Comparing and Evaluating Two Theories of Problem Solving Processes of Creativity - Literature review Example

Comparing and evaluating two theories Problem solving processes of Creativity Name Institution Date Introduction Creativity refers to the outcome that is attained when a person faces work challenges. It is the act of turning imaginative and new ideas into reality. Creative problem solving is a scheme of approaching change in an organization. It often involves a team approach, since individuals in the workplace are empowered to participate in change process while looking for creative solution. A successful organization identifies that its own personnel is usually the key to innovation and only require the appropriate channel to share their knowledge base ideas. This means that creative problem solving is a means of looking for innovative approaches for problem resolution. No matter what the need or problem the business might be addressing, creative ideas together with fresh approaches can usually make a difference amid a successful organization and one that is not able to remain competitive and efficient. It also provides a means to introduce change into the company that reduces the normal fear that normally accompanies change. Creative problem solving process thus becomes a change agent that is able to turn resistance into action. Lateral thinking as problem solving process of creativity According to De Bono (1992), lateral thinking is a creative thinking procedure that seeks a remedy to an intractable problem via unorthodox elements or methods that would usually by ignored by logical thinking. He divides thinking into two schemes: vertical thinking; which uses the processes of logic, the historical-traditional method and lateral thinking; which entails interrupting a perceptible sequence and arriving at a solution from another dimension. When a company is faced with fast changing trends, severe competition and the requirement o work miracles in spite of tight budgets, lateral thinking is needed as a way of creative problem solving. Developing breakthrough ideas doesn’t have to be the outcome of shotgun effort or luck (De Bono, 2010). The scheme of lateral thinking offers a planned, systematic procedure that will lead to innovative thinking. Creative thinking isn’t a talent, but it is an expertise that can be learnt. It empowers individuals through adding strengths to their inherent capabilities which promotes productivity, teamwork and where suitable to attain profit. In today’s business environment, better service and better quality are fundamental, but they are not sufficient. Innovation and creativity are the sole engines that will propel lasting, international success. Bono (1970) notes that our minds are trained to seek predictable and typical remedies for problems and one can master the tool for innovative thinking. Lateral thinking will also assist an individual with strategic planning ad thinking outside the box of daily issues. Sloane (2003) believes that modern day fast changing worldwide market economy makes it difficult for any company to differentiate itself, and also demands a diverse style of leadership: the lateral leadership. Sloane concept is that the conventional leader is fine when what is required is control and command of a well defined process. However, for discontinuous and rapid change, the lateral leader is excellently equipped. She or he focuses upon developing the skills of the team in creativity, innovation, entrepreneurial endeavors and risk taking. Sloane notes that the lateral leader administers change by initiating it. Lateral thinking techniques include brainstorming, provocation and random input. According to De Bono, (1992), random input is a technique of lateral thinking, which moves an individual from outside his established thinking patterns so that he can develop innovative and creative ideas. It is very helpful when one needs new perspectives or fresh ideas during problem solving. Provocation is a method that requires lateral thinking, identical to Random stimuli and it involves shifting one’s thinking out of established patterns that one uses to resolve problems normally. Osborn (1963) argues that brainstorming is the procedure of developing creative remedies to problems. Brainstorming works through focusing upon a problem, and then intentionally coming up with as numerous solutions as possible and through pushing ideas as far as possible. The reason why brainstormers are so effective is because they come up with novel ideas in a session and also spark off from connections with other individual’s ideas through developing and refining them (Osborn, 1963). Lateral thinking techniques assist us to come up with brilliant, original and startling solutions to opportunities and problems. According to De Bono (1967), the only disparity between uncreative and creative individuals is their self perception. Creative individuals view themselves as inventive and offer themselves the liberty to create. On the contrary, uncreative individuals don’t think about innovation and don’t offer themselves the chance to creating new things. Being creative might be a natter of setting aside tie required to take a step back and permit yourself to enquire if there