creative thinking & problem solving

Creative Thinking
&
Problem Solving

Creative Thinking
&
Problem Solving
Presented and drafted by
Denadyalan. S (2019507002)
II M. Sc., Agricultural Extension & Communication
For the course AEX 591 Master Seminar Evaluation (0+1)
Department of Agricultural Extension & Rural Sociology
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Coimbatore
Advisory committee
Chairman
Dr. P. P. Murugan
Professor (Agricultural Extension)
Controllerate of Examinations
TNAU, Coimbatore.
Member
Dr. Shibi Sebastian
Assistant Professor (Agrl., Extension)
Directorate of Students Welfare
TNAU, Coimbatore.
Member
Dr. Patil Santosh Ganapati
Assistant Professor (Statistics)
Department of Physical Sciences and
Information Technology
TNAU, Coimbatore.
2

Acknowledgment
I am overwhelmed in all humbleness and gratefulness to acknowledge my depth
to all those who have helped me to put these ideas, well above the level of simplicity and
into something concrete.
I cannot express enough thanks to my Advisory committee for their continued
support and encouragement: Dr. P. P. Murugan, my committee chair; and my commit-
tee members Dr. Shibi Sebastian & Dr. Patil Santosh Ganapati. I offer my sincere
appreciation for the learning opportunities provided by my committee.
I’m solemnly grateful to my seniors III & II Ph.D scholars of DAE&RS for their
continued moral support and motivation. My completion of this seminar could not have
been accomplished without the support of my classmates of II M.Sc
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to Department of Agricul-
tural Extension & Rural Sociology which gave me the golden opportunity to do the
seminar on the topic “Creative Thinking & Problem Solving” , which helped me in doing
a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things.
Words seem to be inadequate to thank my respondents - I Ph.D & I M.Sc of
DAE&RS, Coimbatore and II M.Sc students of Madurai & Killikulam
Regards
Denadyalan. S
3

Preface
There is an entire generation of people who grew up believing they aren’t creative
because someone told them they weren’t good at art. The perception was that “creative
people” were those who were artistic–or more precisely–good at drawing. But this isn’t
how creativity works, and this kind of thinking is the reason why many might have trou-
ble tapping into the creative parts of the brain, One of the central challenges is to have a
definition that can be satisfactorily applied across all manifestations of creativity regard-
less of whether the “object” being judged is a work of art or a scientific theory or a pub-
lic policy strategy (and so on). Another stems from the problem of inherent subjectivity
when judging and classifying an “object” as one that is less or more creative. Creativity
is the ability to transcend traditional ways of thinking or acting, and to develop new and
original ideas, methods or objects.
Creativity is the skill to transcend traditional ways of thinking and come up with
new ideas. But where do these new ideas come from? Recently, the ways we think and the
parts of the brain that contribute to creativity have become of interest to cognitive neuro
scientists. Since creativity is among one of the most complex of human behaviors, it likely
requires the coordination of multiple brain regions and types of thinking. Because creativ-
ity is so complex, it seems naive to think that creativity can be localized to a single region
in the brain
Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of solving problems or identifying oppor-
tunities when conventional thinking has failed. It encourages you to find fresh perspec-
tives and come up with innovative solutions, so that you can formulate a plan to overcome
obstacles and reach your goals. Dealing with obstacles and challenges is a regular part of
working life, and overcoming them isn’t always easy. To improve products, services, com-
munications, and interpersonal skills, you need to encourage creative thinking and find
innovative solutions that work. CPS asks to separate “divergent” and “convergent” think-
ing as a way to do this. Divergent thinking is the process of generating lots of potential
solutions and possibilities, otherwise known as brainstorming. And convergent thinking
involves evaluating those options and choosing the most promising one. Often, we use a
combination of the two to develop new ideas or solutions. However, using them simulta-
neously can result in unbalanced or biased decisions, and can stifle idea generation. Both
individuals and businesses value hold those with creative qualities in high regard. And
that makes sense as the definition of a creative person is literally someone who comes up
with good ideas and can bring them to fruition. In today’s world, that is exactly the fuel
that drives business success. So if you want to get ahead, start churning out those ideas
like a barrel of monkeys.
4

5
Creativity 7
Modes of thinking 13
Physiology of creative thinking 19
Psychology of creative thinking 23
Creative problem solving 33
Study 39
References 43
Content

“Creative activity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are
located in the same individual”
6

Creativity - Meaning, Definition,
Categories of Creativity.

Creative Thinking & Problem Solving
Creativity
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something somehow new and valuable is
formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical
composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary work,
or a painting).
The English word creativity comes from the Latin term “Creare”, “to create, make”
its derivational suffixes also come from Latin. In a summary of scientific research into cre-
ativity, “Over the course of the last decade, we seem to have reached a general agree-
ment that creativity involves the production of novel, useful products” (Mumford, 2003),
or in Robert Sternberg’s words, the production of “something original and worthwhile”.
Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or pos-
sibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and enter-
taining ourselves and others.
Three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:
• Need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation
• Need to communicate ideas and values
• Need to solve problems
In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a
different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to generate new possibil-
ities or new alternatives. Tests of creativity measure not only the number of alternatives
that people can generate but the uniqueness of those alternatives. the ability to generate
alternatives or to see things uniquely does not occur by change; it is linked to other, more
fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or unpredict-
ability, and the enjoyment of things heretofore unknown
“Creative” refers to novel products of value, as in “The airplane was a creative
invention.” “Creative” also refers to the person who produces the work, as in, Picasso
was creative.” “Creativity,” then refers both to the capacity to produce such works, as
in “How can we foster our employees’ creativity?” and to the activity of generating such
products, as in “Creativity requires hard work.”
All who study creativity agree that for something to be creative, it is not enough
for it to be novel: it must have value, or be appropriate to the cognitive demands of the
situation.”
Ways that “creativity” is commonly used:
• Persons who express unusual thoughts, who are interesting and stimulating - in
short, people who appear to unusually bright.
• People who experience the world in novel and original ways. These are (personally
creative) individuals whose perceptions are fresh, whose judgments are insightful,
who may make important discoveries that only they know about.
8

• Individuals who have changes our culture in some important way. Because their
achievement are by definition public, it is easier to write about them. (e.g., Leonar-
do, Edison, Picasso, Einstein, etc.)
• Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that trans-
forms an existing domain into a new one...What counts is whether the novelty he or
she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain.”
Authors have diverged dramatically in their precise definitions beyond these gen-
eral commonalities: Peter Meusburger reckons that over a hundred different analyses can
be found in the literature. As an illustration, one definition given by Dr. E. Paul Torrance
described it as “a process of becoming sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowl-
edge, missing elements, disharmonies, and so on; identifying the difficulty; searching for
solutions, making guesses, or formulating hypotheses about the deficiencies: testing and
retesting these hypotheses and possibly modifying and retesting them; and finally com-
municating the results.”
Creativity in general is usually distinguished from innovation in particular, where
the stress is on implementation. For example, Teresa Amabile and Pratt (2016) defines
creativity as production of novel and useful ideas and innovation as implementation of
creative ideas, while the OECD and Eurostat state that “Innovation is more than a new
idea or an invention. An innovation requires implementation, either by being put into ac-
tive use or by being made available for use by other parties, firms, individuals or organisa-
tions.”
New Novel
• Having recently come into existence : recent,
modern of recent origin, production, pur-
chase, etc.; having but lately come or been
brought into being:a new book
• New and not resembling something formerly
known or used.
• If something is so new and original that it’s
never been seen, used or even thought of be-
fore, call it novel
Thought Idea
• theactofthinkingaboutorconsideringsome-
thing, an idea or opinion, or a set of ideas
about a particular subject:
• an idea, plan, opinion, picture, etc., that is
formed in your mind : the act or process of
thinking.
• a thought or suggestion as to a possible
course of action.
• a suggestion or plan for doing something
• anyconceptionexistinginthemindasaresult
of mental understanding, awareness, or activ-
ity.
9

