Creative Thinking & Problem Solving are critical Life Skills, for success in personal & professional domain in life.

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WHO recommended Life Skills
Creative Thinking & Problem Solving
15th of Nov, 2016
Abhishek Ghosh M.Pharm, MSc Psychology
Abhishek.pharmacist@gmail.com

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Exploring the background
• WHO recommended Life skills
Life skills have been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as
“abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal
effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”.
Self awareness Empathy
Critical thinking Creative thinking
Decision making Problem solving
Effective communication Interpersonal relationship
Coping with stress Coping with emotions

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Problem Solving
Problem solving is defined as a higher-order cognitive process that requires
the modulation & control of more routine or fundamental skills.
Why is this skill important?
• At work, problems are at the center of what many people do every day.
• You're either solving a problem for a client (internal or external), supporting
those who are solving problems, or discovering new problems to solve.
• The problems you face can be large or small, simple or complex, and easy or
difficult to solve.
• Regardless of the nature of the problems, a fundamental part of everyone’s
job is finding ways to solve them. So, being a confident problem solver is
really important to one’s success.
• What is Problem Solving?

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Problem Solving
Four basic steps in Problem solving:
1. Defining the problem
• Predict the problem
• Understand the root cause & not the symptoms
• Understand the complexity
2. Generating alternatives (Brainstorming tools & techniques)
3. Evaluating and selecting alternatives (Decision making tools &
techniques)
4. Implementing solutions (Best practices of Project management)
Reference link: http://www.mindtools.com/
• What is Problem Solving?

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Creative Thinking (Creativity)
• Today’s Course content, based on Tina Seelig’s
research/books
Dr. Seelig Ph.D. from Stanford University Medical School in 1985 - Neuroscience.
Professor in the Dept of Management Science & Engineering (MS&E) at Stanford University.
Executive Director - Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), entrepreneurship center
She has also written 16 popular science books and educational games.
Her newest books are:
What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 (2009),
&
inGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity (2012).

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Creative Thinking (Creativity)
• What is Creativity?
Creativity is easily defined — it is the process of generating new ideas.
Generating fresh ideas is actually quite challenging because most people find it difficult to get
beyond obvious, incremental solutions.
True creativity requires the ability to break new ground, which requires significant effort.
Is creativity a learned skill or an innate talent?
We are all naturally creative and, like every other skill, some people have more natural talent
than others. However, everyone can increase his or her creativity, with appropriate training and
focused practice.
We can all learn tools and techniques that enhance creativity, and build environments that
foster innovation.

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Creative Thinking (Creativity)
• Model for Creativity – INNOVATION ENGINE
Inside Us: Attitude, Knowledge & Imagination
Outside Us: Culture, Resources & Habitat

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Creative Thinking (Creativity)
• INNOVATION ENGINE – dissecting the model
Inside us:
Attitude – Your is a spark that sets the innovation engine in motion.
The attitude that unexpected outcomes are not failures, but rather data to learn from,
is crucial to creativity and innovation. If you are afraid of failure, you won’t try anything new.
Knowledge – Your knowledge provides the fuel for your imagination.
To be creative you must have a depth of knowledge as a starting point.
Imagination - Your imagination is the catalyst for the transformation of knowledge into
new ideas.
Outside us:
Resources - all the assets in your community.
Habitats - includes the people on your team, the rules, rewards & the physical space.
Culture - is the collective beliefs, values, and behaviors in your community.

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Thank You
“The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind –
computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts,
MBAs who could crunch numbers.
But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands.
The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind –
creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers”.
– Daniel H. Pink in A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future.