This document summarizes an interactive workshop on innovative problem solving and getting unstuck in thinking. The workshop includes guidelines for participation, an introduction to thinking role plays and activities in the included workbook. It outlines segments on problem solving videos, hands-on conversation and exploration of topics like explaining new products and finding competitive advantage. Methods that will be covered include the six thinking hats technique and accessing crucible knowledge. The document emphasizes practicing leadership skills, using emotional and cognitive intelligence, and that attitude, beliefs and perceptions influence problem solving.

2. JAMES R. CALVIN, PhD.
―INNOVATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING:
GETTING UNSTUCK IN YOUR
THINKING‖

3. ―THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT THAT
WAS EVER PAID ME WAS WHEN
SOMEONE ASKED ME WHAT I
THOUGHT, AND ATTENDED TO MY
ANSWER.‖
- HENRY DAVID THOREAU

4. LET‘S GET STARTED THINKING
•
Guideline #1: This session will be an interactive practice and
learning experience in which your facilitator will engage you in
active thinking and problem solving practice individually and
collectively. So, I want you to participate fully and actively by
sharing your stories, thoughts, ideas, and reflections because the
practice in this session-workshop is ultimately about connecting
thinking and problem solving that yield ideas for real-time
business activity.
•
Guideline #2: This session and exploration together, we will see
one or two short videos related to a fast changing world and
environment where science and business is going, and we will
engage in thinking role plays, and explore together via individual
and group activities contained inside The Innovative Problem
Solving Workbook.

5. GOING FORWARD AT MLMS THIS FRIDAY …
A)
Problem-Solving/Getting Unstuck Videos:
1-‘Eddie Obeng on Smart Failure for a Fast - Changing World‘
2 - Edward de Bono on Creative Thinking
3 -‘What Motivates Us Is‘- Daniel Pink
B)
Conversation, Exploration and Hands-on
C)
How Do You Explain a New Product Category? Connecting
With Your Innovator‘s DNA? Problem Solving in the
World, Finding Competitive Advantage?
D)
Active Feedback & Wrap-up Thoughts

6. NOTES AND REFLECTIONS PAGE

7. THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING FOR FUTURE
INNOVATION PRACTICE AND EXECUTION FRAMEWORK
•
Our activity during this session at the MLMS focused on selected Innovation
Practices for the Execution of ideas, approaches, knowledge and skill in Business.
•
In our exploration, we engaged in Reflective Thought Practice linked to
Experiential Applications and activities toward a better understanding of Execution
for Innovation.
•
In this workshop, the premise and approach is that 21st Century Innovation
Practice is essential for being mid-level managers who are able to adapt
mind, thought and ideas toward achievable business oriented outcomes that are
essential to sustain one‘s future and viability as a manager.
•
The operating premise is why should you think about practicing, enhancing and
expanding your thought capacity to become more deliberate and effective in the
execution of innovative ideas, and as a contributor who creates and is better able
to sustain new and future value in the organization.

8. INTRODUCING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS, WHAT
ARE CURRENT TRENDS?
•
In 2013 the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
issued a first-ever international comparison of the labor force in 23 industrialized
nations which shows that Americans ages 16 to 65 fall below international
averages in basic problem-solving, reading and math skills. Paul Petersen, coauthor of Endangering Prosperity, a book on education and international
competitiveness offers that the results are ―quite distressing because other
countries have been catching up for some time.‖
•
Stanford Business School‘s Jespar Sorenson says ―truly innovative products are
the ones that bring ideas across categorical boundaries. But doing so creates
potential confusion, and people devalue what confuses them. The
solution, difficult as it may seem, is to adopt a crisp identity instead.‖ A primary
example of this is the company ZipCar that Avis Budget Group now owns.
Imagine if Avis Budget Group had tried to invent the concept from the start. It
likely would have been an uphill climb because consumers existing mental model
for ―Avis‖ is tied up in associations with-car rental counters, liability forms, tack-on
prices for gasoline, and airports.
Among The 2013 Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovator Companies are: #’s 1-6 3M Company
(Chemicals), ABB (Industrial), Abbott Laboratories (Pharmaceuticals), Advanced Micro Devices
(Semiconductor & Electronic Components), Air Products (Chemicals), Alcatel-Lucent
(Telecommunication & Equipment), #14 Blackberry (Telecommunication & Equipment), #15 Boeing
(Aerospace), #17 Canon (Computer Hardware).

9. THE LIVING ORGANIZATION – THE PHYSICS
•
Building on the foundation that a corporation is a complex living
entity that follows the rules of all complex living systems, let‘s
create a new model, a map that includes all the old terrain and
adds the necessary details that enables us to navigate the terrain
of the 21st century. This new map explains how The Living
Organization™ directs and transforms the flow of energy into
desired results.
•
The following diagram shows these energy flows and the role
each organizational element plays in the transformational
processes.

10. SOURCE: NORMAN WOLFE, THE LIVING
ORGANIZATION™ - THE FLOW OF ENERGY (20082009)

11. THOUGHT AND PRACTICE ACTIVITY: NO. 1
What Do I Want To Learn As Practice As An Innovative
Leader?
Time: Five Minutes
Followed by Discussion and Exchange

12. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO GET UNSTUCK IN
MY THINKING AS PRACTICE TO ENGAGE
INNOVATION FOR BUSINESS EXECUTION?
•
What Forces Drive My Thinking?
•
What Forces Impede My Thinking?
•
What Am I Doing to Focus My Thinking and Actions as
Practices Toward Execution?

