster
-- they see possibilities everywhere
and are constantly taking in
information that becomes fodder for
creative expression.
The Creative Personality cont.
They work the hours that
work for them
Many great artists have said that they
do their best work either very early in
the morning or late at night
They take time for solitude
In order to be open to creativity, one
must have the capacity for
constructive use of solitude. One
must overcome the fear of being
alone
The Creative Personality cont.
They turn life's obstacles around
Many of the most iconic stories and songs
of all time have been inspired by gut-
wrenching pain and heartbreak -- and the
silver lining of these challenges is that they
may have been the catalyst to create great
art
They seek out new experiences
Openness to experience is consistently the
strongest predictor of creative
achievement," says Kaufman.
The Creative Personality cont.
They "fail up
"Creatives fail and the really good
ones fail often," Forbes contributor
Steven Kotler wrote in a piece on
Einstein's creative genius.
They ask the big questions
Creative people are insatiably curious
-- they generally opt to live the
examined life, and even as they get
older, maintain a sense of curiosity
about life
The Creative Personality cont.
They people-watch
Observant by nature and curious
about the lives of others, creative
types often love to people-watch --
and they may generate some of their
best ideas from it.
They take risks
"There is a deep and meaningful
connection between risk taking and
creativity and it's one that's often
overlooked," contributor Steven
Kotler wrote in Forbes
The Creative Personality cont.
They view all of life as an
opportunity for self-expression
"Creativity is nothing more than an
individual expression of your needs,
desires and uniqueness."
They follow their true passions
Creative people tend to be intrinsically
motivated -- meaning that they're
motivated to act from some internal
desire, rather than a desire for
external reward or recognition.
The Creative Personality cont.
They get out of their own heads
Another purpose of daydreaming is to help
us to get out of our own limited
perspective and explore other ways of
thinking, which can be an important asset
to creative work.
They lose track of the time
Creative types may find that when they're
writing, dancing, painting or expressing
themselves in another way, they get "in the
zone," or what's known as a flow state,
which can help them to create at their
highest level.
The Creative Personality cont.
They surround themselves with
beauty
A study showed that musicians -- including
orchestra musicians, music teachers, and soloists
-- exhibit a high sensitivity and responsiveness to
artistic beauty
They connect the dots
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you
ask creative people how they did something,
they feel a little guilty because they didn't really
do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious
to them after a while. That's because they were
able to connect experiences they've had and
synthesize new things."
The Creative Personality cont.
They constantly shake things
up
"Creative people have more
diversity of experiences, and habit is
the killer of diversity of experience"
They make time for
mindfulness
Creative types understand the value
of a clear and focused mind --
because their work depends on it
Thinking is the highest mental activity present in man
All human achievements and progress are simply the products of thought
Thought and action are inseparable - they are actually the two sides of the same
coin
All our deliberate action starts from our deliberate thinking. For a man to do
something, he should first see it in his mind's eye -- he should imagine it, think
about it first, before he can do it
The purpose of thinking, paradoxically, is to arrive at a state where thinking is no
more necessary at all. In other words, thinking starts with a problem and ends in a
solution.
Edward de Bono is the worlds leading authority in the field of creative and
conceptual thinking & is the Originator of the term Lateral Thinking
He is the Author of over 60 books in 47 languages
THINKING
LATERAL THINKING
Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach,
using reasoning that is not immediately obvious
There are two types of thinking -- Vertical thinking and Lateral thinking
VERTICAL THINKING
high probability thinking
Area of focus
Truth
Logic
What is
LATERAL THINKING
low probability thinking
Area of focus
Possibilities, alternatives,
what
might be
Thinking that finds solutions in ways that do not seem
obvious
Rethink! Look at problems in many different ways
Visualize! Utilize diagrams and imagery to analyze your dilemma
Produce! Genius is productive
Combine! Make novel combinations
Form! Form relationships
Opposite! Think in opposites
Metaphor/simile! Think metaphorically
Failure! Learning from your mistakes is one example of using failure
Patience! Don't confuse inspiration with ideas.
NINE APPROACHES TO CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Once there was loving couple traveling in a bus in a
mountainous area. They decided to get down at some place. After the
couple got down at some place the bus moved on. As the bus moved on,
a huge rock fell on the bus from the mountain and crushed the bus to
crumbs. Everybody on board was killed. The couple upon seeing that,
said, "*We wish we were on that bus*" Why do u think they said that ?
How will you think for this problem?
How Will You Think For This Problem?
If they had remained on the bus instead of deciding to
get down, the resulting time delay could have been avoided and
the rock would have fallen after the bus had passed..!!!
The vertical thinkers must have answered - the couples
came there for suicide. They stick to one solution even it is
negative. Is it not lateral thinking???
Is it not lateral thinking???
Emergent
Innovative
Inventive
Productive
Expressive
Creativity Levels
Emergent creativity:
Emergent creativity involves bringing forth a principle or idea that is
entirely new to humankind, and that has far-reaching effects on how we
perceive reality
Innovative creativity:
Here creative individuals builds on their knowledge of whatever field
they are in, climbing on the shoulders of their predecessors, so to speak,
to reach even higher levels of new understanding and ideas
Inventive creativity and productive creativity :
Inventive creativity finds new uses for existing concepts and parts, while
productive creativity is the description given when someone develops
objects or ideas that are new to him or her, but not necessarily to other
people
Expressive creativity:
Expressive creativity expresses feelings and ideas but does not need any
particular skill or originality. This is well illustrated by the pictures that
parents often place on their refrigerators or family notice-boards after
young children have excitedly brought their latest art effort home from
school
The six thinking hats - Process and rationale by Edward De Bor
Rationale
Cooperative exploration
replaces adversarial
thinking
Ego factors are removed
Negativity is not allowed
Process
Meeting of several people
Deliberate putting on of
different hats i.e. different
attitudes
Everyone wears each hat
simultaneously
Hats are changed during
meeting
Deliberate Lateral Thinking Tools
Six Thinking Hats
White hat Red hat Black hat
Association
White paper:
neutral
carrier of
information
Fire, warmth Strict judge, intolerant
of wrong doers
Area of focus Data and
information
Feelings,
intuition
Critical judgement
Questions/
discussion
topic
This is what I feel
My gut feel is that
I dont like the way
My intuition tells me
The regulations dont
allow
He doesnt have the
experience
Those prices wont be
profitable
We wont fill capacity
What info do we
have?
What info is
missing?
Where will we get
it?
How will we get
it?
Source: Edward de Bor
Six Thinking Hats Continued...
Yellow hat Green hat Blue hat
Association Sunshine
Optimism
Logical, positive
view
Vegetation,
Rich growth
Sky
Overview
Area of focus Benefits (logically
based)
Feasibility
Creative thinking
New ideas
Additional alternatives
Agenda
Next steps
Process control
Questions/
discussion
topic
Are there alternatives?
Could there be another
reason?
What is a creative
solution
Lets summarize views
Lets look at priorities
The points to discuss
are...
This would work if
we did X
The benefit would
come from Y
High labour costs
mean a lower
workforce
Source: Edward de Bor
Sequence is not fixed, but often it is:
1. White info
2. Green ideas
3. Yellow benefits of ideas
4. Black evaluation
5. Red feelings
6. Blue - conclusions
Six Thinking Hats - Evaluation
+
+
-
Takes people away from normal
attitudes
Easy to use
Participants often feel very awkward
and ill at ease initially
Developing Employee Creativity
Creativity is the ability to generate novel and useful ideas and solutions to everyday problems
and challenges, Creativity is very important to organizations that want to solve new problems
Creative thinking can be divided into two types of reasoning:-