is an improved manner of doing something. Another significant attitude-shift is to see problems as opportunities for perfection or improvement because whenever a problem is solved, one has an improved service or product to provide afterwards. Visual thinking s problem solving process of creativity Visual thinking is a way of organizing one’s thoughts and improves the capability to think and communicate. It is a means of expanding one’s capacity and range through going beyond the linear world of written word, spreadsheet and list, and entering into a non-linear world of multifaceted special relationships, diagrams, networks and maps. Roam (2008) promotes the notion of communication through images as opposed to words. His argument is that the utilization of a few simple lines, arrows and stick figures can improve the speed of grabbing and internalizing multifaceted concepts and assists a person to clearly identify problems so that they can be effectively solved. According to Ruger (2010), visual thinking is the hallmark of creativity and visual learners normally incline toward s creative professions like computer programming, architecture, design and art. Understanding the power of visual thinking in creativity can have enormous impacts on your organization’s capability to innovate, efficiently communicate with consumers and stay competitive in the rapidly changing globe. When you need to communicate powerful messages in business, one should utilize stories in order craft engaging and personal experiences that link to the entire point that one is attempting to make. Additionally, a person shouldn’t rely on facts because, facts matters mainly when the audience is rationalizing a decision that has already been made on the emotional level (Ruger, 2010). Margulies (1992) notes that in this era of accelerating change and massive discontinuities, capable executives dreadfully require novel ways of thinking and novel ways of seeing opportunities and challenges to assist them create a stable stream of new innovations and ideas. Visual thinking meets these needs through offering a set of elegant, vivid and simple ways to demonstrate problems and solutions. Visual thinking comprises a wide range of techniques for representing ideas utilizing symbols and words. These diagrams appeal to both the left and right sides of the brain, permitting them to convey both context and meaning, in a gestalt style. As a consequence, it can be utilized to communicate information faster and with more impact in modern day post literate audiences (Margulies, 1992). According to Roam (2008), as the speed of change renders several traditional solutions outdated and business challenges become highly complex and multi- faceted, numerous executives find it difficult to clearly envisage this maelstrom of factors, influences and elements within their minds. Additionally, words are usually indefinite and open to deduction by team members, further darkening problem definition and solution finding procedure. Transfer of this information to a paper in a highly symbolic way assists to make these pieces and the relationships amid them more understandable. As a consequence, teams can usually develop faster and better solutions utilizing visual thinking techniques. Richey (1990) notes that through drawing on both the linear/logical and visual capabilities of the brain, executives are able to think more clearly and faster, develop highly creative solutions, present their thoughts more convincingly, and attain better outcomes form teams. Mindmapping is a means of searching the underlying structures of intricate information that a person wants to represent and promote pattern recognition. In the highly competitive reality of modern day business environment, efficient pattern identification assists executives to find order in disorganized inputs of information and t refine choices to the excellent opportunities. Mind mapping offers a strategic framework for expressing direction. If a manager exposes his ideas, shares his vision or solve problems, a mind can be useful as a thinking tool and also as a procedure (Margulies, 1992). Mind-mapping helps in identification and connection of key concepts, utilization of creativity, finding if visual metaphors and key words. Through developing a visual model that displays the interdependence of elements of a problem, a person is using system thinking. According to Jensen (2000), the way of creating something superior is by developing something simple since progress needs simplicity. Through turning intricate information into a clear and simple representation, the procedure of developing a mind map assists an individual to develop a fundamental skill of leadership: simplicity. The work of a leader is to simply things and knowledge work is about how people utilize one another’s attention and time. Valenza, and Margulies (2005) note that mind mapping starts with graphic or symbol of the problem to be brainstormed in center of a page. Key words are utilized to represent thoughts, and are linked to the core focus with lines. Additionally, words may be placed within symbols such as squares and ovals to highlight particular ideas and further induce the mind to develop other associations and connections. Mindmapping