13. THOUGHT AND PRACTICE ACTIVITY: NO. 2
‗Nature‘s Inventions‘ A Game to Stimulate Innovation
Activity by Involving Creativity in Thinking?
Time: Five Minutes
Followed by Discussion and Exchange

14. Biology and Zoology are considered by many to be rich sources of analogies from
which significant inventions can be derived when one thinks about Innovation. One of
the most celebrated cases is the invention of the telephone. As Alexander Graham Bell
wrote: ―It struck me that the bones of the human ear were very massive as compared
with the delicate thin membrane that operated them; and the thought occurred to me
that if a membrane so delicate could move bones so relatively massive, why should not
a thicker and stouter piece of membrane move a piece of steel (associative thinking).‖
Thus, was the telephone conceived.
Here is a list of animals and the inventions they exemplify. In groups of five -10 match
the animal with the invention.
1. Bat
( ) Parachute
2. Armadillo
( ) Snowshoes
3. Chameleon
( ) Anesthetic
4. Fish
( ) Helicopter
5. Flying Squirrel
( ) Suction Cup
6. Squid
( ) Hypodermic
7. Hummingbird
( ) Radar
8. Scorpion
( ) Camouflage
9. Snake
( ) Electricity
10. Abalone
( ) Tank
11. Caribou
( ) Jet Propulsion

15. MORE OPTIONS FOR PROBLEM SOLVING
PRACTICE
•
Accessing Crucible Knowledge to Share — Knowledge from meaningful
experiences in the workplace may stem from adversity, and can be illuminating
because a crucible is a transformative opportunity to learn and sharpen one‘s
skills because innovation minded practice trumps talent alone.
•
Collaboration As Strengths Based Practice — As an individual and manager
your talents are enduring and unique. Moreover, for an activity to be a strength
you need to be able to do it consistently and well. Second, you do not have to
have strength in every aspect of your role to excel. Third, you most often will excel
by maximizing your strengths, i.e. delivering on vision, inspiring others, initiating
and sustaining change.
•
Results Based Thinking and Problem Solving — Exceptional collaboration
behaviors can lead to outstanding results because the quality of shared leadership
can sustain results, and allows organizations to align changing strategies, and
builds confidence with employees, customers and investors.

16. THOUGHT AND PRACTICE ACTIVITY: NO. 3
More Thinking, Unsticking, More Thinking, Presenting and
Building an Idea as Innovation
Time: 10-15 Minutes
Followed by Discussion and Exchange

17. MORE OPTIONS FOR PROBLEM SOLVING
PRACTICE
•
Engaging Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership - James Kouzes and Barry
Posner offer as leadership practice to Model the Way (It‘s your behavior that wins
you respect, align actions with shared values); Inspire a Shared Vision (imagine a
highly attractive future for the organization and you are there); Challenge the
Process (Taking on a innovative new product, a cutting-edge service, a startup, or something groundbreaking); Enable Others to Act (what is done and
accomplished requires a team effort, trust, and strong relationships); Encourage
the Heart (being genuine in your care of others, celebrate, build community).
•
USE EQ & IQ - Daniel Goleman, & Richard Boyatzis contend and report out that
the rules for work are changing as people in organizations are being judged by a
new yardstick; not just how smart you are by IQ, but by how you handle yourself
and others—to which I add is further influenced by globalization and talent needs
as key contributing factors. In brief, EQ is more broadly focused on whole life that
includes work.

18. WHERE (EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE EQ
MEETS IQ AS A POTENTIAL BENEFIT TO YOU
FOR 21ST CENTURY PROBLEM, SOLVING TO
INITIATE AND SUSTAIN BUSINESS PURPOSES
THROUGH PRACTICE.

19. THOUGHT AND PRACTICE ACTIVITY: NO. 4
The Six Thinking Hats
Time: 15-20 Minutes
Followed by Discussion and Exchange

20. ATTITUDE, BELIEF AND PERCEPTION ALL
MATTER
•
Attitude- is a constellation of beliefs that aggregate to predispose
an individual to a specific behavioral response to an event.
•
A Belief- is a mental element that predisposes a person to
specific behavior without the occurrence of an event.
•
Perception- is your recognition and interpretation of sensory
stimuli based primarily on memory and the capacity for
insight, intuition, knowledge, and...

21. THINKING: KEY COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDEE
Components
Definition
Example
Cognitive
Beliefs, knowledge,
understanding
The workers‘
beliefs about
performance
standards
and supervision
Affective
Where ideas are linked
to favorable and
unfavorable feelings
and associated with
emotion
Workers feelings
about a new
regulation or an
organizational
change initiative
Behavior
Human actions
The workers‘
performance

22. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS MLMS
SESSION
Questions, Comments and Closure

23. INNOVATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING: GETTING
UNSTUCK IN YOUR THINKING WORKBOOK
EXTERNAL RESOURCES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Crucibles of Leadership (2008). Author: Robert J. Thomas. Harvard Business Press.
Edward de Bono (August 18, 1999). Six Thinking Hats. 2nd Edition. Back Bay Books.
Drive (The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us) (2009). Author: Daniel H. Pink.
Jasper Sorensen: How Do You Explain a New Product Category (October 2013).
Stanford Business RE:THINK.
Nature‘s Inventions (2013) Glencoe Online. www.glencoe.com
Richard Perez-Pena (October 9, 2013). U.S. Adults Fare Poorly in a Study of Skills.
The New York Times.
Strengths Finder 2.0 (2007). Author: Rom Rath. Gallup Press.
The Innovator‘s DNA (October 19, 2011). Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive
Innovators. Featuring Clay Christensen and Hal Gregersen. Harvard Business Review.
The Leadership Challenge-The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership (July 2012)
Authors: Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, Jossey-Bass.
Thomson
Reuters
(2013).
Top
100
Global
Innovators/2013
Winners.
Top100innovators.com