Creativity

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Module 1

Creativity
Syllabus of 1 module st

• Creativity & Concepts:


• Making a case for creativity; creative thinking as a skill; Valuing
diversity in thinking - Thinking preferences, cognitive biases of
creativity.
• Creativity styles; Setting the stage for success - Basic philosophy,
Having a vision, Setting the right attitude, recognizing and
avoiding mental blocks, Avoiding mindsets, Risk taking, Paradigm
shift and paradigm paralysis, Individual and team work;
• Creativity in problem solving - Problem Definition,
Understanding, Representing;
• Pattern Breaking - Thinking differently, Changing your point of
view, Watching for paradigm shift, Challenging conventional
wisdom, Lateral thinking, provocation (escape, random word),
Mind stimulation: games, brain-twisters and puzzles
Creativity
• The English word creativity comes from
the Latin term creare, "to create, make“
• Creativity: The ability to develop new ideas and to discover
new ways of looking at problems and opportunities,
thinking new things
• The meaning of creativity is to think or do something
differently.
• Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or
recognize ideas, alternatives or possibilities that may be
useful in solving problems, communicating with others and
entertaining ourselves as well as others.
• Creativity can be defined on a variety of levels:
cognitively, intellectually, socially, economically,
spiritually, and from the perspective of different
disciplines within the arts, sciences, and humanities.
• Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative
ideas into reality.
• Creativity is characterised by the ability to perceive
the world in new way to find hidden patterns to
make connections between seemingly unrelated
phenomena, and to generate solutions.
• Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then
producing
Definition
1.. “Creativity implies the products of totally or partially
novel identity”—Stagner and Karowski.
2. “Creativity is the capacity of a person to produce
composition products or ideas which are essentially new
or novel and previously unknown to the producer”—
Drevdahl.
3. “Creativity is the power of the human mind to create new
contents by transforming relations and thereby generating
new correlates”—Spearman.
4. “Creativity is the ability to see things in a new and
unusual light, to see problems that no one else may even
realize its exist, and then to come up with new, unusual,
and effective solutions”—Papalia and Olds.
COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY
1. Continuity: - Creative child has the ability to consistently change in
useful manner. A child who has different types of ideas continuously
that child is considered to be a creative child.
2. Flexibility: - Creativity in a person refers to self-control,
foresightedness and the trait of taking care of others' likes and
dislikes. Such a person brings a change in his/her thoughts according
to time and circumstances
3. Originality: - Creative child does not love the old ideas. His/her ideas
have originality. Such a child is strong-willed, industrious,and
courageous.He/she is always eager to start any task by
himself/herself. In each case his/her opinions are entirely different
from those of other child.
4. Expansion: - Creative child can exaggerate any matter or event.
His/her vocabulary is very rich and has interesting way of expressing
ideas
COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY

1. Imagination- the process by which items of experience are


combined to form new products.
2. Fluency-it means the frequency with which relevant and
unrepeated ideas come to one’s mind after a question is put.
3. Flexibility-it is represented by a person’s ability to produce ideas
which differ in approval or thought trend.
4. Originality-it is uniqueness of response, defines originality as the
production of unusual, for fetched, remote or clever responses among
members of a certain population.
5. Elaboration-it is indicated by a person’s ability to add pertinent
details to the minimum and primary response to the stimulus.
6. Curiosity-it is an exploratory behavior.
7. Giftedness-it was considered only children with greater IQ were
gifted, but now it is intelligence or talent and artistic ability.
Nature and Characteristics of Creativity
• Creativity is not confined to any individual:
Creativity is not confined to any individual, group of individuals, caste,
colour or creed. It is not bound by the barriers of age, location or
culture.
• Creativity is innate as well as acquired:
Although many research findings and incidents favour the suggestion that
creativity is a God given gift and natural endowment, the influence of
cultural background, experiences, education and training in the
nurturing of creativity cannot be ruled out. Thus one’s creativity may
be correctly said to be a function of natural endowment as well as its
nurturing. It is a combination of responses or ideas in novel ways.
• Creativity is adventurous and open thinking:
Creativity is not a product of the stereotyped, rigid and closed thinking. It
encourages and demands complete freedom to accept and express the
multiplicity of responses, choices and ways of action.
• Creativity carries ego involvement:
There is complete involvement of one’s ego in the
creative expression. One’s individuality and
identity are totally merged in one’s creation.
Here ‘I’ is given more weightage.
• Creativity has a wide scope:
Creative expression is not restricted by any limits
or boundaries. It covers all fields and activities of
human life in any of which one is able to
demonstrate creativity by expressing or
producing a new idea or object.
• Creativity is a thought process that leads to new
and useful ideas and this thought process has been
divided into two categories, divergent thinking and
convergent thinking.
• A creativity expert and psychologist named Guilford
is the person who came up with these two
categories and according to him divergent thinking
is about coming up with multiple ideas, multiple
solutions or multiple alternatives. Convergent
thinking on the other hand is about narrowing
down your choices.
• So divergence is about multiple ideas and
convergence is about choosing from those ideas.
What is Creative Thinking?

