Scribd
Upload
38 views24 pages

Creativity & Problem Solving Creativity For Problem Solving

The document discusses creativity and problem solving. It provides tips for developing creativity, including restating problems in new ways to find alternative solutions, avoiding constraints by considering many possibilities, and using mind mapping to freely generate ideas. It also emphasizes persisting through failures as Thomas Edison did to find success, and hiring people from different backgrounds to challenge assumptions. Creative individuals are described as having moderately low need for social approval and high intrinsic motivation and achievement motivation.

Uploaded by

Nishant Anand
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
38 views24 pages

Creativity & Problem Solving Creativity For Problem Solving

The document discusses creativity and problem solving. It provides tips for developing creativity, including restating problems in new ways to find alternative solutions, avoiding constraints by considering many possibilities, and using mind mapping to freely generate ideas. It also emphasizes persisting through failures as Thomas Edison did to find success, and hiring people from different backgrounds to challenge assumptions. Creative individuals are described as having moderately low need for social approval and high intrinsic motivation and achievement motivation.

Uploaded by

Nishant Anand
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 24

Creativity & Problem

Solving

Creativity for Problem


Solving
Identifying Mental Blocks for
Self-Development
Many problem solvers are…

….Blocked from considering new directions by stubborn


commitment to the old. Whereas,

A creative problem solver ---if, after a reasonable time, no


solution presents itself, s/he tries to restate it in such a
way that a new avenue of approach becomes available.
Mind Blocked… How???
• Most people will see the difficulty as a shortness of reach
i.e. they state the problem to themselves as: "How can I
get to the second string?"
• The consequence of this perspective is that all effort goes
into vain efforts to find a means of making one of the
strings longer.
• But the "givens" of this problem make such a solution
impossible.
Most of us impose too many imaginary

boundaries, restrictions, and constraints upon

our problems, and hence fail to solve them !!!


Mind Mapping
This activity allows you to quickly generate
creative and even unique ideas in less time.
It gives you the freedom you need when
brainstorming so that the flow of ideas is not
blocked or hampered like linear thinking
does.
Realizing your Creative Potential!!!

An important step towards realizing your


creative potential is to internalize this
fact:
Imagine…many alternatives!!

Everything you know about life is random


and incomplete.
and:
Everything can have many alternatives, an
infinite number of them, you need to only
imagine them.
Imagination
Our is the tool that

enables every person to go beyond the limited number of


alternatives already defined by their brains and to define and
create new existing alternatives.
***That is creativity.***
Imagination

The power to imagine, to see things in our


mind’s eye.
Excitement Is the Juice of Creation

Thomas Edison was not only a creative genius. He was


street smart and canny with it. He knew that a clever idea
is no good unless you can sell people on it. He invested a
lot of time and creative ingenuity in making sure that
people (the paying public) understood and were duly
impressed by his new inventions.
With this heightened energy you are empowered to think

creatively, to sparkle and be brilliant. The first and foremost

person who needs to be sold on the value of a new idea is

YOU.
In line with this, Edison highlighted…

• Inventor Thomas Edison highlighted the importance of


persistence when he famously said that genius is 1%
inspiration and 99% perspiration. Edison and his staff
discovered hundreds of ways not to build a lightbulb
before they got it right!
• Although knowledge and experience may be important in one
sense, they can also undermine creativity because people
develop mental models that lead to “mindless behavior”,
whereby they stop questioning their assumptions.
• The mental models sometimes restrict the decision maker’s
ability to see different perspectives.
• To overcome this limitation, some corporate leaders like to hire
people from other industries and areas of expertise.
• For instance, Geoffrey Ballard, founder of Ballard Power
Systems, hired a chemist to develop a better battery. When
the chemist protested that he didn’t know anything about
batteries, Ballard replied: “That’s fine. I don’t want someone
who knows batteries. They know what won’t work.”
• Ballard explained that he wanted to hire people who would
question and investigate avenues that experts had long ago
closed their minds to.
• The point here is that knowledge and experience are
double-edged sword. It is an important prerequisite
for creativity, but too much routinization of
knowledge and experience can cause people to be
less investigative.
Few Personality Traits of Creative
Individuals
 Moderately low need for affiliation

People are more creative when they have less need for social
approval and have a somewhat high (but not necessarily very high)
degree of non-conformity.

Creative people are less embarrassed when they make mistakes,


and they remain motivated to explore ideas even when others
criticize them for their persistence.
Need for Achievement – Relatively - High

A person with high n Ach:

• Likes to shoulder responsibility


• Likes to take moderate risks
• Wants to know the results of his efforts
• Tends to persist in the face of adversity
 Intrinsic Motivation – High

Let’s take the example of “Writing”

Why are your writing??? Few reasons could be:


Seven reasons were consistently identified as Intrinsic:

1) You get a lot of pleasure out of reading something


good that you have written.
2) You enjoy the opportunity for self-expression.
3) You achieve new insights through your writing.
4) You derive satisfaction from expressing yourself
clearly and eloquently.
5) You feel relaxed when writing.
6) You like to play with words.
7) You enjoy becoming involved with ideas, characters,
events and images in your writing.
Seven other reasons were consistently rated as Extrinsic:

1) You realize that, with the introduction of dozens of


magazines every year, the market for freelance writing is
constantly expanding.
2) You want your writing teachers to be favourably impressed
with your writing talent.
3) You have heard of cases where one bestselling novel or
collection of poems has made the author financially secure.
4) You enjoy public recognition of your work.
5) You know that many of the best jobs available require
good writing skills.
6) You know that many of the best jobs available require
good writing skills.
7) Your teachers and parents have encouraged you to go
into writing.

You might also like