Creativity Innovation
• Theuseofimaginationororiginalideastocre-
ate something; inventiveness.
• Creativity is the ability of a person or group to
make something new and useful or valuable,
or the process of making something new and
useful or valuable. It happens in all areas of
life - science, art, literature and music
• Innovation is the implementation of a new or
significantlyimprovedproduct,serviceorpro-
cess that creates value for business, govern-
ment or society. Joseph.a1994
• Innovation is production or adoption, assimi-
lation, and exploitation of a value-added nov-
elty in economic and social spheres - oecd
10
Categories of Creativity:
Big-C creativity
Big-C creativity is reserved to describe the work of an elite few who have trans-
formed their discipline with their inventions. Their work has been generally accepted as
being innovative and ground-breaking, even if it was considered controversial when it
was first created. Some examples are scientific works such as Einstein’s theory of rela-
tivity and Darwin’s theory of evolution, and works of art such as Picasso’s Guernica, Jane
Austen’s novel Emma or Beethoven’s Symphony. Big-C creativity is out of reach of most
of us, and big-C creators themselves are often as extraordinary as their creations.
Pro-c creativity
This type of creativity has involved time (usually at least 10 years) and effort to
develop. A musician who showed promise as a child, has trained to degree level and now
makes a living teaching and playing classical music could be classified as pro-c. A physicist
working at a university who teaches and undertakes academic research could also be clas-
sified as pro-c.
Little-c creativity
Little-c creativity is about ‘acting with flexibility, intelligence and novelty in the
everyday’ (Craft, 2005). This results in creating something new that has ‘originality and
meaningfulness’ (Richards, 2007). This everyday kind of creativity can be found in the kind
of person who can resolve a complex problem at work, is a keen gardener with an eye
for design, or takes creative photographs and exhibits them on a photo-sharing website.
School-age learners may work at little-c level if they engage in purposeful practice in their
discipline. Little-c creativity involves practice and may be developed over a long period of
time. The Internet has provided the infrastructure for little-c creativity to thrive. Websites
such as YouTube, Instagram and Etsy enable creative people to share their expertise and
work.

Mini-c creativity
Mini-c is defined as the ‘novel and personally meaningful interpretation of experi-
ences, actions, and events’ (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2007). This is the kind of creativity that
can be nurtured by teachers and parents. ‘Mini-c happens when a person demonstrates
“flexibility, intelligence and novelty” in their thinking’ (Craft, 2005). It is usually applied,
but not necessarily limited, to children’s creativity. Mini-c creativity may not be visible to
outsiders and may consist purely of ideas and connections that the learner creates. Any
human act that gives rise to something new is referred to as a creative act, regardless of
whether what is constructed is a physical object or some mental or emotional construct
that lives within the person who created it and is known only to him.
Piaget suggested that ‘to understand is to invent’ meaning that a learner ‘invents’
an understanding of new material for themselves. Mini-c creativity could describe a learn-
er’s achievement in finding several different ways of approaching a maths problem. It
could also involve making a new connection between their existing knowledge and a new
piece of information which helps them to understand the subject more fully.
The boundaries between these categories can be blurred and they are not age spe-
cific. A person could fit into multiple categories in different areas of their life. For example,
a chef who could produce dishes at a pro-C level while at work might work at a little-c
level when attending a watercolour painting class. The two categories most relevant to
schools are little-c and mini-c creativity. They highlight the fact that being creative and
innovative is not so much about revolutionary ideas or new inventions that change the
world. It is about individual growth achieved through small insights. Creativity and innova-
tion are fundamental to all disciplines and an essential part of the learning process, form-
ing an important dimension of learning how to learn, which we considered in Chapter 3.
They are also fundamental to teachers improving their professional practice and to school
development.
Being innovative and creative is dependent on the other attributes. Being creative
requires reflection, encourages engagement and develops confidence and responsibility.
The ability and inclination to be creative is essential to living a fulfilled and successful life,
and it is valued in higher education and the workplace. There are many other benefits of
maximising one’s own creative potential such as physical and psychological health im-
provements, improved resilience in the face of difficulties and even lower levels of aggres-
sion (Richards, 2007).
Craft (2005) points out that our understanding of innovation and creativity have
progressed and broadened over time. In the early 20th century creativity was considered
to be an innate, elusive quality that individuals were born with. Initially creativity was
most closely associated with the arts but grew to include science, technology and other
disciplines. In the 21st century creativity is increasingly viewed as a distributed and collab-
orative process of communal sense making and problem solving.
11

As with all the learner attributes, cultural perspectives are also very important
when considering creativity. Confucian heritage cultures, for example, tend to see cre-
ativity more as a collective exercise. They place responsibility for creativity on the social
group rather than the individual. Individuals, therefore, are not encouraged to stand out
from the class in the same way or to the same extent as in Western cultures. This does
not mean that creativity is in any way less valued. As with all the learner attributes, ideas
presented in this chapter need to be interpreted and implemented in a culturally sensitive
way.
World Creativity and Innovation Day is observed globally on 21 April every year.
This day is celebrated to raise awareness around the importance of creativity and inno-
vation in problem-solving with respect to advancing the United Nations sustainable de-
velopment goals, also known as the “global goals”. The main objective of the day is to
encourage people to use new ideas, make new decisions, and do creative thinking. Cre-
ativity is what makes the world go ‘round.
History of World Creativity and Innovation Day:
World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID) was founded on 25 May 2001 in To-
ronto, Canada. The founder of the day was the Canadian Marci Segal. Segal was studying
creativity in 1977 at the International Center for Studies in Creativity.
The United Nations on 27 April 2017 resolved to include World Creativity and Inno-
vation Day on 21 April as a Day of observance to raise importance among people about
the use of their creativity in problem-solving for all issues that may be related to achieving
the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals
12
April 21

Modes of thinking, Critical thinking
vs Creative thinking, Creative think-
ing process, Blooms Theory

