process tendencies are often apparent is in meetings. One person may be stuck in analyzing information, another wants to generate ideas, a third is focused on developing a solution, and still another is ready to just do it. FourSight gives you a window to view these interactions as preferences rather than distractions and, thus, maximize the benefits of diversity. THE FOUR PREFERENCES: USING FOURSIGHT TO IMPROVE PERSONAL PERFORMANCE FourSight enables individuals to identify the degree of energy they have for four different process preferences. These preferences are called Clarifier, Ideator, Developer, and Implementer. Both research (Puccio, 1999, 2002; Puccio & Grivas, 2009; Rife, 2001) and experiences gained through the use of FourSight with numerous groups have led to insights into the qualities and characteristics associated with each of the four preferences. Table 13.2 provides a summary of the key qualities associated with each of the preferences measured by FourSight. As you examine this table, think about yourself in light of these descriptors. Which ones sound like you? Which ones sound completely foreign to how you think and behave? Some people have a strong inclination for just one of the four preferences. Others have combinations of peak preferences (i.e., a person might enjoy and have great energy for both the Clarifier and Implementer preferences). As you read these columns, place a check next to those items that describe you. Be honest with yourself. This quick self-assessment may help you gain some insights into your approach to the creative process. FourSight is a value-neutral assessment of creative process preferences. Having a strong preference in one area over another is not inherently good or bad; each preference has its characteristic assets and potential liabilities. The value is in understanding your preferences. This information can show you areas of strength and unearth blind spots in your interactions with people and process. It can help you to understand why you have been successful in some situations and why others frustrate you. The goal is to use this information to arrive at a deeper understanding of how you personally approach the creative process and then to use this information to enhance your effectiveness. Individuals with a strong preference for Clarifier are drawn to and have a great deal of energy for uncovering facts that determine the most productive way of defining the task or problem. Clarifiers are good at examining the details, analyzing situations, and diagnosing problems. They are not satisfied with a cursory understanding of a situation; therefore, they seek information and have a tendency to ask lots of questions to develop a deep understanding. They are cautious about leaping to conclusions or solutions. Because any preference taken to an extreme can become a liability, high Clarifiers run the risk of suffering from analysis paralysis by overanalyzing situations to such a degree that ...

1. process tendencies are often apparent is in meetings. One
person may be stuck in analyzing information, another
wants to generate ideas, a third is focused on developing a
solution, and still another is ready to just do it.
FourSight gives you a window to view these interactions as
preferences rather than distractions and, thus,
maximize the benefits of diversity.
THE FOUR PREFERENCES: USING FOURSIGHT TO
IMPROVE
PERSONAL PERFORMANCE
FourSight enables individuals to identify the degree of energy
they have for four different process preferences.
These preferences are called Clarifier, Ideator, Developer, and
Implementer. Both research (Puccio, 1999, 2002;
Puccio & Grivas, 2009; Rife, 2001) and experiences gained
through the use of FourSight with numerous groups
have led to insights into the qualities and characteristics
associated with each of the four preferences. Table 13.2
provides a summary of the key qualities associated with each of
the preferences measured by FourSight. As you
examine this table, think about yourself in light of these
descriptors. Which ones sound like you? Which ones
sound completely foreign to how you think and behave? Some
people have a strong inclination for just one of the
four preferences. Others have combinations of peak preferences
(i.e., a person might enjoy and have great energy
for both the Clarifier and Implementer preferences). As you
read these columns, place a check next to those items
that describe you. Be honest with yourself. This quick self-
assessment may help you gain some insights into your

2. approach to the creative process.
FourSight is a value-neutral assessment of creative process
preferences. Having a strong preference in one area
over another is not inherently good or bad; each preference has
its characteristic assets and potential liabilities. The
value is in understanding your preferences. This information
can show you areas of strength and unearth blind
spots in your interactions with people and process. It can help
you to understand why you have been successful in
some situations and why others frustrate you. The goal is to use
this information to arrive at a deeper
understanding of how you personally approach the creative
process and then to use this information to enhance
your effectiveness.
Individuals with a strong preference for Clarifier are drawn to
and have a great deal of energy for uncovering
facts that determine the most productive way of defining the
task or problem. Clarifiers are good at examining the
details, analyzing situations, and diagnosing problems. They are
not satisfied with a cursory understanding of a
situation; therefore, they seek information and have a tendency
to ask lots of questions to develop a deep
understanding. They are cautious about leaping to conclusions
or solutions. Because any preference taken to an
extreme can become a liability, high Clarifiers run the risk of
suffering from analysis paralysis by overanalyzing
situations to such a degree that they are slow to resolve a
challenge or to capitalize on an opportunity. That person
in your class or at work who continuously asks questions is
likely to be a Clarifier.
Table 13.2 An Overview of the FourSight Preferences

3. 173
Source: Puccio (2002). Reprinted with permission.
High Ideators excel at generating ideas. They are fluent and
flexible thinkers who find it easy to generate out-
of-the-box ideas. If you need ideas, go see an Ideator; they have
plenty. They are intuitive, global, and conceptual
in their thought processes. Because they tend to think in more
abstract terms, they sometimes struggle when
working with details. They may overlook the details, leave them
to someone else, or find that working out the
details drains their energy. That friend of yours who has a new
big dream every month and who continuously
amazes you with his or her imaginative ideas is probably a high
Ideator.
Developers enjoy refining ideas. They are energized by the kind
of thinking required to analyze and critique
ideas. Developers may not generate lots of ideas, but they are
good at selecting ideas that can become highly
workable and practical. Individuals who are Developers tinker
with ideas. They enjoy crafting and polishing ideas.
The potential downside to this preference is that Developers
may sometimes become preoccupied with perfection
and not be willing to push an idea forward because they feel it
can still be improved. The colleague who seems to
get completely absorbed in perfecting an idea, continuously
revising, modifying, and improving it, is displaying a
clear tendency toward the Developer preference.
High Implementers are action-oriented people who like to reach