• Creative thinking means looking at something


in a new way.
• It is the very definition of “thinking outside
the box.”
• Often, creativity in this sense involves what is
called lateral thinking, or the ability to
perceive patterns that are not obvious.
CREATIVE THINKING AS A SKILL:
• It’s important to have a creative thinking to solve
problems more effectively. So we have to improve
our creative thinking. Some of the ways to improve
our creative thinking are as follows:
Sensing
• Use all your senses—see, taste, smell, touch, hear,
think, speak.
• Be a good observer of people, nature, and events
around you.
Thinking
• Engage thinking on the right side of your brain
(intuition, open-mindedness, visual perception,
rhythm . . .)
• Change your interpretation of an event, situation,
behavior, person, or object.
• Allow ideas to incubate.
• Be open to insight as ideas pop into your mind.
Imagining
• Brainstorm by generating ideas with a group of
people.
• Ask, “What would happen if . . .”
• Ask, “In how many different ways . . .”
• Develop ideas and expand their possibilities.
• Envision the future.
Speaking and Writing
• Use your words and your “voice” when conveying your
original ideas.
• Avoid using clichés or overly familiar responses to questions or
problems.
• Explain how your ideas move beyond the status quo and
contribute to a discussion.
• Take notes.
Drawing
• Use mind-mapping to capture ideas; start with a key concept
and write it in the center of your page; use connecting lines,
radiating from the central concept, and write down any
connected or related ideas that come to you.
• Create pictures or drawings of situations (“rich pictures”) to
show them in a different way.
Learning
• Find ways to demonstrate your personal investment
in projects.
• Gather knowledge and conduct research.
• Have more fun learning!
Moving
• Do physical activities to engage the creative areas of
your brain and think differently.
Resting
• Take breaks.
Divergent and Convergent Thinking