The Three Modes Of Thinking
It is essential to human nature to be able to think critically and creatively. Our abil-
ity and tendency to think critically and carefully takes precedence over content knowl-
edge, not only in the classroom but in the wider world around us. There are thought to be
three different modes of thinking: lateral, divergent, and convergent thought. Modes of
thinking
Convergent thinking. (using logic).
This type of thinking is also called critical, vertical, analytical, or linear thinking. It
generally refers to the ability to give the “correct” answer to standard questions that
do not require significant creativity. This includes most tasks in school and on standard-
ized tests. Convergent thinking is the type of thinking that focuses on coming up with
the single, well-established answer to a problem. When an individual is using convergent
thinking to solve a problem, they consciously use standards or probabilities to make judg-
ments.
Divergent thinking. (using imagination).
This type of thinking is also called creative or horizontal thinking. It is a thought
process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solu-
tions. When a student uses divergent thinking, thoughts typically occur in a spontaneous,
free-flowing way. Many possible solutions are explored in a short amount of time, and un-
expected connections are more easily drawn. After the process of divergent thinking has
been completed, ideas and information are organized and structured using convergent
thinking.
Lateral thinking. (using both logic and imagination).
This type of thinking is commonly referred to as “thinking outside the box.” It in-
volves solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that
is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only
traditional step-by-step logic. To understand lateral thinking, it is necessary to compare
convergent and divergent thinking and build a working relationship between the two
types.
In theory, convergent and divergent thinking are two completely different aspects
of thinking. However, they hold more in common than one might realize. These process-
es tend to work best when applied in conjunction. Divergent thinking takes place in a
free-flowing, spontaneous manner and creates varieties of possible resolutions to an-
other problem. If convergent thinking is applied then after, the very best answer can be
picked out from the multiple solutions resulted due to divergent thinking. Some people
think of science and engineering as the opposite of art and creativity. That’s not true. The
fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are highly creative. Design-
ing a more efficient assembly line robot, writing an innovative new computer program, or
developing a testable hypothesis are all highly creative acts.
14

Critical Thinking Creative Thinking
The process of figuring out a concrete solu-
tion to any problem is called Convergent
Thinking.
Divergent thinking is the process of think-
ing that explores multiple possible solu-
tions in order to generate creative ideas.
It’s a straight forward process that focuses
on figuring out the most effective answer
to a problem.
In contrast, divergent thinking refers to
opening the mind in various directions and
trying out multiple solutions for a problem.
Its characteristics include
Speed
Accuracy
Logic
Its characteristics include
Spontaneous
Free-flowing
Non-linear
Methods involved in convergent thinking
also involve recognizing the previously
tried out techniques and reapplying them
along with the readily stored information.
Divergent thinking relates to figuring out
new procedures to solve a problem despite
existing solutions
Convergent thinking helps to find out
the best possible answer to any problem,
which are accurate most of the time, and
no room for ambiguity is left.
Although Divergent thinking keeps the op-
tions open, a completely accurate answer
isn’t identified.
A convergent thinker is exactly what the
circumstances demand in various situa-
tions, such as standardized tests.
Divergent thinker isn’t always able to pin-
point the right answer. For instance, in a
standardized aptitude test, a convergent
thinker might be able to decide the right
answer, but the contemplating mind of a
divergent thinker might work against him
in the situation.

Creative thinking means generating creative ideas by brainstorming potential ways to
solve a problem. This method applies divergent thinking because you begin with a prompt
or question and generate many solutions. Creative thinking is divergent.
• Problems are at the center of what many people do at work every day, so learning
better ways to solve problems can benefit your work performance.
• This course explores a five-step problem-solving process. It includes a creative and
analytical approach for defining problems, articulating the problem statement, iden-
tifying the root cause of a problem, and ways to select and implement the best solu-
tion for any problem.
• The Circle of Concern comprises all your problems, which includes some that you can
influence and some that you cannot.
15

• The Circle of Influence is a smaller circle of influence that falls within your circle of
concerns. It includes all problems that you can influence, control, and resolve.
• Critical thinking involves convergent thinking and focuses on coming up with a sin-
gle solution to a problem. Creative thinking involves divergent thinking and gener-
ates many creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. Using agile principles
encourages you to begin with an understanding of the problem; listen, iterate, and
course-correct; and be self-directing, individually or as a team
The Medici Effect which summarizes Simonton’s research and explains how cre-
ative outcomes result when people are able to break down the associative barriers that
exist between disciplines or areas of knowledge. When this breakdown occurs, individuals
can enter what Johansson terms “the Intersection” between fields, where the number of
new combinations of ideas is staggeringly high. Living and breathing at this Intersection
explains the high level of output of successful creators. By pursing the best of these nu-
merous idea options, creative individuals have a shot at success.
Creative thinking process
Teresa Amabile, has provided the field with one of the most simple and yet com-
prehensive frameworks for the topic. As depicted in the diagram below, creativity arises
through the confluence of the following three components:
• Knowledge: All the relevant understanding an individual brings to bear on a creative
effort.
• Creative Thinking: Relates to how people approach problems and depends on per-
sonality and thinking/working style.
• Motivation: Motivation is generally accepted as key to creative production, and the
most important motivators are intrinsic passion and interest in the work itself.
16

For creative thinking to deepen and extend learning, rather than be an enjoyable
but superficial activity, it must be grounded in understanding of the content being inves-
tigated. It is vital that learners have sufficient understanding of the material with which
they are being asked to be creative. Creative practice needs to complement diligent and
deliberate practice that develops foundational skills – not be a substitute for it.
A revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy includes creativity in the taxonomy and
places creativity above evaluation as a higher order thinking skill. An alternative, and
probably more accurate, representation would be to include creativity as a process in-
volved in skills at all levels represented in the taxonomy, and increasingly so with higher
order skills. It might be thought that remembering factual information does not involve
creative processes. In fact, as the section later in this chapter on mind maps reveals, cre-
ative approaches can be very helpful in remembering information. The processes used
by champions at the World Memory Championships are highly creative as they use the
mind’s capacity to recognise and remember chunks or patterns that have meaning to the
individual much more effectively than isolated facts.
This is an area in which cultural sensitivity may be particularly important. If stu-
dents are not used to being asked to demonstrate creative habits and skills they need
to be guided. How the creative activity links to broader learning objectives needs to be
clearly understood by teachers and students.
Having a creative habit, the disposition to behave creatively is critical. Csikszent-
mihalyi (2002) emphasises the importance of having a playful attitude while remaining
disciplined. Whenever possible, play should be used to extend the range of opportunities
17

There are several character traits and learning habits that affect a learner’s person-
al disposition, motivation and confidence to be creative. For example:
• resilience: an ability to tolerate uncertainty and persevere at a task to overcome ob-
stacles
• not being afraid to make and learn from mistakes
• an ability to suspend judgement while generating ideas
• willingness to take sensible risks or go out of their comfort zone in their work.
A creative learner needs to be able to develop and apply a set of skills that they can
use in the creative process. These include being able to:
• clarify, analyse and re-define the problem or question to uncover new ways of looking
at it
• a change to a different approach if necessary
• notice connections between seemingly unrelated subject matter
• challenge established wisdom by asking: how would I improve this?
• recognise alternative possibilities
• look at things from different perspectives.
Creative processes usually require self-regulation, and the ideas relating to reflec-
tion and metacognition considered in Chapter 3 apply. These include learners:
• being aware of their own skills, both strengths and limitations
• thinking of a range of different strategies or approaches to use in response to a prob-
lem or question
• planning which approach to use
• monitoring their work, and being flexible enough to change to a different approach if
necessary
• critically evaluating their work at appropriate points
18

Physiology of creative thinking,
Creative centre, Brain networks

Creativity in the Brain
Recently, the ways we think and the parts of the brain that contribute to creativity
have become of interest to cognitive neuroscientists. Since creativity is among one of the
most complex of human behaviors, it likely requires the coordination of multiple brain re-
gions and types of thinking. Because creativity is so complex, it seems naive to think that
creativity can be localized to a single region in the brain. In fact, only a few neuroscience
studies have tried to investigate the regions of the brain responsible for creativity. For a
long time, scientists thought that creativity was processed only in the right hemisphere
(side) of the brain. However, studies that looked at the activity in the brain while people
were doing creative tasks, or in patients who had brain damage that resulted in difficulty
with creativity showed that an area of the brain called the frontal cortex was associat-
ed with creativity. This seemed to make sense because the frontal cortex processes the
previously mentioned cognitive processes (for example, working memory, abstraction,
planning, and cognitive flexibility).

