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Creativity and Problem Solving
This document provides information on creativity and innovation training for South Ayrshire Council. It discusses the importance of innovation, generating creative options to improve the council, and applying creative techniques in a practical setting. Various creative thinking tools and problem solving models are presented, such as the 6 Thinking Hats technique for parallel thinking during meetings. The goal is to help council employees think differently and promote a culture of innovation.
Creativity and Problem Solving
- 1. 1 CREATiViTY &iNNOVATiON
- 2. Puzzle?? Anthony andCleopatra are lying dead on the floor of a villa in Egypt. Nearby is a broken bowl. There is no mark on either of their bodies and they were not poisoned. How did they die? 2 Anthony and Cleopatra were goldfish whose bowl was knocked over by a clumsy dog.
- 3. 3 OBJECTIVES Understand the significance of innovation within South Ayrshire Council. Think about strategies to improve personal creativity and promote a culture of innovation across the council. Comfortably apply creative techniques and processes in a practical setting.
- 4. Session 2 –Why Creativity is so Importa4 nt
- 5. 5 Chief Executive’sDepartment Education, Culture & Life Long Learning Responsive Inclusive Regeneration Commercial Development Social Work , Housing & Health Development, Safety & Regulation Managing Change Community Planning
- 6. 6 WHOLE BRAINTHINKING Left Convergent Vertical Chooses Looks for what is right Sequential Predictable Based on experience Right Divergent Lateral Changes Looks for differences Unpredictable jumps Welcomes intrusions Explores least likely
- 7. 7 The DecisionTaking Process Stimulus Response Gather Information Generate Options Select “Best” Option Take Decision Review Decision M A K E Make
- 8. 8 But inreality what does this mean? Small incremental changes Improvements to services, policy, procedure Listening to customers Listening to employees at all levels A “Can do” attitude from everyone
- 9. Session 3 –Positive v Negative Thinking 9 What does this say? happinessisnowhere happiness is now here
- 10. One View ofthe World “Heavier than air flying machines are impossible” – Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society 1895. “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” – H.M.Warner, Warner Brothers 1927 “There is no reason anyone would want a computer for their home” – Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp 1977 10 “Everything that can be invented has been invented” – Charles Duell Commissioner US Office of Patents 1899 “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out” - Decca Recording Co rejecting the Beatles 1962 “640K ought to be enough for anyone” - Bill Gates 1981 “If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.” – Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M Post-It Notepads
- 11. 11 A DifferentView of the World “When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before” – Mae West “Instead of pouring knowledge into people’s heads, we need to help them grind a new set of eyeglasses so they can see the world in a new way” – JS Brown “If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney “An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” - Victor Hugo “Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different” – Albert Szent Gyorgi “Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream” – Malcolm Muggeridge “Curiosity has its own reason for existing” – Albert Einstein “Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which the problems were created” – Albert Einstein
- 12. Targets (Moving) Goal Alpha Performance 12 The Alpha – Beta Model Performance Gap (where the coach works) Beta Performance What we fear - redundancy(stick) pay award (carrot)
- 13. “If you believeyou can or if you believe you can’t – you’re right Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company) 13 Challenging Mind Sets One correct answer thinking Negative or ‘yes but’ thinking Over regard for logical thinking Over reliance on experience Over regard for the status quo These can block us & lead to ‘stuckness’
- 14. 14 Puzzle?? Aman went into a café, sat down and ordered a cup of black coffee, a glass of orange juice and a Danish pastry. “Ah,” said the waitress, “You must be a policeman”. How did she know? He was wearing a uniform
- 15. Session 4 –Is your view of the world the only one? What do you see? 15
- 16. Paradigms The wayan individual perceives, understands and 16 interprets the surrounding world – a mental map
- 17. 17 Changing yourPARADIGM “If you want small changes, work on your behaviour. If you want quantum leap changes work on your paradigms” Stephen R.Covey- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
- 18. 18 Puzzle?? Davewas trying to match 4 different coloured pairs of socks which had come out of the washing machine. There was a blue pair, a red pair, a green pair and a yellow pair. He is completely colour blind and could not differentiate between them, so he paired them randomly. What is the probability that exactly 3 pairs matched? Zero – If 3 matched the 4th must also match
- 19. Session 5 –Building a Creative Environment 19
- 20. 20 JOHARI WINDOW Known to Self Not Known to Self OPEN BLIND Known to Others Ideal window Bull in a china shop HIDDEN UNKNOWN Not Known to Others Interviewer Turtle
- 21. 21 A FoundationModel – For you to follow Trustworthiness Character Competence A person with high character exhibits integrity, maturity and an Abundance Mentality A person with high competence has knowledge and ability in a given area Trust Being Truly Effective
- 22. 22 Where doyou spend most of your time? REACTIVE PROACTIVE
- 23. Attitude is everything– Who chooses yours? 23 “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked throughout the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing : the last of the human freedoms – to choose ones’ attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose ones own way” Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning
- 24. 24 Puzzle?? ‘Two’scompany and three’s a crowd’. What are four and five? 4 + 5 = Nine
- 25. Session 6 -Tell us what to do we are used to it! “When I was a little boy, my parents told me what to do and scolded me if I didn’t. When I went to school, my teachers told me what to do, and punished me if if I didn’t. When I joined the army, the sergeant told me what to do, and God help me if I didn’t, so I did! When I got my first job, my boss told me what to do too. So when I reached a position of authority, what did I do? I told people what to do, because that is all my role models had done. That is true for the majority of us, we have been brought up on telling and we are very good at it.” PREDOMINANT STYLE IN HOUSING? 25
