CHAPTER 6
PROBLEM SOLVING AND CREATIVITY
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES
The ability to solve problems creatively is required in many positions. A problem is a gap
between what exists and what you want to exist. Decision making means selecting one
alternative from the various alternative solutions that can be pursued.
I. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT INFLUENCE YOUR PROBLEM-
SOLVING ABILITY
Many personal characteristics and traits influence the type of problem solver and decision
maker a person is now or is capable of becoming. Some of these attributes can be
improved through conscious effort.
creative—alternative solutions to solving a problem.
D. Intuition
Effective decision makers rely on careful analysis and intuition, an experience-based
way of knowing or reasoning in which weighing and balance of evidence are done
automatically. Intuition takes place when the brain gathers information stored in
memory and packages it as a new insight or solution. Developing good intuition may
take a long time because so much information has to be stored. As Tim Cook of
making. Another impediment is perfectionism. The perfectionist keeps searching for
more information before making a decision. The combination of being indecisive and
a perfectionist can lead to procrastination.
G. Risk Taking and Thrill Seeking
For some types of problems, the high risk taker and thrill seeker is at an advantage.
Risk taking and thrill seeking can also lead to poor problem solving and decision
A. Be Aware of the Problem or Opportunity
First you need to be aware that a problem exists, and then recognize that it may
represent an important opportunity for you.
B. Identify Causes of the Problem
The causes of problems should be diagnosed and clarified before any action is taken
because the causes are not always what they seem to be on the surface. In searching
D. Weigh Alternatives and Make the Choice
The pros and cons of each alternative must be weighed. Next, the person chooses an
alternative. Some people suffer from analysis paralysis, and thus delay decision
making. It is best to reduce the number of possible choices. With too many choices,
you might freeze in terms of decision making.
E. Implement the Choice
The alternative chosen must now be put into action. Some decisions are more difficult
to implement than others.
alternative you chose proved to be dreadful—the worst-case scenario. Closely
related to the worst-case scenario is establishing an exit strategy that determines in
advance how you will get out of a bad decision, such as having joined a failing family
business.
Have Students visit the Queendom website to take a self-assessment on Creative
Problem Solving at
http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=688
III. CREATIVITY IN DECISION MAKING
Creativity is the ability to develop good ideas that can be put into action. Many people think
inherit.
A. Characteristics of Creative Workers
Creative people are more mentally flexible than others, allowing them to overcome the
traditional way of looking at problems. The characteristics of creative workers can be
grouped into three broad areas, as described below.
1. Knowledge. Creative thinking requires a broad background of information,
2. Intellectual Abilities. Creative workers tend to be bright rather than brilliant, and
maintain a life-long, youthful curiosity. The key to creative intelligence is insight,
3. Personality. Emotional and other nonintellectual aspects of a person heavily
influence creative problem solving. Creative people are self-confident, can
tolerate isolation, and are often nonconformists. The self-confidence associated
with worker creativity has been labeled creative self-efficacy—the belief that one
1. An environmental need must stimulate the setting of a goal. Necessity is the
mother of invention.
3. Encouragement, including a permissive atmosphere that welcomes new ideas.
4. Humor is a key environmental condition for enhancing creativity. Humor gets the
creative juices flowing.
5. A positive mood often contributes to creativity.
Despite the theme of permissiveness in several of the conditions for enhancing
creativity, constraints can help. Individuals or teams with budget and time constraints
sometimes find that these constraints help them rise to the occasion.
IV. IMPROVING YOUR CREATIVITY?
Many strategies and techniques can foster creativity improvement, and all of them help
people move beyond intellectual constraints. The goal of these experiences is to think like
a creative problem solver.
mental set is to challenge the status quo.
D. Conduct Brainstorming and Brainwriting Sessions
The best-known method of improving creativity is brainstorming, a technique by
which group members think of multiple solutions to a problem. Rules and Guidelines
for Brainstorming are presented in Figure 6-3. An important strategy for enhancing
the outcome of brainstorming is to have intellectually and culturally diverse group
members.
In many situations, brainstorming by oneself produces as many or more useful
ideas as does brainstorming in groups. Brainwriting, or solo brainstorming, is
arriving at creative ideas by the individual jotting them down.
Establishing idea quotas is similar to brainwriting with a goal in mind. An easy way
of getting started is to establish a monthly minimum quota of one creative idea to
improve personal life, and one to improve school or job performance.
F. Engage in Multicultural Experiences
An analysis of many studies shows that multicultural experience fosters creativity, in
such ways as:
• Obtaining direct access to novel ideas and concepts from other cultures
think clearly. An experiment showed that a person’s creative output can increase by
an average of 60 percent while walking.
H. Solicit Feedback on Your Performance
Find many articles on creativity at the Creativity For Life website at
http://www.creativityforlife.com/
V. HOW CRITICAL THINKING RELATES TO PROBLEM SOLVING AND
CREATIVITY
Problem solving and creativity can be regarded as being part of critical thinking. The
problem-solving steps help a person think critically. One version of critical thinking is
that it proceeds in the following four steps:
2. Evaluate the stated or unstated assumptions underlying the argument.
3. Imagine and attempt to evaluate alternative arguments.
4. Make a decision.
Critical thinking is often difficult to accomplish for a variety of personal and situational
factors that might prevent or limit us from critically evaluating a problems. The factors that
influence problem-solving skill listed in Figure 6-1 might be considered as potential
constraints on critical problem solving.
