Creativ

February 22
e
Proble
m 2011
Solving
Submitted to: Mr.Adeyl
Individual assignment 1 : Iftekhar Arshad (063296530): BPS 440.1
Khan
 Overcoming blocks to creative problem solving

“I look at you, I think creative. I notice you from closer, you

help me get past my block”

■ watching a magician at work

■ going to the theatre or the cinema
■ visits to junkyards
■ mixing with or talking to different people – perhaps people whose value systems are
different from your own
■ day-dreaming to a sound-effects record
1. Going to the theatre or the cinema: This has great potential for anyone who actually
wants to perceive the message that comes along with the movie. This, for me in particular
has been a help because some movies have really shown me the acts, concepts and stories
that I have never before seen or heard of. Some movies can come with absolutely new
ideas thus showing the absolute new perspective, OR, it can show how by changing just a
few things you can change a lot for good.

Movies if taken from an academic perspective, is one separate case at a time altogether,
with a way out at the end. If the movie matches a manager’s problem space, he might as
well take direct reference. If not the creative writer will influence the viewer to think,
imagine beyond the very common. The children’s film “Bridge To Terabithia” has been
made for only one purpose, i.e. to make the children, and why not a grown up, believe in
imagination! The Matrix as a child actually made me believe in the virtual world; I won’t
be at all surprised if such a product reaches the market for mere recreation. Our minds
could thus go to the beach while we take a 30 min break from the office desk.
2. Mixing with or talking to different people – perhaps people whose value systems are
different from your own: The voluntary outsider carries a great opportunity to provide a
fresh perspective. I have talked with managers selling competitive products in the same
market and yet gave me strikingly different thoughts. I have bumped into settings in an
organization where people from different backgrounds are asked to provide their opinion
on a single issue. This could be the case of experts in specific fields or just the freshmen
aspiring to work for different sectors.

The main cliché here is the fact that an expert in any particular ground will also know the
boundaries alongside possibilities regarding any issue. The guy who does not know the
boundaries of marketing might give away more non intuitive thoughts about marketing.
The multidisciplinary team is a good option to look beyond any block. Therefore, I won’t
be surprised to see a car manufacturer getting new ideas to increase quality of car comfort
by talking to a dentist. The whole idea is to gain different perspectives and I believe a
setting like this will help generate ideas more quickly than any other. We will just have to
patiently listen to and show respect for what the other person has to say.
3. Visiting a junkyard: Ahh..the fine way of looking into the past! This could help anyone
who does seek answers by looking into the past so as to compare how a product looked in
older times and how it has changed today. If we want to see why something has been
appreciated for long or why it was rejected shortly after use, we can get insights by
looking in a junkyard. The more innovative person actually gets an opportunity to search
for items he can put together to create something new; all from things that has already
been discarded.

This portrait is a demonstration of what can be possibly shaped out of almost anything
that you get in a junkyard. The person looking to break his block will thus possibly take
examples by looking at obsolete items that might have been later modified to suit modern
day usage; similarly he has a basis of comparison as to how today’s modern innovations
can take place in the junkyard shortly afterwards!
4. Watching a magician at work: When I saw this phrase, “watching a magician work”,
even before I wanted to start thinking, the magician’s nature of thinking beyond the
general struck me. What is a magician’s work anyways? Why we, the mass consider it
magic anyways? The answer is simple. It seems magic to us because it is what we would
otherwise think is impossible to do. Watching a magician thus can be inspiring for any
who is looking forward to break and reconstruct some boundaries; for the mind which
wants to make some changes.

This applies in case of everything; doing the unthought-of and still amaze the audience if
put into the right perspective. To put it into simple thought, a marketer might then think it
is likely for him to break the boundaries he has been struggling with. Possibly he can
actually do more with the product! Possibly go for unconventional packaging, try to put
up the never before acts as the creative manager. The magician will thus inspire the
person to think about his problem from new dimensions.
5. Day-dreaming to a sound-effects record: I believe music has a harmonious relationship
with a person’s thought process. Why would we otherwise dance to a tune and ..I
honestly believe a calming tune can relax a person’s brain and enable thinking out of the
box! An exciting new tune might help the person’s mood change giving him new
perspectives regarding his problem space. One might get surprised to learn that there are
tunes recorded in particular to make someone relax and give an issue a harder but calmer
thought! Meditation one might name it. I say the tunes I hear makes me focus on one
important thing away from the buzz of many thoughts.