- 26. Reviewing the Experience 26 Having an Experience Planning the Next Stage Concluding from the Experience How we Learn
- 27. 27 Concrete Experience “Not my Problem” MAYBE Observation & Reflection “I wonder what’s causing it” NEVER Plan Activity & Experience “Lets fix it” Finding Themes & Concepts “I think I know what’s causing it” Stagnant Organisation MAYBE NEVER
- 28. 28 Concrete Experience “This is my problem” ALWAYS Observation & Reflection “I wonder what’s causing it” ALWAYS Plan Activity & Experience “Lets fix it” Finding Themes & Concepts “I think I know what’s causing it” Continuous Improvement ALWAYS ALWAYS
- 29. Session 7 -Creative Problem Solving Techniques 29 www.mycoted.com
- 30. 30 The DecisionTaking Process Stimulus Response Gather Information Generate Options Select “Best” Option Take Decision Review Decision M A K E Make
- 31. 31 DEVELOPING HIGHPERFORMANCE TEAMS PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS – KEY POINTS IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM PROBLEM STATEMENT OCCAMS RAZOR WHAT/WHY/WHEN/ HOW/WHERE/WHO ANALYSING THE PROBLEM FISHBONE DIAGRAM (CAUSE & EFFECT ANALYSIS) CAUSE ANALYSIS (WHY/WHY/WHY) SELECT PROBABLE CAUSES DATA COLLECTION FROM PROBABLE CAUSE CHECKSHEETS BAR CHARTS LINE GRAPHS INTERPRETING THE DATA PARETO CHARTS FINDING POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS ASSESS COSTS IDENTIFY ALL BENEFITS (BRAINSTORM) COMPARE COSTS TO BENEFITS PRESENTING SOLUTIONS INTRODUCTION MAIN BODY CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION FOLLOW UP DISCUSS ISSUES INFLUENCING EFFECTIVENESS OF SOLUTION WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ACTION?
- 32. 32 Force FieldAnalysis Resisting Forces Resisting Forces Working to Diminish/Reduce The Change/Proposed Solution The Change/Proposed Solution Working to Enhance/Increase Driving Forces Driving Forces
- 33. 33 Making MeetingsEffective SIX THINKING HATS (PARALLEL THINKING)
- 34. 34 Making MeetingsEffective Stimulus Response Gather information Generate Options Select “Best” Option Take Decision Review Decision
- 35. 35 Making MeetingsEffective SIX THINKING HATS (PARALLEL THINKING) Separate thinking into six distinct styles, change your hat, change your way of thinking Explore each situation, and generate alternatives Promote the use of several different ways of thinking Replaces adversarial thinking (“This proposal won’t work – Yes it will”) with Parallel Thinking (Thinking along the same lines at the same time)
- 36. 36 Making MeetingsEffective Focuses on data available to you. Intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Consider the bad points Positive thinking Creativity Controlling the process
- 37. 37 Making MeetingsEffective Key benefits of the 6 Thinking Hats Process Works – You see immediate results Simple to learn, use and implement Not dependent on others (you can use it by yourself) Modifies behaviour without attacking it Empowers Improves cross-cultural interaction Reduces conflict Encourages cooperation Enhances quality of thinking Supports other change initiatives Can be used at all levels
- 38. 38 De Bono’s6 Thinking Hats - The hat is concerned directly with data and information The Questions What information is available? What information would we like to have? What information do we need? How are we going to get the missing information? The Hat Key Points Notes both views when information conflict Assesses the relevance and accuracy of the information Separates fact from speculation Pinpoints action needed to fill gaps Reports on someone else’s feelings
- 39. 39 De Bono’s6 Thinking Hats - The hat is concerned with feelings, emotions and intuition The Questions What are my feelings right now? What does my intuition tell me? What is my gut reaction? The Hat Key Points Should be limited to 30 seconds or less Gives us “full permission” to express feelings, hunches & intuitions Does not require us to justify or explain the reasons for our feelings Can be used as part of the thinking that leads to a decision Can be used after a decision has been made
- 40. 40 De Bono’s6 Thinking Hats - The hat points out the weaknesses in our thinking The Questions What could be the possible problems? What could some of the difficulties be? What are the points for caution? What are the risks? The Hat Key Points Helps us make good decisions Points out difficulties Explores why something may not work Must give logical reasons for concerns May sometimes offer information that also appears under white hat Is a powerful assessment tool when used after yellow hat Supplies a road map for improvement and problem solving when used after a green hat
- 41. 41 De Bono’s6 Thinking Hats - The hat looks for benefit and value. It also looks for feasibility. The Questions What are the benefits? What are the positives? What are the values? Is there a concept in this idea that looks attractive? Can this be made to work? The Hat Key Points Requires a deliberate effort Is less natural than a black hat Complements the black hat Reinforces creative ideas and new directions Must give reasons why an idea is valuable or might work Is a powerful assessment tool when used with the black hat
- 42. 42 De Bono’s6 Thinking Hats - The hat looks for benefit and value. It also looks for feasibility. The Questions Are there other ways to do this? What else could we do here? What are the possibilities? What will overcome our difficulties The Hat Key Points Encourages a search for new ideas and alternatives Seeks to modify and remove faults in existing ideas Sets up a micro culture for creativity Makes time and space for a creative “effort” Allows us to balance the natural dominancy of the black hat
- 43. 43 De Bono’s6 Thinking Hats - The hat is concerned with managing the process The Questions What is our agenda? What is our next step? What hat are we using now? How can we summarise the discussion so far? What is our decision? The Hat Is usually the role of the facilitator Can be worn by any member of the group Focuses and refocuses thinking Handles requests for certain types of thinking Points out inappropriate comments Asks for a summary of the thinking
- 44. 44 Making MeetingsEffective Focuses on data available to you. Intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Consider the bad points Positive thinking Creativity Controlling the process
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- 46. 46 Do yousee gray areas in between the squares? Now where did they come from?
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