Do you change the participants? Does the methodology change when you have a constraint like a participant time crunch? Is the methodology always applied the same way for all types of problems?
First of all there are two big things – one – it is fun – people love to find out something about themselves and find out that their way of solving problems is just as good as anybody else’s way. Nobody’s a genius when it comes to creativity and we all need each other.
In a field experiment, 112 managers in a large international consumer goods corporation learned to apply a process of creative problem solving to their on the job problems. It was discovered that deliberately avoiding premature evaluation was the key to igniting big improvements in both idea creation and evaluation. This research now supports years of real world experience of the practical value of this simple skill in innovative thinking and decision making.
Have you ever had an “aha” moment, when everything suddenly seemed so crystal clear?
It happened to me in 1975 in a course at the University of Cincinnati. I suddenly realized how to explain to others what I already believed: that creativity is an essential part of organizational life and not just a “once in a while” extra activity.
Imagine asking a panel of CEOs from top American companies: How do you take the lead in the 21st century?
Organizations around the globe are thirsting for a blueprint to follow to increase performance in these uncertain times. They are finding this a difficult task because things are not what they used to be. They are finding that how they provide value to consumers is no longer clear nor linear, but much more elusive and ambiguous. Many are turning their attention to attempting to become more innovative. One of the major challenges is to transition their business culture into one that engages employees at all levels in using their creative problem solving skills to making things better. The good news is that there is a proven and readily available method to enable this transition.