Frontal cortex—the frontal cortex has long been thought of as the hub or center
of creativity, as it seems to be responsible for many of the functions that contribute to
creative thinking (such as working (or short-term) memory).

Hippocampus—the hippocampus is best known for memory of things that you can
declare, such as facts and experiences. The processes that the hippocampus performs
to process these memories involve storing and retrieving the pieces of these memories
from where they are stored in the cortex. In the creative process, similar to remembering
experiences by pulling together different parts of the experience, the hippocampus may
be used in imagination to pull together ideas in ways that you have not thought of in the
past.
20

Basal ganglia—the basal ganglia is a structure deep within the brain. The basal gan-
glia process the memory of skills and how to do things—often things that we do not have
to think about directly, such as riding a bike. With time and practice doing creative tasks,
you get better at them.
White matter—white matter makes up the connections between various brain
structures. The better connected the areas of the brain are, the better and faster the
brain can processes information. In the creative process, having a well-connected brain
may allow you to bring together more ideas, more quickly.
While creativity may be a fundamental human ability and pursuit. While scientists
continue to learn more about creativity, one thing we already know is that being creative
has a number of benefits. So even if we do not know exactly which mental processes
or parts of the brain are involved with creativity, we can still suggest that you and your
friends should go out and be creative, because it will help you and your brain.
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 some-
thing. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect
experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. —Steve Jobs
Brain Networks
The brain regions within the “high-creative” network belonged to three specific
brain systems: the default, salience and executive networks.
The default network is a set of brain regions that activate when people are en-
gaged in spontaneous thinking, such as mind-wandering, daydreaming and imagining.
This network may play a key role in idea generation or brainstorming – thinking of several
possible solutions to a problem.

The executive control network is a set of regions that activate when people need
to focus or control their thought processes. This network may play a key role in idea eval-
uation or determining whether brainstormed ideas will actually work and modifying them
to fit the creative goal.

The salience network is a set of regions that acts as a switching mechanism be-
tween the default and executive networks. This network may play a key role in alternating
between idea generation and idea evaluation.
An interesting feature of these three networks is that they typically don’t get ac-
tivated at the same time. For example, when the executive network is activated, the de-
fault network is usually deactivated. Creative people are better able to co-activate brain
networks that usually work separately. The creative brain is “wired” differently and that
creative people are better able to engage brain systems that don’t typically work togeth-
er.
21

Not only is it a resilient learning system, but the brain has also evolved in relation to
the environment. With human beings, it isn’t just the physical environment, it is the world
of language, culture, and ideas. Of social relations. The level of entropy is much higher as
a result of these social and cultural factors, because the information reflected back has so
many more possible states it can be in.
In general, the left hemisphere has been thought to specialize in understanding
words, processing mathematical information, and thinking analytically (the “rational”
brain). The right hemisphere, on the other hand, was thought to specialize in processing
non-verbal information, spatial information, music, emotions, and creativity. As we see
in creativity and other complex functions, a number of specialized structures in the brain
work together to accomplish something, each hemisphere was essentially working inde-
pendently. In most people, however, the two sides of the brain are able to communicate,
so while brain structures may have some specialization, most complex brain functions
require many parts of the brain working together.
22
Not Weird; But Wired

Psychology of creative thinking,
Traits of creative people, Barriers
to creative thinking

Traits of creative people
In his 1996 book “Creativity: The Work and Lives of 91 Eminent People,” psychol-
ogist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggested that, “of all human activities, creativity comes
closest to providing the fulfillment we all hope to get in our lives.”
Csikszentmihalyi proposes that creative people possess 10 antithetical traits that
interact with each other in a complex manner and impact one’s overall creativity. Incor-
porating these creative practices into your daily life may help you increase your creative
potential.
Energetic and Focused
Creative people tend to have a lot of energy, both physical and mental. They can
spend hours working on a single task that holds their attention, yet seem to remain en-
thusiastic all the while.
Having a creative mind doesn’t mean always engaging in a focused creative or ar-
tistic task. Creative and artistic people are imaginative, curious, and spend a great deal
of time at rest, quietly reflecting on the topics that hold their interest and allowing their
minds to wander.
Smart and Naive
Creative people tend to be smart, but research has shown that having a very high
IQ is not necessarily correlated with higher levels of creative achievement—personality
traits are important, too. In Lewis Terman’s longitudinal study of gifted children, children
with high IQs were shown to do better in life overall, but those with very high IQ weren’t
necessarily creative geniuses. Very few of those involved in the study demonstrated high
levels of artistic achievement later in life.
Csikszentmihalyi notes that studies suggest that there seems to be a cutoff point at
around 120.1 Having higher-than-average intelligence might contribute to creativity, but
having an IQ over 120 does not necessarily lead to greater creativity.
Balancing creativity with practical knowledge means knowing which ideas to pur-
sue and which to rework or abandon. This skill set is an important aspect of being a cre-
ative person. Creative people are smart and they are able to maintain their sense of won-
der, curiosity, and ability to look at the world with fresh eyes.
Playful and Disciplined
Csikszentmihalyi notes that a playful attitude is one of the hallmarks of creativity,
but this lightheartedness and excitement is also mirrored by a paradoxical trait: perse-
verance. When working on a project, creative people tend to exhibit determination and
doggedness. They may work for hours on something, often staying up late into the night
until they are satisfied with their work. Consider what you would think if you met an art-
ist. Their life may sound exciting, romantic, and glamorous. However, being a successful
artist is also a lot of work, which many people may fail to see. A creative person realizes
that true creativity involves combining both fun and hard work.
24