• Divergent Thinking:
• Divergent thinking is the process of recalling possible
solutions from past experience, or inventing new ones. 
Thoughts spread out or 'diverge' along a number of paths
to a range of possible solutions.  It is the process from
which many of the following creative problem solving
techniques have been designed.
• Convergent thinking:
• Convergent thinking is the subsequent process of
narrowing down the possibilities to 'converge' on the most
appropriate form of action.
Creative Style
• Our creative style depends on whether we are a
structured thinker or not, or somewhere in between.
• A structured thinker is very logical and when
diverging (coming up with ideas) he or she might
come up with ideas about what the garden can look
like and put it up in an Excel sheet and categorise the
ideas according to when each plant will bloom or
make a list of themes.
• While a less structured thinker might come up with
ideas in a less structured way and more connected to
how he or she feels about the idea.
• When converging (choosing the idea) a
structured thinker will think logically and
carefully about how to choose an idea while a
less structured thinker will likely not pay as
much attention to details and follow his or her
feelings when choosing which idea to use.
Dimensions of Creative Style
Valuing diversity in thinking:
• The idea that our thinking is shaped by our culture,
background, experiences, and personalities is core to
the concept of diverse thought. Companies that bring
together people who think differently from one another.
• Diversity of thought introduces not only differences of
perspective, but also differences in approach.
Traditional, rule bound organizations that impose one
right way, restrict learning from alternative ways of
doing things. Organizations that prove successful in
learning from diversity of thought may well find criteria-
guided decision-making, focused on outcome, more
productive than rule-bound decision-making, focused
on enforcement of one approach.
Thinking Preferences
•  The awareness of one’s own thinking preferences and
the thinking preferences of others, combined with the
ability to act outside of one’s preferred thinking
preferences is known as “Whole Brain Thinking.” The
model was developed by Ned Herrmann.
• Using brain research developed by others and his own
studies, Herrmann discovered that there were four
patterns that emerged in terms of how the brain
perceives and processes information.
• The Whole Brain® Model emerged as a validated
metaphor for describing the four different preference
modes.
• Whole Brain® Thinking is a methodology designed to
help thinkers, teams and organizations better benefit
from all of the thinking available to them.
• It acknowledges that while different tasks require
different mental processes, and different people prefer
different kinds of thinking, organizations will get better
results when they can strategically leverage the full
spectrum of thinking available.
• Each person has thinking preferences, some strong,
others intermediate.
• Those preferences develop into dominances, and
without the awareness of those preferences, you may
fall victim to blind spots when it comes to other
people’s ways of thinking. 
Cognitive biases of creativity
• Cognitive biases are psychological tendencies that
cause the human brain to draw incorrect
conclusion.
• Such biases are thought to be a form of “cognitive
shortcut”, often based upon rules of thumb, and
include errors in statistical judgement, social
attribution and memory.
• These biases are common outcome of human
thought, and often drastically skew the reliability of
anecdotal and legal evidence. The phenomenon is
studied in cognitive science and social psychology.
• What is a cognitive bias? It is assumed to be,
essentially, a systematic bias in the outcomes of
decisions people make, arising from the application
of one or more heuristics1: “rules of thumb” or
“inference mechanisms”—simple ‘shortcut’
strategies for making decisions or judgements.
• For example, if we are in an unfamiliar city in the
evening, looking for somewhere to eat, a quick
heuristic might be to go for a restaurant that looks
popular, while a more detailed heuristic might
involve looking up information on the different
restaurants in the city and comparing relative
distances, prices, and so on.
Heuristics:
Rule of thumb that simplify the process of
making decision.
Decision makers use Heuristics to deal with
bounded rationality. If the Heuristics is wrong,
however, poor decision results from its use.
• A cognitive bias is a mistake in reasoning,
evaluating, remembering, or other cognitive
process, often occurring as a result of holding onto
one's preferences and beliefs regardless of contrary
information.
• There are many cognitive biases that should be
avoided for creative thinking. Some of the cognitive
biases are given below:
1. Mere Exposure; We like things we are familiar with. So the
more we have seen something, the more we will like it. It’s
one reason why advertising works, as it makes things more
familiar, and hence makes us more likely to choose them. A
similar bias is the availability cascade(is a self-reinforcing cycle in
which information is perceived to be plausible and correct due to its
increasing repetition in the public domain.) where if we repeat
something enough, it becomes true.
2. Backfire effect: when people react to evidence that
challenges their opinion by strengthening their existing
beliefs. Closely related is irrational escalation, a phenomenon
where people justify increased commitment to a course of
action based on prior investment, even in the face of new
evidence suggesting that the original action was wrong. If you
innovate for long enough, you’ll find these somewhere!
3. Illusory Correlation, or False Cause Fallacy: Inaccurately
perceiving a relationship between two unrelated events,
often because they occur in close temporal proximity.
• Correlation does not mean causation, but we are wired to
make that connection.
• Often harmless, it can lead to superstitions like a lucky
jacket. However, it can also be a barrier to innovation,
particularly in situations where a new product is
incorrectly linked to background problems that routinely
occur, but become more visible simply because the
innovation focuses more attention on the whole usage
experience.
• For example, linking vaccination to Autism, or a new drug
to apparent side effects, such as an upset stomach, which
in reality would have occurred with or without the drug.
4. Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, or interpret
information in a way that confirms our preconceptions.
• Expectation bias is closely related, and is the tendency for
experimenters to believe data that agree with their
expectations for the outcome of an experiment, and
• To disbelieve and discard data that appear to conflict with
those expectations
5. Functional fixedness limits a person to using an object only in
the way it is traditionally used.
• The killer application of many inventions is not the one it was
originally created for. Being able
• to see though this bias can be a huge enabler for innovation,
whether it leads to the Post-It note,
• or James Dyson’s use of centripetal separation in his vacuum
cleaner.
6. Framing effect: We draw different conclusions from
the same information, depending upon on how or
where that information is presented. Framing bias
being influenced by the way in which information is
presented rather than the information itself. We see
this one all the time, particularly when developing
prototypes for pitching as well as in presenting
polished slides. People will avoid risk if presented well
and seek risk if presented poorly meaning that
decision making logic can easily be skewed.
7. Context Effect: Never go shopping when you are
hungry, you will buy more calories! People
• who are happy will respond to an innovation
differently to people who are frustrated.
• Refreshed people are more open to new ideas,
while tired people are more likely to fall back on old
habits. Context is also crucial for Innovation
research.
• Data generated in a lab, a focus group, or when
someone is wired up to an EEG machine or brain
scanner, will often be different to behavior in the
real world.
8. Distinction bias is the tendency to view two
options as more dissimilar when evaluating them side
by side than when evaluating them separately.
• This is important for research, where we often
compare different option in close proximity, when in
the real world they may never be seen together..
• This is also related to the Relativity bias, which is
the tendency to make relative, rather than absolute
evaluations.
9. Mental accounting: The tendency to value things differently based on
what internal classification we put on them.
• The way we think of money is different depending upon whether we
are paying cash or using a credit card. We think of value differently for
luxury versus commodity items.
• Framing an innovation to match the right internal classification for
potential buyers can be the difference between success and failure just
as much as the innovation itself.
10. Endowment effect and Loss Aversion Bias: : once a decision has been
made, sticking to it rather than taking risks due to the fear of losing what
you gained in starting something and wishing to see it finished.
• People often demand much more (often 2x) to give up an object than
they would be willing to pay to acquire it. A bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush, even if we are given a guarantee that we’ll get the
ones in the bush later. Giving someone a bonus, and then taking it back
if somebody doesn’t meet a goal is often more powerful than giving
them the same bonus if they do.
11. Information bias is the tendency to seek information
even when it cannot affect action. This delays action, and
hence risk, and the potential for loss or blame, but of course,
also slows down innovation.
12 . Knowledge bias the tendency of people to choose the
option they know best rather than the best option. As
innovators, overcoming this bias can be the key to disruption,
as looking in unexpected places is more likely to drive big,
innovative leaps.
13. Bandwagon effect the tendency to do (or believe) things
because many other people believe the same. Not always a
bad idea. If everyone believes something is poisonous, you
may not want to eat it, and crowd sourcing can be a powerful
tool. However, challenging widely held givens can also be a
way to be at the front of the crowd, rather than following it.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR SUCCESS:
1. Basic philosophy
2. Having a vision
3. Setting the right attitude
4. Recognizing and avoiding mental blocks
5. Avoiding mindsets
6. Risk taking
7. Paradigm shift
8. Individual and teamwork
1. BASIC PHILOSOPHY
• philosophy (from the Greek  or phílosophía, meaning ‘the love of
wisdom’) is the study of knowledge, or "thinking about thinking",
although the breadth of what it covers is perhaps best illustrated
by a selection of other alternative definitions:
• the discipline concerned with questions of how one should live
(ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential
natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge
(epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning
(logic) (Wikipedia)
• investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality,
knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than
empirical methods (American Heritage Dictionary)
2. Having a vision

