Creative Problem Solving Lecture Notes PDF

CRT 5002 CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING Module 1: Lecture 1 & 2 Prof Arun Abraham Elias Director and DEAN Rajagiri business school  Lecture Plan 1. Introduction to Creativity 2. Creativity in Action 3. Creativity for Business Problems 1. Introduction to Cr...

CRT 5002 CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING Module 1: Lecture 1 & 2 Prof Arun Abraham Elias Director and DEAN Rajagiri business school  Lecture Plan 1. Introduction to Creativity 2. Creativity in Action 3. Creativity for Business Problems 1. Introduction to Creativity  What is Creativity? Creativity is the process of generating new ideas  Artistic Creativity Related to artwork Expressing ideas (and emotions) through various forms of art (or fine art) Examples: Visual Art: Painting, Sculpture, Photography Performing Art: Music, Movie, Dance, Theatre etc. Literature: Creative Writing – short stories, novels, poems  Cognitive Creativity Coming with solutions to practical or theoretical problems Examples: Science – inventions, theories Mathematics – alternative methods Games – chess  Critical versus Creative Thinking Critical Thinking Creative Thinking Analytical Generative Convergent Divergent Probability Possibility Objective Subjective Closed Open-ended Logic Intuition Yes but Yes and  Abraham Maslow “The concept of creativeness and the concept of healthy, self-actualising, fully human person seems to be coming closer and closer together, and perhaps turnout to the same thing.” Agree? Disagree?  Creativity Defined The standard definition is bipartite: Creativity requires both originality and effectiveness. (Runco and Jaegar, 2012)  Efficiency and Effectiveness An Operations Manager needs to be efficient and effective Efficiency: Doing things right Achieving a result at minimum expenditure of costs (All costs, not just financial) Effectiveness: Doing right things Goal Oriented behaviour Achieving the results which you seek 2. Creativity in Action Section C Section D Creatively complete the figure Traditional Problem Solving Process CREATIVE TO PROBLEM SOLVING 3. Creativity for Business Problems  Complex Problems A number of interacting elements involved A number of elements that can set their goals and can act to satisfy these goals, irrespective of the overall goal of the system A number of ways in which a system interacts with its environment Austrian Biologist - Ludwig von Bertalanffy Mutual dependencies, Inter-relationships, Inter-connectedness  Counterintuitive Behaviour ‘People seeking to solve a problem, often make it worse’ ‘Our policies may create unanticipated side effects’ ‘Our attempts to stabilise the system may destabilise it’ ‘Our decisions may provoke reactions by others seeking to restore the balance we upset’ Jay Forrester calls such phenomena Counterintuitive Behaviour  Policy Resistance The counterintuitive dynamics often lead to Policy Resistance The tendency to be delayed, diluted, or defeated by the response of the system to the intervention itself (Sterman, 2000)  The Story of Romania The Story of Romania  Counterintuitive Problems: Other Examples 1. Low tar and nicotine cigarettes actually increase intake of Carcinogens, CO etc. As smokers compensate by smoking more cigarettes per day, Taking longer and more frequent drags, Holding smoke in their lungs longer. 2. New roads to solve traffic congestion increase traffic congestion  Group Exercise Identify a counterintuitive problem  Behaviour Over Time (BOT) Graphs One of the tools of systems thinking Also known as ‘reference mode’ It shows the pattern of a variable over an extended period of time E.g. Growth, decline, oscillations, combinations of these etc. They are usually drawn in a ‘rough’ sense, without exact numerical values attached.  Preparing BOT Graphs Identify main variables It can be a condition, situation, action or decision that can influence and can be influenced by other variables Variables change with respect to time  Quantitative Variables Some variables can be measured quantitatively Examples: Qualitative Variables Some variables do not generally lend themselves to direct measurement Examples:  Exercise Write down two examples of quantitative and two examples of qualitative variables  An Example of a BOT Graph Total market Production efficiency Average price Market share 2013 Time 2023  Exercise 2 An analysis of the data generated by the Wellington Regional Council from 2000 to 2020 for 7.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. travel between McKay’s crossing and Linden showed that the traffic volume was increasing steadily. Due to this increase in traffic volume, travel time and CO2 emissions were increasing steadily. An analysis of the Wellington Regional Council data also found that that the speed of travel was decreasing but still the attractiveness of driving was increasing. 1. Identify the variables in the system 2. Develop a behaviour over time (BOT) graph  Traffic volume Travel time CO2 emissions Attractiveness of driving Speed 2000 Time 2020  Group Exercise 1. Identify a counterintuitive problem 2. Develop a BOT graph