Realistic and Imaginative
Creative people like to daydream and imagine the possibilities and wonders of the
world. They can immerse themselves in imagination and fantasy, yet remain grounded
enough to turn their daydreams into reality. They are often described as dreamers, but
that doesn’t mean that they live with their heads in the clouds. Creative types, ranging
from scientists to artists and musicians, can come up with imaginative solutions to re-
al-world issues. While others may view their ideas as mere fantasies or as irrelevant, those
with creative minds find practical ways to turn their notions into reality.
Extroverted and Introverted
While we often fall into the trap of categorizing people as solely extroverted or
introverted, Csikszentmihalyi suggests that creativity requires combining both of these
personality types. Creative people, he believes, are both extroverted and introverted. Re-
search has shown that people do tend to be either more extroverted or introverted and
that these traits are remarkably stable.
Creative people tend to exhibit characteristics of both introversion and extraver-
sion at the same time. They can be both gregarious and reticent, sociable and quiet. In-
teracting with others can generate ideas and inspiration, and retreating to a quiet place
allows creative individuals to fully explore these sources of creativity.
Proud and Modest
Highly creative people tend to be proud of their achievements and accomplish-
ments, yet they are also aware of their place. They may have tremendous respect for
others who work in their field and the influence that those previous innovations have had
on their work. They can see that their work is often remarkable in comparison to that of
others, but it is not something they focus on. Csikszentmihalyi observes that creative peo-
ple are often so focused on their next idea or project that they don’t fixate on their past
achievements.
Masculine and Feminine
Csikszentmihalyi believes that creative individuals resist, to at least some degree,
the rigid gender stereotypes and roles that society often tries to enforce. Creative girls
and women tend to be more dominant than other girls and women, he suggests, while
creative boys and men tend to be less aggressive and more sensitive than other males.
Creative people tend to be able to embrace both their masculine and feminine sides. This
means they can simultaneously be sensitive and nurturing (often labeled as feminine), as
well as assertive and dominant (often labeled as masculine).
Conservative and Rebellious
Creative people are “out-of-the-box” thinkers by definition, and we often think of
them as non-conformist and even a little bit rebellious. Csikszentmihalyi believes that it is
impossible to be truly creative without having first internalized cultural norms and tradi-
tions.
25

Creativity requires being both traditional and iconoclastic. This means being able
to appreciate and even embrace the past as a source of knowledge, while still seeking
improved ways of creating new solutions. Creative people can be conservative in many
ways, yet they know that innovation sometimes means taking risks.
Passionate and Objective
Creative people don’t just enjoy their work—they passionately love what they do.
But, just being passionate about something does not necessarily lead to great work. Imag-
ine a writer so in love with their writing that they are unwilling to edit a single sentence.
Creative people are both able to enjoy their work, while also critically examining it.
Creative people are devoted to their work, but they are also able to be objective about it.
They are willing to take critiques from others, which allows them to separate themselves
from their work and find areas that need improvement.
Sensitive and Joyful
Csikszentmihalyi suggests that creative people tend to be more open and sensi-
tive, characteristics that can bring both rewards and pains. The act of creating something,
of coming up with new ideas and taking risks, often opens people up to criticism and even
scorn. It can be painful, even devastating, to devote years to something only to have it
rejected, ignored, or ridiculed. Being open to the creative experience is also a source of
great joy. It can bring tremendous happiness, and many creative people believe that such
feelings are well worth the trade-off for any possible pain.
A list of 32 attributes which are traits of creative people Robert Alan Black
26

Sensitive
Being sensitive helps creativeness in many ways:
a. it helps with awareness of problems, known & unknown
b. it helps people sense things easier
c. it helps to cause people to care and commit themselves to challenges or causes.
Not motivated by money
As important as money is in most societies or economies it is not a driving force for
a creative person. Generally they have an intuitive sense of the amount of money they
basically need and once that need is fulfilled then money stops affecting or driving them.
Sense of destiny
Intuitively creative people know that they have a purpose, a destiny or they realize
that they can choose or create one to drive them to reach greater heights of skill, ability,
or talent.
Adaptable
Without the ability to adapt people could not become creative. But rather than
adapt to something they choose to adapt things to suit them, their needs or the goals
they are striving towards.
Tolerant of ambiguity
Two or more things or ideas being right at the same time challenges the thinking of
a creative person. They love to be ambiguous to challenge other people and ideas. Ambi-
guity helps them see things from many different perspectives all at the same time.
Observant
Creative people constantly are using their senses: consciously, sub-consciously and
unconsciously, even non-consciously.
Perceive world differently
Creative people thrive on multiple ways of perceiving: seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling, tasting, sensing things. These different perspectives open up their minds to un-
limited possibilities.
See possibilities
Creative thinking prefer to work within limits with limited possibilities. Creative
people love to see many, even infinite possibilities in most situations or challenges.
Question asker
Question yes, not actually criticize. Their questioning nature often mistakenly ap-
pears as criticism when it is simply questioning, exploring, examining, playing with things
as they are or might be.
27

Can synthesize correctly often intuitively
This is the ability to see the whole picture, see patterns and grasp solutions with
only a few pieces, even with major pieces missing.
Able to fanaticize
Stop looking out the window Billy. Susie pay attention. Teachers, parents, and even
friends often tell creative people this. Highly creative people love to wander through their
own imaginary worlds.
Flexible
Creative People are very flexible when they are playing with ideas. They love to
look at things from multiple points of view and to produce piles of answers, maybes, al-
most, when other people are content with the or an answer or solution.
Fluent
It could be a door stop, a boat anchor, a weapon, a prop, a weight for holding down
papers, etc., etc., etc. This is what a creative person would say about the possible uses of
a brick.
Imaginative
Creative people love to use their imagination to play to make seem real to experi-
ment.
Intuitive
The more creative a person is the more they tap their intuition skills; the abilities to
see answers with minimum facts, to sense problems even when they aren’t happening.
Original
Being original is a driving force for creative people. They thrive on it.
Ingenious
Doing the unusual. Solving unsolvable problems. Thinking what has never been
thought of before. These are all traits of a creative person that make them be ingenious
at times.
Energetic
Challenges, problems, new ideas once committed to by a creative person truly ex-
cite them and provide them with seeming unlimited amounts of energy;
Sense of humor
Laughter and creativity truly go together. Many experts believe that creativity cant
occur without a touch of humor believing that seriousness tends to squelch creativeness
or creative thinking.
28

Self-actualizing
The psychologist Abraham Maslow created this term in the 1960s representing the
ultimate motivator of people the need or desire to be all you can be, to be what you were
meant to be.
Self-disciplined
This is one trait that appears to be ambiguous in highly creative people. They can
appear disorganized, chaotic at times while at the same time they are highly self-disci-
plined. At the same time the greatly resist the discipline of other people who are not of
like creative mind.
Self-knowledgeable
During my life I have read biographies and biographic sketches or over 4,000 peo-
ple, mostly considered to be the highest of the highly creatives in their respective fields.
One of the few things they had in common is that they all kept some form of journal and
were constantly striving to better understand themselves.
Specific interests
This is still another ambiguous trait of creative people. They appear on the surface
to be interested in everything, while at the same time they have very specific interests
that they commit their true energies and efforts to. By being willing to be exposed to
seemingly unlimited interests they discover more about their particular specific interests.
Divergent thinker
Creative people love to diverge from the norm, to look at things from multiple
positions, to challenge anything that exists. Because of this they are seen at times to be
off-key, deviant, atypical, irregular, or uncharacteristic.
Curious
Like the Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland, creative people are continuously curi-
ous, often child-like.
Open-ended
In order to explore many possibilities creative people tend to stay open-ended
about answers or solutions until many have been produced.
Independent
Creative people crave and require a high degree of independence, resist depen-
dence but often can thrive on beneficial inter-dependence.
Severely critical
Yes creative people challenge most everything, every idea, every rule. They chal-
lenge, challenge, and challenge some more to the point that most other people see their
29