• A vision is a picture or idea you have in your mind of


yourself, your business, or anything this is going to
happen. A clear vision helps you pursue dreams and
achieve goals; an idea of the future, a strong wish. A
vision that is clear will open your mind to the endless
possibilities of the future.
• A vision can be used in two different ways: inspiration and
prediction. It is first used to inspire you in reaching
something that you are wanting. It is also used in
prediction for changes in the future and interests you
have
3.Setting the right attitude
• The sound philosophy Rohn refers to is the attitude of success
you build through the right thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. When
you take such an attitude, the other pieces of your success
plan function at a much higher level.
• Your future is within reach when you have a firm foundation
on which to build and maintain it. Taking responsibility for your
attitude is the first step. Most people hand over the
responsibility for their attitude in the following ways:
• They point to personal circumstances as the reason for their
attitude.
• They point to other people’s actions (or inactions) as the
reason for their attitude.
• They point to luck (or lack of it) as the reason for their attitude.
• They point to their own flaws or failures as the
reason for their attitude.
• They point to the world at large as the reason for
their attitude.
• The right attitude enables the right behaviors –
behaviors of persistence, discipline and creativity.
• The right attitude enables right focus – staying on
mentally target and alert for opportunities.
• The right attitude enables right results – it
improves the likelihood of your success in
reaching your goals
4. Recognizing and avoiding mental blocks

• What is a mental block?


• A mental block can be described as a psychological obstacle that
prevents athletes from performing a particular skill.
• Mental blocks can be easily confused with performance anxiety, as
they both consist of a challenging scenario which arises in sport which
forces athletes to either ‘fight’ against the perceived problem, or take
‘flight’ and avoid the scenario.
• Mental blocks frequently occur in sport, yet many may not recognize
they happen as they hold the appropriate techniques to quickly
overcome them.
• Nevertheless, for some athletes a mental block can be something
preventing them from progressing in their career and/or development,
meaning it’s important to understand the root of a mental block and
how to overcome them.
.Seven common mental blocks
1. Self-doubt
• “I never feel qualified, no matter how qualified I am.”
• Self-doubt can show up in lots of different ways: as a specific
fear (perhaps of embarrassment or low quality of work), as
general anxiety, or as imposter phenomenon.
• Self-doubt makes you feel unqualified: no matter how hard
you’ve worked to develop your skills, no matter what other,
objective parties may say, you feel that what you do has little
value.
• Self-doubt isn’t logical, but it will find arguments that seem
logical and parade them before you. Because it’s all happening
inside your head, you may not realize how weak those
arguments are.
2. Indecision

• “I have to optimize every decision or I will fail!”