VI. HOW MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES CONTRIBUTE TO PROBLEM SOLVING AND
CREATIVITY
According to Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, people know and understand
the world in distinctly different ways and learn in different ways. People therefore use
these different intelligences as needed to solve a problem. Individuals possess the
following eight intelligences, or faculties in varying degrees:
1. Linguistic
2. Logical-mathematical
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REVIEW
6.1 In what way might your present job, or any job you have ever held in the past, benefit
from creative problem solving?
6.2 From time to time, McDonald’s Corporation has experienced the problem of flat or
declining sales at its restaurants (stores). What might be one or two of the company’s
underlying problems?
6.3 What would be some of the symptoms or signs of a “flexible thinker”?
6.4 How might being a low risk taker limit a person’s chances for attaining a high level of
career success?
6.5 Provide an example of how you have used intuition to your advantage in work or
personal life.
6.6 Why does knowledge lead to creativity?
6.7 Provide an example of how a supervisor or teacher of yours encouraged you to be
creative. How effective was this encouragement?
6.8 Why is being passionate about the task at hand almost essential for being creative?
6.9 How might having just a couple of creative ideas during your work life have a major
impact on the success of your career?
6.10 Ask an experienced manager or professional how important creative thinking has been in
his her career. Be prepared to report back to class with your findings.
If creativity is conceptualized as thinking of novel and useful ideas, most managers and
performance. Good job performance, in turn, usually helps a person’s career.
COMMENTS ON EXERCISES AND CASES
Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 6-1: A Checklist of Behaviors and Attitudes Reflecting
Good Concentration and Focus
This quiz facilitates students concentrating on the power of concentration. An untold number of
human errors including serious accidents are caused by poor concentration. As described in the
text, concentration is also required for effective problem solving and creativity.
Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 6-2: Creative Personality Test
The Creative Personality Test measures self-perceptions of attitudes and behaviors that are likely
to be associated with creative problem solving. In turn, many of the attitudes and behaviors are
average on risk taking and thrill seeking, and detective work satisfies that need. Also, solving
crime (or tracking down embezzlers and adulterers) often requires imaginative thinking.
A constructive activity is to ask volunteers what they think of the accuracy of the creativity
test. (How does your score fit your self-evaluation of your creativity, or feedback from others
about your creative-thinking ability?)
Applying Human Relations Exercise 6-1: Using the Problem-Solving Process
A benefit of going through the problem-solving process with an inherently enjoyable problem
that the potential payoff from a franchise is smaller than from starting a new venture. In contrast
the more risk-averse groups will point out that a franchise is not such a high-risk investment.
The results of the Problem-Solving Process can also be used to illustrate how values shape
decision making. The more altruistic students are more likely to use the money to invest in a
charitable foundation.
Applying Human Relations Exercise 6-2: Helping the Alliance Rubber Company Prosper
exercise. We know that students will rise to the occasion to perform well in this creativity
exercise.
Human Relations Class Activity: Creative Problem Solving and Pot Holes
An appealing feature of this exercise is that the problem at hand is something about which almost
solution to the problem leaves considerable room for imagination because few cities have
conquered the problem of potholes. It is possible that the solution to the pothole problem does
not require an in-depth knowledge of the related technology.
Human Relations Case Study 6-1: Budget Vision Care Needs Ideas
An important advantage of this case is that it illustrates the type of creativity many readers of this
book aspire toward—improving an existing business or finding new sources of revenue.
6.11 To what extent do you think it is Seth’s individual responsibility to furnish creative ideas
for generating new business for Budget Vision Care?
6.12 In response to José’s comment, where should the management team look for creative
ideas for enlarging the revenue of Budget Vision Care?
6.13 From the standpoint of ethics, do you think Budget Vision Care should stay in business?
Explain your reasoning.
The biggest ethical rap against Budget Vision Care is that their products are of low
Human Relations Role Play Exercise 6-1: Group Decision Making and Creativity
Entrepreneurially-minded students will enjoy this opportunity to engage in creative problem
solving. Toward the end of the session it will prove useful if the role players can edit and refine
their suggestions and perhaps focus on one or two good ideas for business expansion of Budget
Vision Care. The role players will also have to display gentle persuasion skills in attempting to
get set to contribute creative ideas of his own.
6.14 What theme for a meeting do you suggest Kaitlin pursue?
6.15 How might Kaitlin go about solving the problem of needing a creative theme for the
homebuilders meeting?
Kaitlin should be thorough in her search for ideas. She might use the Internet to search
for ideas; she might speak to people in her professional network; and she might consult
articles and books on event planning.
Human Relations Role Playing Exercise 6-2: Kaitlin Submits Her Big Idea
thinking creatively on her next try.