Non-conforming
Conforming is the antithesis, the opposite of creativeness and in order to be cre-
ative, creative people must be non-conforming and go against the norm, swim up stream.
Confident
This is another ambiguous trait in creative people. When they are at their most
creative they are extremely confident. After much positive experience they begin to trust
themselves and know that they will become depressed, frustrated nearly devastated but
their internal sub-conscious confidence keeps them moving.
Risk taker
Highly creative people are not really risk takers because they do not see what they
are doing as a risk. They simply see it as a possible solution or path towards a solution.
They have other possible solutions, often many others in their head or their notes to use
if a particular idea or solution does work. As Thomas Edison once said when asked how it
felt to have failed nearly 7,000 times trying to discover the best filament for an incandes-
cent light bulb.
Persistent
Charles Goodyear (discover & inventor of vulcanized rubber) and Chester Carlson
(inventor of electrostatic copying, the Xerox process: xerography) are two of the best ex-
amples of this trait in creative people. Both of them worked over 30 years trying to make
a solution they discovered work. Creative people do not give up on things that mean a lot
to them.
Barriers to Innovative Ideas
Many people get used to traditional ideas and this is often one of the main barriers
to creative problem solving. Because of this thought, people and organizations tend to
fall into a variety of traps when trying to become more innovative. Some of the most com-
mon issues people face when they try to solve every problem using traditional methods
are −
• They zero in on non-issues.
• Finalize one idea too quickly.
• Often finalize a half-baked idea.
• They cannot impress their ideas upon the management.
• They are afraid to change or challenge any established methods.
Some of the other major blocks are as explained below −
Managerial Control
Managerial Control tends to overpower creativity. The creative thinkers should be
provided with as much autonomous working style and freedom as possible.
30

Short-range Thinking
Creative problem solving should be used to find out long term solutions and bene-
fits of the company as opposed to finalizing the short-term gain policies.
Analysis Paralysis
Because of constant analysis of ideas and polishing them, creativity gets lost in the
process, often because every polishing of the creative idea will take it nearer to an estab-
lished process.
Rigid Hierarchical Communication
Strict lines of command are not a suitable mode of communication for the creative
people. When they come across an idea, they would like to know its feasibility. The ten-
dency to look for a big payoff needs to be curbed.
Market Vs Technology-driven Product Planning
Many people tend to give undue importance to market research. The idea should
be to focus more on marketing orientation, however it shouldn’t be at the cost of good
ideas which come out of R&D and which never get off the ground.
Pressure to Achieve more with few Resources
The R&D departments are often marked out for cost-cutting methods. They like to
save as much as possible, so that they can ask lesser from the management. However, an
ideal creative environment needs to be as free from the pressures of performing better
with lesser resources as possible.
Managing Creativity
Managerscaninfluenceallthreecomponentsofcreativity:expertise,creative-think-
ing skills, and motivation. But the fact is that the first two are more difficult and time
consuming to influence than motivation. Yes, regular scientific seminars and professional
conferences will undoubtedly add to the scientist’s expertise in hemophilia and related
fields. And training in brainstorming, problem solving, and so-called lateral thinking might
give her some new tools to use in tackling the job.
But the time and money involved in broadening her knowledge and expanding her
creative-thinking skills would be great. By contrast, research has shown that intrinsic mo-
tivation can be increased considerably by even subtle changes in an organization’s envi-
ronment.
But when it comes to pulling levers, they should know that those that affect intrin-
sic motivation will yield more immediate results. More specifically, then, what managerial
practices affect creativity? They fall into six general categories: challenge, freedom, re-
sources, work-group features, supervisory encouragement, and organizational support.
31

Challenge.
Of all the things managers can do to stimulate creativity, perhaps the most effica-
cious is the deceptively simple task of matching people with the right assignments. Man-
agers can match people with jobs that play to their expertise and their skills in creative
thinking, and ignite intrinsic motivation. Perfect matches stretch employees’ abilities. The
amount of stretch, however, is crucial: not so little that they feel bored but not so much
that they feel overwhelmed and threatened by a loss of control.
Freedom.
When it comes to granting freedom, the key to creativity is giving people auton-
omy concerning the means—that is, concerning process—but not necessarily the ends.
People will be more creative, in other words, if you give them freedom to decide how to
climb a particular mountain. You needn’t let them choose which mountain to climb.
Resources.
The two main resources that affect creativity are time and money. Managers need
to allot these resources carefully. Like matching people with the right assignments, de-
ciding how much time and money to give to a team or project is a sophisticated judgment
call that can either support or kill creativity.
Work-Group Features.
If you want to build teams that come up with creative ideas, you must pay careful
attention to the design of such teams. That is, you must create mutually supportive groups
with a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds. Why? Because when teams comprise
people with various intellectual foundations and approaches to work—that is, different
expertise and creative thinking styles—ideas often combine and combust in exciting and
useful ways.
32

Creative problem solving, Innovation
& Learning Creativity

Creative problem solving
Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of solving problems or identifying opportu-
nities when conventional thinking has failed. It encourages you to find fresh perspectives
and come up with innovative solutions, so that you can formulate a plan to overcome
obstacles and reach your goals
Alex Osborn, founder of the Creative Education Foundation, first developed cre-
ative problem solving in the 1940s, along with the term “brainstorming.” And, together
with Sid Parnes, he developed the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process. De-
spite its age, this model remains a valuable approach to problem solving.
CPS asks you to separate your “divergent” and “convergent” thinking as a way
to do this. Divergent thinking is the process of generating lots of potential solutions and
possibilities, otherwise known as brainstorming. And convergent thinking involves evalu-
ating those options and choosing the most promising one. Often, we use a combination
of the two to develop new ideas or solutions. However, using them simultaneously can
result in unbalanced or biased decisions, and can stifle idea generation.

Ask problems as questions. When you rephrase problems and challenges as
open-ended questions with multiple possibilities, it’s easier to come up with solutions.
Asking these types of questions generates lots of rich information, while asking closed
questions tends to elicit short answers, such as confirmations or disagreements. Problem
statements tend to generate limited responses, or none at all. Defer or suspend judg-
ment. As Alex Osborn learned from his work on brainstorming, judging solutions early on
tends to shut down idea generation. Instead, there’s an appropriate and necessary time
to judge ideas during the convergence stage.
Focus on “Yes, and,” rather than “No, but.” Language matters when you’re gen-
erating information and ideas. “Yes, and” encourages people to expand their thoughts,
which is necessary during certain stages of CPS. Using the word “but” – preceded by
“yes” or “no” – ends conversation, and often negates what’s come before it.