More surprisingly, I came across a person who would draw tunes, to learn his song! A
musician told me that when I asked what the curves meant that he had been drawing for
so long. A learning indeed! I have learnt and so can anybody else to close my eyes and let
the thoughts flow free just the way the music flows.
3. Differentiate between individual and organizational blocks to creative thinking. What can be
done to cope with the difficulties created by these blocks or even to help prevent these blocks
occurring?

Ans: There are blocks that are completely internal to an indivisual that limits his creative thought
process and thus his ability to think beyond the common. These barriers are internal to that
individual himself and are called individual blocks to creative problem solving. On the other
hand, there are those that radiate from the surroundings in which people operate or from the
organization they work are called organizational blocks to creative problem solving.

Personal barriers may be subdivided into physiological barriers, such as the perceptual
limitations of the senses or the brain’s data-handling capacity, and psychological barriers related
to the person’s behavior or attitudes.

Jones (1987) identified four typologies of blocks:

1 Strategic blocks: ‘one-right-answer approaches’, inflexibility in thinking. These affect the

approach taken to solve problems. They include the tendency to rely heavily on past experience
or particular techniques without challenging their appropriateness; focusing on a narrow range of
options for either problem definition or problem solving; and adapting an over serious approach
to problems which prevents the emergence of a playful, imaginative and humorous climate.

2 Value blocks: ‘over-generalised rigidity influenced by personal values’. These occur when
personal beliefs and values restrict the range of ideas contemplated. Values co-exist, and failure
to reconcile them contributes to difficult personal and organisational dilemmas.

3 Perceptual blocks:‘over-narrow focus of attention and interest’.These arise from a lack of

sensory awareness at a physical level and therefore contribute to lack of awareness of
implications of situations.

4 Self-image blocks: poor effectiveness through fear of failure, timidity in expressing ideas, etc.
These reduce effectiveness in advancing ideas assertively. They arise from a lack of
selfconfidence in the value of one’s own ideas. Individuals may be reluctant to seek help and talk
about personal feelings.This barrier seems to be the greatest impediment to the successful
implementation of new ideas.
Techniques that help to overcome blocks:

Strategic, value, perceptual and self-image blocks can be overcome to a great extent by use of
creative problem solving techniques. As a result of using the techniques, ideas and insights will
be created where none or few existed before. The techniques act as a stimulus to thinking and
help evoke, construct and reconstruct the knowledge and information we hold as individuals in
our memory.

In some cases participants engage in group creative problem solving sessions, such as when
using brainstorming. Sharing experiences in the group can help build confidence, lessen the risk
of making mistakes as individuals and overcome value prejudices we may hold as individuals.
The multidisciplinary team setting has proven to be effective in numerous occassions.

It may be possible to eradicate perceptual blocks and biases we may exhibit as individuals. An
easy way could be sharing a problem with someone else which way we can receive how others
might view the same problem and how they might gain insights to the problem.
Some of the major Blocks to Creativity in Organizations are:

1. Emphasis on managerial control: Compare with autonomy & freedom

2. Short range thinking: Measurable in the next quarter

3. Analysis paralysis

4. Rigid hierarchical structures: Responding to changes

5. Expected payoffs (Large projects!)

6. Marketing over-emphasis versus technology

7. Pressure to achieve more with less- R&D Cuts

8. Lack of creative understanding: Approaches, Trainings, Some people are creative.

Ways of dealing with Organizational blocks include:

1. Encouraging prudent risk-taking

2. Freedom of thought – some degree of autonomy
3. Linking rewards with specific performance
4. Encouraging different viewpoints on problems
5. Positive involvement of top management
6. Continual flow of ideas
7. Responding positively to new ideas