4. closure. They like to see things happen. As a
result of their drive toward completion, they may experience
frustration when working with others who take time
when making decisions. Implementers move quickly from
concept to reality. Their ideas have little chance of
growing any moss. Though Implementers are adept at getting
things done, the potential risk they run is rushing
too quickly to action and thus implementing ideas that are not
fully developed. Do you know someone who
always seems to get the job done and then moves quickly to the
next task? If so, you are probably witnessing a
high Implementer at work.
There are also people who do not express a peak preference for
any of the four areas (i.e., all of their preference
scores are rather similar). These individuals are referred to as
Integrators because they are adaptable. Integrators
can go with the flow of the process, moving easily from step to
step. They can also look at situations from many
different perspectives. Integrators tend to be good team players
that can communicate readily with others who
have different process preferences and have a concern for
maintaining harmony in teams. The potential challenge
for Integrators is that, sometimes, they might focus too much on
serving as peacemakers in teams and therefore
may not always express their own opinions.
Think about how you naturally approach the creative process,
and consider ways in which this approach has
served you well, but also consider how your preferences have
inhibited success. As one student wrote in regard to
174

5. her FourSight preferences, “I must not shy away from that
which I do not enjoy, but rather recognize it, embrace
it and improve it.” This is using foresight.
FourSight is one approach to identify process preferences
relative to CPS. Basadur and his colleagues (1990)
have designed another measure of process preferences called the
Creative Problem-Solving Profile. For information
on their approach, see Box 13.2.
BOX 13.2 RESEARCH NOTE
Basadur’s Creative Problem-Solving Profile
In 1990, Basadur, Graen, and Wakayabashi published a detailed
description of a paper-and-pencil
inventory designed to help people identify their preferences
within Basadur’s version of CPS called Simplex.
They named this measure the Creative Problem-Solving Profile
(CPSP). According to Basadur et al. (1990),
people can be located along two perpendicular information-
processing dimensions, how people gain
knowledge and how people use knowledge. Knowledge can be
gained either in direct or abstract ways.
People then use this knowledge for ideation (i.e., divergent
thinking) or for evaluation (i.e., convergent
thinking). As Basadur and his colleagues noted, “Each
individual could thus be characterized as having a
unique set of relative preferences on these two information
processing dimensions….Considering these two
dimensions makes it possible to create four quadrants of
different combinations of gaining and using
knowledge” (p. 113).
These four quadrants are used to identify four different process

6. preferences. High preferences for
gaining knowledge through direct experience and using
knowledge for ideation is called the Generator. The
combination of the acquisition of knowledge through abstract
thought and a preference to use information
for ideation is called the Conceptualizer style. The third process
preference is called Optimizer, which
combines a preference for knowledge brought about by abstract
thinking and a preference to use knowledge
for convergence. Finally, the Implementer style brings together
a preference for knowledge acquisition
through concrete experiences and the use of this knowledge for
convergent thinking.
The CPSP uses twelve sets of four words to identify
individuals’ preferences. Each word in the set relates
to one of the four poles on the two underlying dimensions. A
respondent examines the set of words and
ranks them in terms of how descriptive they are of his or her
problem-solving style. The CPSP has been
used in a number of research studies (Basadur & Head, 2001;
Basadur, Wakabayashi, & Graen, 1990;
Houtz et al., 2003). A study of particular note, with respect to
the notion of psychological diversity, is
Basadur and Head’s (2001) examination of problem-solving
performance in teams. These teams were either
comprised of members with homogenous CPS styles (i.e., all of
one CPSP style), moderate homogeneity
(i.e., members from two of the four CPSP styles), or
heterogeneous blends (i.e., members from all four
CPSP styles). These researchers found that MBA students
working on a business problem in teams with the
greatest mix of CPS process styles significantly outperformed
the homogenous groups on three of five
measures of innovative performance. For a look at the CPSP, go
to Basadur et al. (1990), and for further

7. information on Basadur’s Creative Problem Solving model,
Simplex, go to Basadur (1994).
Using CPS Principles and Procedures to Complement Your
Creative Process
Now that you have a deeper understanding of how you engage
in the four areas of natural creative process, this
may give you a better idea of what areas could be strengthened.
What do you do if something does not come
naturally to you? The CPS process described in previous
chapters provides deliberate principles and tools that can
support you in improving your creativity skills. Therefore, if
you have a low tendency for a particular FourSight
preference, you can learn various CPS principles and tools to
assist you with the steps of the process for which you
have less energy. If, for example, you are a low Ideator, it may
be valuable for you to learn and apply the divergent
thinking guidelines and such tools as Brainstorming and Forced
Connections. Although you may not possess a
natural tendency to be an Ideator, it is possible, when necessary,
to learn to think and act like an Ideator. Table
13.3 provides some examples of CPS principles and tools that
individuals with low preferences might find useful
to learn and apply. Knowing your preferences allows you to dip
into CPS and extract those principles and tools
that complement your natural tendencies.
The combination of understanding the steps to the creative
process, such as those associated with CPS, and
understanding how you personally engage in the creative
process, will enhance your self-management skills. For
instance, if you know your high Implementer preference often
causes you to move quickly to action and, as a
175