Creative problem solving isn’t just brainstorming, although that’s what many peo-
ple may associate it with. Creative ideas do not suddenly appear in people’s minds for no
apparent reason. Rather, they are the result of trying to solve a specific problem or to
achieve a particular goal.
Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity were not sudden inspirations. Rather they
were the result of a huge amount of mental problem solving trying to close a discrepan-
cy between the laws of physics and the laws of electromagnetism as they were under-
stood at the time. Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and other creative
geniuses have always worked in the same way. They do not wait for creative ideas to
strike them. Rather they focus on trying to solve a clearly stated, at least in their minds,
problem. This approach has been formalized as Creative Problem Solving (CPS). CPS is a
simple process that involves breaking down a problem to understand it, generating ideas
to solve the problem and evaluating those ideas to find the most effective solutions.
34

Highly creative people tend to follow this process in their heads, without thinking
about it. Less naturally creative people simply have to learn to use this very simple pro-
cess, Have you ever faced a problem that you thought was insurmountable? Try following
the first step of the CPS process, and clearly identify the problem. Next, gather data and
formulate the challenge. Then, you can explore ideas and come up with solutions. Finally,
develop a plan of action and make your solution a reality.
Creative Problem Solving Process

1. Clarify
Explore the Vision
Identify your goal, desire or challenge. This is a crucial first step because it’s easy to
assume, incorrectly, that you know what the problem is. However, you may have missed
something or have failed to understand the issue fully, and defining your objective can
provide clarity.
Gather Data
Once you’ve identified and understood the problem, you can collect information
about it and develop a clear understanding of it. Make a note of details such as who and
what is involved, all the relevant facts, and everyone’s feelings and opinions.
Formulate Questions
When you’ve increased your awareness of the challenge or problem you’ve identi-
fied, ask questions that will generate solutions. Think about the obstacles you might face
and the opportunities they could present.
35

2. Ideate
Explore Ideas
Generate ideas that answer the challenge questions you identified in step 1. It can
be tempting to consider solutions that you’ve tried before, as our minds tend to return
to habitual thinking patterns that stop us from producing new ideas. However, this is a
chance to use your creativity, Brainstorming and Mind Maps are great ways to explore
ideas during this divergent stage of CPS.
3. Develop
Formulate Solutions
This is the convergent stage of CPS, where you begin to focus on evaluating all of
your possible options and come up with solutions. Analyze whether potential solutions
meet your needs and criteria, and decide whether you can implement them successfully.
Next, consider how you can strengthen them and determine which ones are the best
“fit.”
4. Implement
Formulate a Plan
Once you’ve chosen the best solution, it’s time to develop a plan of action. Start by
identifying resources and actions that will allow you to implement your chosen solution.
Next, communicate your plan and make sure that everyone involved understands and
accepts it. Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of using your creativity to develop new
ideas and solutions to problems. The process is based on separating divergent and con-
vergent thinking styles, so that you can focus your mind on creating at the first stage, and
then evaluating at the second stage.
There have been many adaptations of the original Osborn-Parnes model, but they
all involve a clear structure of identifying the problem, generating new ideas, evaluating
the options, and then formulating a plan for successful implementation.
CPS techniques
• Synectics: This technique helps to inspire thoughts that you might not be aware of.
It is a way to approach creativity in a logical, rational manner.
• TRIZ methodology (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving): This problem solving
methodology is based on logic, data, and research—not intuition. It involves adapt-
ing existing solutions to your particular problem.
• Brainstorming: Using this technique allows you to collect a number of ideas that can
be a potential solution to a problem and can be used in either a group or individual
setting.
36

• Mind mapping: Mind mapping helps keeps your ideas organized by representing
them in a graphical manner.
• Reversal of problem: Trying to solve a problem using traditional problem solving
methods can sometimes end in roadblocks.This technique forces you to think about
a problem from a new perspective.
• Looking beyond something’s function: Thinking about how you can use something
beyond its typical function is a common CPS technique.
• SCAMPER: This acronym can help you come up with new ideas. Each letter stands
for a way you can manipulate an original idea to come up with something new:
Substitute, Combine, Rearrange, Eliminate, Put to other uses, MagnifyAdapt
What is Innovation?
Innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved product, ser-
vice or process that creates value for business, government or society. Some people say
creativity has nothing to do with innovation— that innovation is a discipline, implying
that creativity is not. Well, I disagree. Creativity is also a discipline and a crucial part of
the innovation equation. There is no innovation without creativity. The key metric in both
creativity and innovation is value creation.
Creativity and Economic Development:
We are living in the age of creativity. Daniel Pink in his book, A Whole New Mind:
Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (2006) defines Economic Development as:
• Agriculture Age (farmers)
• Industrial Age (factory workers)
• Information Age (knowledge workers)
• Conceptual Age (creators and empathizers)
Pink argues that left-brain linear, analytical computer-like thinking is being replaced
by right-brain empathy, inventiveness, and understanding as skills most needed by busi-
ness. In other words, creativity gives you a competitive advantage by adding value to your
service or product and differentiating your business from the competition.
As Sam Palmisano said when he was CEO of IBM (2004), “Either you innovate or you’re
in commodity hell. If you do what everybody else does, you have a low-margin business.
That’s not where we want to be.”
In 2012 IBM started reinventing itself to become a design company, investing $100
million USD to hire designers, and educate 100,000 employees to become design think-
ers. IBM helped expand design thinking at the organization over three years to penetrate
one quarter of the entire portfolio, enabling $18.6M in increased profits.
Creativity is the Most Crucial Factor for Future Success, IBM’s 2010 Global CEO
Study stated: The effects of rising complexity calls for CEOs and their teams to lead with
bold creativity, connect with customers in imaginative ways and design their operations
for speed and flexibility to position their organizations for twenty-first century success.
37

Can creativity be learned?
The short answer is yes. A study by George Land reveals that we are naturally cre-
ative and as we grow up we learn to be uncreative. Creativity is a skill that can be devel-
oped and a process that can be managed. Creativity begins with a foundation of knowl-
edge, learning a discipline, and mastering a way of thinking. You can learn to be creative
by experimenting, exploring, questioning assumptions, using imagination and synthesing
information. Learning to be creative is akin to learning a sport. It requires practice to de-
velop the right muscles and a supportive environment in which to flourish.
Studies by Clayton M. Christensen and his researchers uncovered The Innovators
DNA: Your ability to generate innovative ideas is not merely a function of the mind, but
also a function of five key behaviours that optimize your brain for discovery:
• Associating: drawing connections between questions, problems, or ideas from un-
related fields
• Questioning: posing queries that challenge common wisdom
• Observing: scrutinizing the behavior of customers, suppliers, and competitors to
identify new ways of doing things
• Networking: meeting people with different ideas and perspectives
• Experimenting: constructing interactive experiences and provoking unorthodox re-
sponses to see what insights emerge
Sir Richard Branson has a mantra that runs through the DNA of Virgin companies.
The mantra is A-B-C-D. (Always Be Connecting the Dots). Creativity is a practice, and if you
practice using these five discovery skills every day, you will develop your skills in creativity
and innovation.
“Creativeness is the ability to see relationships where none exist.”- Thomas Disch, (1974)
For example you can make comparisons between your company and others outside of
your industry. Questions I ask my clients’ teams in advance of our creativity and innova-
tion ideation sessions are:What companies do you most admire and why? What are they
doing that you could adopt or adapt to your own company?
Beliefs that only special, talented people are creative (and you have to be born that
way) diminish our confidence in our creative abilities. The notion that geniuses such as
Shakespeare, Picasso, and Mozart were `gifted’ is a myth, according to a study at Exeter
University. Researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics,
and sports, to find out if “the widespread belief that to reach high levels of ability a per-
son must possess an innate potential called talent.”
Research shows that everyone has creative abilities. The more training you have
and the more diverse the training, the greater the potential for creative output. Research
has shown that in creativity quantity equals quality. The longer the list of ideas, the higher
the quality of the final solution. Quite often, the highest quality ideas appear at the end of
the list.
38

