McFadzeanEncouraging creative thinkingWord文件下载.docx

1、7 （1999）: 374-383. Abstract （summary）Cancel In order to develop more innovative products, process and services, organizations must encourage their employees to think more creatively. The purpose of this article is to explore creative problem solving and to present a model that can help facilitators

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6、Fadzean: Henley Management College, Henley-on-Thames, UK Introduction In order to develop innovative products, services or procedures, organisations must encourage their employees to become more creative. One method of undertaking this is to utilise creative problem-solving techniques （VanGundy, 199

7、2; Von Oech, 1983; Carr, 1994; de Bono, 1992; Robinson and Stern, 1997）. There are numerous types of creative problem-solving techniques. VanGundy （1992） has classified these into techniques that are used by individuals and those that are utilised by groups. In addition, he has also divided them int

8、o techniques that use related stimuli and those that use unrelated stimuli. Perhaps the most popular technique is that of brainstorming, where group members communicate ideas to the facilitator who writes them down on a board or flip chart. VanGundy （1988）, McFadzean （1998a） and Couger （1995） have a

9、lso described countless other creative problem-solving techniques. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that will enable team members and/or facilitators to choose which is the most appropriate technique for them to utilise. In addition, the paper will also discuss the implications fo

10、r choosing particular techniques and will describe the strengths and weaknesses of these methods. The next section of this paper, therefore, will present the creative problem-solving framework. The remainder of the article will describe some of the techniques and their implications. Finally, a summa

11、ry of the paper is presented. The creativity continuum Newell et al. （1962, pp. 65-66） have defined creativity as follows:Problem solving is called creative to the extent that one or more of the following conditions are satisfied:1 The product of thinking has novelty and value （either for the thinke

12、r or for his/her culture）.2 The thinking is unconventional, in the sense that it requires modification or rejection of previously accepted ideas.3 The thinking requires high motivation and persistence, taking place either over a considerable span of time （continuously or intermittently） or at high i

13、ntensity.4 The problem as initially posed was vague and ill-defined so that part of the task was to formulate the problem itself. Nagasundaram and Bostrom （1993） and Gryskiewicz （1980; 1987） suggest that creativity occurs when new relationships between existing elements occur and/or when new element

14、s are brought in. For example, cameras have experienced a lot of changes during the past few years. Today, we have compact, disposable, polaroid, digital and video cameras. The disposable camera has been developed by changing the relationships between existing elements. Instead of having a plastic c

15、ase, disposable cameras have cardboard cases. The digital camera, however, has been developed by bringing in new elements, in the form of new technology. These cameras no longer use film to store pictures. Instead, memory cards or disks can be inserted into the camera. The images are captured and ca

16、n then be easily transferred to a computer. According to McFadzean （1998b）, Couger （1995）, Von Oech （1983） and de Bono （1992）, creativity can be encouraged by changing a persons mindset or paradigm. Kuhn （1970, p. 10） introduced the concept of the paradigm to the scientific world. He suggested that

17、scientific paradigms are accepted examples of actual scientific practices, examples which include law, theory, application, and instrumentation together - that provide models from which spring particular coherent traditions of scientific research. Smith （1975） defines a paradigm as a shared set of a

18、ssumptions, a way people perceive the world and a way of explaining what is going on round about them. Moreover, Smith suggests that if people are in the middle of a paradigm it is difficult for them to perceive the situation in any other way. Creative problem solving, however, can help people to mo

19、dify or even change their paradigm （McFadzean, 1998b; de Bono, 1992）. McFadzean （1998b） and VanGundy （1988） suggest that paradigm changes can be made by using three different strategies, namely:1. association, 2. stimulation, and 3. expression. The objective of brainstorming, for example, is to deve

20、lop as many ideas as possible. According to Osborn （1957）, this is because the quantity of ideas will ultimately yield quality. In other words, the more ideas generated, the more likely it is that the group will produce some good quality ideas. In addition, there should be no criticism during this p

21、hase. This is because a relaxed and judgement-free atmosphere encourages the flow of ideas which would be severely impeded if participants were allowed to convey their judgement on each idea （Majaro, 1988）. The facilitator must also encourage the group to combine and improve their ideas. The partici

22、pants should build on previous ideas - called piggybacking - and to look for ways of combining two or more ideas to generate a third idea not thought of previously. Piggybacking is a form of association. The participants can undertake piggybacking whenever they see fit. This is therefore free associ

23、ation. The ideas developed during a brainstorming session are used to spark off new ideas. In other words, participants are stimulated by information that is related to the problem or situation （McFadzean, 1996）. In addition, brainstorming and its derivatives （e.g. brainwriting and nominal group tec

24、hnique） utilise either verbal or written expression. This means that ideas are communicated by writing them down or speaking to the rest of the group. These types of techniques are shown graphically in Figure 1. McFadzean （1996） and Garfield et al. （1997） have shown that these techniques do not nece

25、ssarily encourage participants to modify or change their paradigms. McFadzean （1996）, however, has shown that by changing the methods of association, stimulation and expression, participants can be encouraged to challenge their paradigms. For example, object stimulation utilises forced association a

26、nd unrelated stimuli. Here, participants are asked to describe objects. These descriptions are then used as unrelated stimuli to encourage the development of new and novel ideas. In other words, they are forcibly linked back to the problem. For instance, a company could use this technique to develop

27、 novel ideas for a new marketing strategy. The participants could choose a company outside their own industry sector and describe the marketing techniques that they think are successful. Participants from a supermarket, for example, could list the marketing strategies developed by other firms such a

28、s Virgin Airways, Disney World, BT, the Royal Bank of Scotland, etc. These strategies can then be linked back and developed so that they can fit in with the supermarkets overall strategy. For example, supermarkets are now offering financial services, which were previously only offered by banks. Obje

29、ct stimulation therefore encourages participants to stretch their given paradigm by utilising unrelated stimuli and forced association. This is shown in Figure 2. Paradigms can be broken, however, by using unlimited methods of expression as well as unrelated stimuli and forced association. An exampl

30、e of a paradigm breaking technique is Rich Pictures （McFadzean, 1998a; McFadzean et al., 1998）. Here, participants are asked to draw a picture of where they see their company in ten years time. They are then asked to draw a picture of how they see the company at the present time. Next, each particip

31、ant describes the two pictures and gives reasons for why he/she has used these particular images to represent the company. The technique can draw out a lot of information that would not necessarily have been revealed using more conventional techniques. In addition, the participants can see instantaneously the differences between the picture of the future and the picture of the present. The stimuli developed from these pictures can t