stimulates the mind through drawing on the visually – adjusted right portion of the brain and is also a very effective means to perform a mental core dump of one’s ideas and thoughts onto paper within a very short time. Interests in visual mapping of ideas have steadily grown and have progressed into other process-mapping and brainstorming tools. For instance, every person from the creative minds of Madison Avenue and software designers have identified in latest periods that symbols is influential communication tools. According to Margulies (1990), mindmapping assists individuals to stretch their thinking beyond their normal paradigms. In addition, mindmapping can assist a person to view the big picture, capture intricate ideas easily and quickly and recognize the relationships between processes and ideas. Other visual thinking techniques include mindscapes, mess mapping and total quality flow charting. Mess mapping is a mindmapping alternate that delineates the present forces, influences ad trends surrounding an opportunity or situation. Margulies, (1990), a mindscape is a visual storyboard of the process of problem solving. For instance, a team can utilize drawing of a trek up mountain to represent its development of the departmental statement mission. A road can represent the path of the team’s objective, and rocks can symbolize potential barriers along the way to the objective. Mindscapes represent records of what occurs during team discussions and presentations, offer a visual synthesis, lend clarity to the material and illustrate the way that ideas relate to each other. An effective approach of introducing mindscaping into an organization is visual synthesis, which enables a company to record a seminar or meeting so that every individual can see the way mindscapes and maps generate a terrific visual record of ideas and how the connections between ideas can be drawn ( Margulies, 1992). In total quality flow charting, elements in a business procedure are put down in a linear style utilizing new symbols and words, with the process flows being mapped out utilizing arrows and lines. This influential diagramming scheme has been utilized widely to make business processes simpler, through eradicating steps that do not add value. As a management tool for quality management, flow charting is generally utilized to map a process flow displaying the beginning of a procedure, points of decision, and the ending of the procedure (Valenza, & Margulies, 2005). Conclusion Creative problem solving is a way of looking for new ideas and innovative approaches for problem resolution. This paper has looked at lateral thinking and visual thinking as problem solving processes of creativity. Lateral thinking seeks a solution to an intractable problem through unorthodox methods that are usually ignored by logical thinking. Lateral thinking involves disrupting a detectable sequence and getting to a solution from another dimension. Because it provides a planned, systematic procedure that leads to innovative thinking, lateral thinking is a significant way of creative problem solving in the fast changing trends and immense competition in today’s business environment. Visual thinking is a creative problem solving process that enables an individual to organize thoughts and improve the capacity to think and communicate. Through use of maps and diagrams, visual thinking improves the speed of grasping complex ideas and helps in clear identification of problems so that they can be efficiently solved. References De Bono, E, (1970). Lateral thinking: creativity step by step. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 300 De Bono, E., (1992). Visual creativity: using the power of lateral thinking to create new ideas. New York: Harper Business. Osborn, A., (1963). Applied Imagination. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. De Bono, E., (2010). Lateral thinking. R etrieved on October 8, 2011 from Ruger, K., (2010). Tales from the wonder emporium: Visual and creative thinking in business. Retrieved on October 8, 2011 from< http://www.slideshare.net/themoleskin/tales-from- the-wonder-emporium-visual-and-creative-thinking-in-business> Sloane, P., (2003). The leader’s guide to lateral thinking skills: unlocking the creativity and innovation in you and your team. New York: Kogan Page. De Bono, E, (1967). The Use of Lateral Thinking: New Think. New York: Basic Books. Richey, T., (1990). The Marketer's Visual Toolkit: Using charts, graphs, and models for strategic planning and problem solving. London: Penguin Books. Margulies, N., (1992). Transformation Thinking: Tools and techniques that open the door to powerful new thinking for every member of your organization. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers. Margulies, N, (1990). Mapping inner space learning. Tucson: Zephyr Press. Valenza, C., & Margulies, N., (2005). Visual thinking , tools for mapping your ideas. New York: Crown House Publishing Jensen, B., (2000).Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a world of more, better and faster. New York: HarperCollins. Roam, D., (2008). The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. London: Portfolio Hardcover. 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