Creativity and Problem Solving Aptitude Test
As part of the credit seminar presentation a study was conducted among the post
graduate students of Agricultural Extension, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. 44 re-
spondents in total have responded to the questionnaire through the google forms, the
study intends to measure the creativity and problem solving aptitude of the students and
the independent variables such as decision making style, risk attitude and type of motiva-
tions’ affect on their CAPSAT score.
Creativity and Problem Solving Aptitude Test, Psych tests AIM,Inc., 2011 was adopted for
the study. This test was designed to evaluate your creative problem-solving potential, and
it has the following sub scales,
Comfort with Decision-making: Assesses an individual’s overall ability and comfort
with the decision-making process. This includes being at ease with the unknown, trusting
intuition, and a willingness to accept the potential for error (i.e...... a wrong decision).
Flexibility: Evaluates whether an individual’s attitude towards problem solving is
open-minded and flexible, or if she or he tends to impose limitations on the process (e.g.
using only solutions that worked in the past).
Openness to Creativity: Assesses an individual’s overall attitude towards change,
innovative solutions, and out-of-the-box thinking. It also evaluates his/her overall ability
to think creatively.
Sense of Self-efficacy: Assesses an individual’s judgment and beliefs about his or
her ability to solve a problem effectively.
40
40

41
Results and Discussion
More than half of the respondents were female (61.40%) followed by 38.60%
male students, less than two third of the responedents had higher capsat score (59.00%),
36.40% had a medium score followed by 4.60% had low capsat score. Among the
resondents more than half were intrinstically motivated (59.10%) and 40.90% were extrin-
stically motivated, three fourth of the respondents were risk neutral (75.00%), whereas
18.20% were risk seekers and 6.80% were risk aversers. The decision making styles of the
respondents were as follows rational (34.10%), intuitive (36.40%) spontaneous (13.60%),
avoidant (2.30%), dependent (13.60%).
Among the indenpendent variables gender had an significant positive correlation
(r=0.122) with the capsat score, motivation type has positive significant correlation with
the capsat score (r=0.033), risk attitude and decision making style had an negative cor-
relation with the capsat score (r=-0.077 & r= -0.122).
Case Study: How Swiss Watches Lost their Market
The Elgin watch company is often used as an example of companies who did not
take cure for their market myopia. They fell on their way from being one of the most re-
puted names in the watch making business to shutting shop forever. The company lived
in denial of the changing demands of the market place and risked losing customers for its
most widely known product – a pocket watch with an excellent life span. English watch
makers were the pioneers of watch making in the early eighteenth and nineteenth centu-
ries. They were responsible for all the latest technological breakthroughs; however, their
biggest issue was that they did not move with the times, which took them out of the com-
petition with the other major Swiss and American watch manufacturers who understood
the needs of their customers better.
It may seem rather obvious to us today that to survive in the marketplace, a com-
pany should adapt its strategy to meet the changing wants and needs of its customers.
However, the watch industry possesses several quirks and it does not necessarily always
respond in the way one would expect. Nor does the unexpected always result in a total
failure.
The Swiss watch industry dominated world markets with its fine clockwork move-
ments, elegant designs and quality in the 20th century. Till that time, the value of a watch
depended on its accuracy and time keeping. High quality Swiss watches used to come
with ‘Officially Certified Chronometer’ certificate handed out by the Swiss authorities,
which used to take its price well beyond the reach of the common man. Apart from ac-
curacy, features such as self-winding movements, elegant design, gold metal casing and
other things used to add to the appeal.
However, a scientific breakthrough came and quartz movement technology was
discovered. Using this, it was possible by all watch manufacturers to mass produce these
accurate watches. Although this technology was invented by the Swiss, they didn’t im-
plement it, fearing a meltdown in their own market. However, other companies slowly
caught up to it and the Swiss watch market ended up losing 25% of its market share.
41

42
Conclusion
Creativity and innovation have been highlighted as essential skills for the 21st cen-
tury, especially if we consider that both skills can promote human potential by eliciting
positive aspects of the individual. These skills have been valued in different contexts. cre-
ativity is defined as “the use of imagination or original ideas to create something.”
Innovation, on the other hand, means “a new method, idea, product, etc.”When
you look at it this way, creativity is crucial for writers, painters, musicians, and other kinds
of artists. It’s also needed for journalists and marketing experts. But innovation is not
isolated from those professions. Creativity can exist without innovation. Innovation, how-
ever, cannot exist without creativity. Creativity is its starting point. Before Nikola Tesla be-
came an inventor, he was a creative thinker. He accumulated a large base of knowledge,
and he managed to combine it with his imagination, so that he would come down to the
unique outcome.
After a year of pandemic-induced lockdowns, there couldn’t be a better time to ap-
preciate the creative economy. The United Nations is doing just this as it marks 2021 as the
International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. “The creative
industries are critical to the sustainable development agenda. They stimulate innovation
and diversification, are an important factor in the burgeoning services sector, support
entrepreneurship, and contribute to cultural diversity,” she said.
There may be no universal understanding of creativity. The concept is open to in-
terpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, so-
cial and sustainable development. Therefore, the United Nations designated 21 April as
World Creativity and Innovation Day to raise the awareness of the role of creativity and
innovation in all aspects of human development. innovation, creativity and mass entre-
preneurship can provide new momentum for economic growth and job creation. It can
expand opportunities for everyone, including women and youth. It can provide solutions
to some of the most pressing problems such as poverty eradication and the elimination of
hunger.
42

43
References
Franzis Preckel (2006), Relationship of intelligence and creativity in gifted and
non-gifted students: An investigation of threshold theory, Personality and Individual Dif-
ferences, science direct, Volume 40, Issue 1, Pages 159-170
Canan Demir Barutcu (2017), The Relationship Between Problem Solving and
Creative Thinking Skills among Nursing Students, International Journal of Psychology
and Educational Studies, 2017, 4 (2), 34-41
Min Tang et.al, (2017) HANDBOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF CREATIV-
ITY AND INNOVATION-Theory and Practice, Stallion Press, Singapore
Maria F. et.al, (2008) An Examination of Individual Factors and Employees’ Cre-
ativity: The Case of Spain, CREATIVITY RESEARCH JOURNAL, 20(1), 21–33
Rosa Aurora et.al, (2012) The Multiple Relations between Creativity and Person-
ality, CREATIVITY RESEARCH JOURNAL, 24(1), 76–82
Silvia da Costa et.al, (2015) Personal factors of creativity: A second order me-
ta-analysis, Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 165–173
Wallach and Kogan’s (2008),Creativity and Intelligence Revisited, Creativity Re-
search Journal, Volume 20, Issue 1
43

44
1. Using 3 straight lines, connect all nine dots without lifting your pen off the paper.
2. Find the term by relating these three images ?
3. Propose some alternative uses to the below articles.
a)
b)
Exercises

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment
where excellence is expected”
-Steve Jobs
©
Sahithiyan

creative thinking & problem solving

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to creative thinking & problem solving

More from denadyalan98

Recently uploaded

creative thinking & problem solving