The intellectual ability to think of many

original, diverse, and elaborate ideas
Divergent thinking is essential to the novelty
of creative products
Divergent
thinking
The intellectual ability to logically evaluate,
critique and choose the best idea from a
selection of ideas
whereas convergent thinking is fundamental
to the appropriateness
Convergent
thinking
6 Ways To Unleash Creativity In The Workplace
The demand for creativity from employees is rising in this age of rapid
technological advancement
This is evident when we see multinational companies like Google setting up
something known as a the 20 percent program or policy

Google developers spend 20 percent of their working

hours (a day at work) on side projects
To give employees the time and space to think
innovatively Indeed, the policy works well, with some of
the best products of Google (e.g. Google News)
originating from the program
Some of you may think that creativity is an inborn trait
rather than something that can be learned and
developed This may be so, but without
a conducive environment for creativity to be
expressed, how can we expect to see ideas arising
from creative employees?
Continued
1.Reward Creativity
To think out-of-the-box ideas
suggestions have to be taken
seriously Otherwise, everyone
will think its a waste of time
To kick-start things up, you can set
goals for your employees to think up
of some ways of making work
processes more efficient
This will be followed with a reward
for the employee & equally
important, implementation
Reward can be tangible like -
monetary incentives, or intangible
like- recognition from the
organization by announcing the
winner to the rest.
2.Innovation Teams
Each innovation team will
be tasked to come up with
ideas on how to improve the
work process of a particular
aspect
This will signal to everyone
that the organization values
work-related creativity
Creativity is supposed to be
spontaneous
3. Anonymity & Confidentiality
Employees may already be
motivated to be creative but have no
outlets to voice out their wonderful
ideas
The outspoken ones can always
speak to the management about
some suggestions they have in mind,
others may be too shy or afraid to
do so in this manner
Providing a suggestion box or
anything similar would grant these
employees the anonymity and
confidentiality they crave
Brainstorming sessions
Continued
4.Support Creativity
Employees may be unwilling to
take risks because they do not
know whether the organization
supports creativity
This has a lot to do with how
receptive you are to their
ideas, and how you make
known your intention to be a
more creative company
Afraid of the repercussions of
making mistakes
5. Diversity Among Employees
How can different ideas
exchange if everyone thinks in a
similar manner? Employees with
comparable backgrounds,
qualifications, experience, etc.
creates a homogeneous
working environment
Hire staffs from different
knowledge and
background and get them to
mingle around in projects and
even company events
6. Positive Working
Environment
Too serious a mind set can hinder
creativity, Having fun during
work allows one to be relaxed & thats
where one tends to get inspired with
wonderful ideas
stressful or even depressing work
environment doesnt give one the mood
to think of doing things differently
Psychological studies have revealed
that positive mood can spur creativity
We become more open-minded in that
sense and are willing to explore
alternatives