The Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS) __________________________________________________________

The Creative Problem Solving Process is meant as tool to help students generate ideas for Project 3. The Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS), aka the Osborn-Parnes Process, was created by Alex Osborn and Dr. Sidney J. Parnes in the 1960s. Alex Osborn, founder of the Creative Education Foundation (CEF), coined the term brainstorming in his book Applied Imagination and his definition of brainstorming is reflected in the Osborn-Parnes Process. [Brainstorming is a] creative conference for the sole purpose of producing a checklist of ideasideas which can serve as leads to problem solutionideas which can subsequently be evaluated and further processed. Each step of the Osborn-Parnes Process begins with divergent thinking wherein the student generates lots of ideas (facts, problem definitions, ideas, evaluation criteria, implementation strategies), which is then followed by convergent thinking wherein the student evaluates their brainstormed ideas, identifies the most promising ideas, and explores these ideas further. The Osborn-Parnes Process:

Process Objective Finding

Steps Brainstorming goals, wishes, or challenges you might want to work on: Gathering the relevant data: What is the situation or background? What are all the facts, questions, data, and sentiments involved? Clarifying the problem that needs to be solved in order to achieve the goal: What is at the core of the problem? What is the fundamental issue that needs addressing? Brainstorming ideas to solve the identified problem: What are all the possible solutions for how to solve the problem? Evaluating your ideas and moving from an idea to an implementable solution: How will you evaluate possible solutions to know which one will work best?

Exploring the Challenge

Fact Finding

Problem Finding

Generating Ideas

Idea Finding

Solution Finding Preparing for Action

Creating a plan for action to implement the idea: Acceptance Finding What are all the action steps that need to take place in order to implement your solution?

Suggested Activities for Each Step ________________________________________________________________________ 1. FINDING AN OBJECTIVE

What do I complain about? What would I like to get others to do? What takes too long? What is wasted? What makes me angry or tense? What do I worry about? What would I like to see organized in a better way? What barriers or bottlenecks exist? What would I be proud to have accomplished? What would I be proud to be known for? What ideas do I have that I wish more people shared? Write a number of statements that begin with these phrases: o I wish... o What I'd really like to see is... o Wouldn't it be cool if....

3. PROBLEM FINDING (Listing alternative definitions of the problem) Brainstorm a list of possible problem statements that begin with the sentence stem, "In what ways might I/we...?" This helps to reorient your thinking from negative problem statements to positive ones. Keep in mind how the definition of a problem determines the nature of its solutions.

What is the real problem? What is the main objective? What do I really want to accomplish? Why do I want to do this?

4. IDEA FINDING This is a divergent-thinking, brainstorming stage. Propose ideas freely and without criticism or evaluation for each of the problem definitions accepted during the Problem Finding stage.

2. FACT FINDING (The Who, What, When, Where, Why and How)

Who is involved? Who should be involved? What is or is not happening? When does this or should this happen? Where does or doesnt this occur? Why does it or doesnt it happen? How does it or doesn't it occur? Why is this important? Why can't this be ignored? What keeps me from getting past this? How does this situation affect me? What will I lose if I don't do anything? What is at stake for others if I dont do anything? Where, when how does this thing occur? Who could help me with this? Who stands to gain/lose when this is solved? When does this not seem to be a problem? What resources do I have? What information would I like to have? What sources of information are available? How did this come about?

5. SOLUTION FINDING Three steps: 1. List criteria for evaluation Sample evaluative criteria: o Will it work? o Is it legal? o Are the materials and technology available? o Are the costs acceptable? o Will the public accept it? o Will higher-level administrators accept it? 2. Evaluate the ideas (an evaluation matrix is useful) 3. Select one or more of the best ideas.

6. ACCEPTANCE FINDINGTHE IMPLEMENTATION STAGE How will you get your ideas into action? You must turn ideas into realities, make what has been private public, transform the immaterial into the material, and shift from thought to action. This requires creating an action plan. Creating an action plan involves four steps: 1. Envision the completed project 2. Brainstorm a list of events needed to complete the project 3. Plan the events 4. Anticipate potential problems, have solutions ready Step 1. Envision the completed project. This is simply a matter of looking forward to a time when you can look back and see the path that led to where you will be. Rather than start from the beginning, start from where you want to be. It is useful to spend some time painting a mental picture of the outcome. Doing so will prompt new images, ideas, thoughts, and insights. Step 2. Brainstorm a list of events needed to complete the project in any order. Events are those actions that need to occur in order to accomplish the project. It is much easier to brainstorm a list of events while suspending judgment than to generate the list in a logical, sequential order. Step 3. Plan the events. Once you have listed the events, transfer each one to a "Post-It" note. You should rephrase each item to read in the past tense. For example, Brochure Text Written, Brochures Printed, Budget Approved, Workshop Outline Completed, Merchant Account Activated, etc. then take the Post-It notes and arrange them on a large sheet of paper, such as a flip chart page or a sheet of butcher paper. Cluster the notes in natural groupings, and avoid the tendency to try to put them into linear sequences. You will see that there are actions which can take place more or less simultaneously. Finally, using any system of numbering, give each event a number. The numbers are for identification and reference purposes only and they can be changed. So it would be a good idea to use pencil when you do your numbering. Step 4. Brainstorm a list of potential problems that might occur during your events. What might go wrong? What has gone wrong at past events similar to yours? What is the worst-case scenario? Then brainstorm possible solutions to these hypothetical problems, and create a clear plan to address each problem in case it does occur. In other words, this your Plan B, your back-up plan.