• Indecision causes you to place too much value on each
decision; you feel that making the best decision about a
single item determines your success or failure in an entire
area. Indecision may come because you’re unsure of your
priorities, or because you don’t trust yourself to identify
what is important. The result is an inability to focus. If
you’re struggling internally with the “right decision,” then
you’re not putting your full attention on the task before
you. And when you’re not fully immersed in what you’re
doing, it’s not very fun to do it.
• . Fixed mindset
• “I’m limited by my past self.”
• According to a fixed mindset, what you have been able to do
in the past sets a limit on what you’ll be able to do in the
future. A fixed mindset is the belief that your capabilities
have certain limits that you can’t overcome. While this is
true to some degree – everyone has limits – a fixed mindset
will keep you from learning, growing, or pushing yourself
past your comfort zone. You’ll accept arbitrary limits that
are well below your actual capabilities, and as result, be tied
to what is familiar and unable to see your own potential.
• 4. Comparison
• “Other people’s success takes away from mine.”
• Comparison grows from a belief in success scarcity: there is only
so much opportunity, and thus, only so much success available in
the world. Therefore, if someone else succeeds before you do,
they’re a threat to you. This idea, of course, is bullshit.
Comparison will keep you in a state of panic and continual
fluctuation as you will always find other people who are slightly
more skilled, or started sooner, or seem to do better work than
you. Their achievements will make you feel as if your efforts are
pointless. You’ll want to give up, or you will continually shift your
focus looking for some ground you can claim first.
• 5. Uncertainty
• “I think I know what I want, but I never really do.”
• Uncertainty differs from indecision in this key way: you’ll make a decision,
but then you find yourself unable to figure out how to carry it out.
Uncertainty paralyzes you in the execution of your decision. In this age of
constant data, it’s even easier to feel overwhelmed by potential methods
and tools, so uncertainty over how to do something can appear about the
most minute decisions. If you’ve ever spent an hour deciding between five
apps that are basically the same, you know what uncertainty feels like. It’s 
the paralysis of too many options, and it keeps you wandering from one
possibility to the next. Because the options are so similar, your brain can’t
analyze which one is better (the differences are minute enough that there
isn’t enough of an advantage to calculate) so you keep assessing, endlessly.
• 6. No limits
• “I can do all the things!”
• The mental block of no-limits seems to be anything but a block: it’s a
combination of many interests, many endeavors, and the ability to
enthusiastically overestimate your own resources and abilities,
despite all evidence to the contrary. Enthusiasm is great, of course;
without focus, however, it gets spread too thin and the result is very
little actual movement forward. You end up spinning in circles,
trying to keep all your projects moving forward. Because you have
too many things going, you can’t make significant progress in
anything, so you begin to feel depressed and soon, you want to quit.
Everything. A belief in no limits ultimately leads to many dead ends.
• 7. Tunnel vision
• “I can’t see past the boundaries of my own experience.”
• Tunnel vision locks you inside your own perspective, no
matter how skewed or inaccurate it might be. When tunnel
vision is activated, you lose objectivity, which can lead to all
sorts of issues. For example, you may be locked in so tightly
on a specific method for reaching your goal that you cannot
see other, easier, more accessible options. Conversely, tunnel
vision can also cause you see obstacles as bigger than they
are, feel as if you are all alone when you aren’t, or assess
your own work as terrible or unhelpful when it’s neither.
• The four basic strategies for dealing with
mental blocks
• There are four basic strategies for dealing with
your mental blocks:
• Uncover
• Remove
• Reduce
• Transform
1. Uncover the causes
• Imagine that one of your blocks is self-doubt. To find out where the self-doubt is
coming from, take a look at your values. Perhaps you value humility and honesty.
That’s great! But perhaps your personality also tends toward perfectionism, and
as a result, you have trouble giving yourself credit or recognizing your own
achievements when they fall short of perfection. Which, let’s be honest, is all the
time since perfect is an impossible standard to achieve.
• The combination of your particular personality and your core values lead to a
debilitating sense of self-doubt and, most likely, a deep frustration with the
conflict between your large ambitions and your self-perceived lack of capability.
Since you’re not able to give yourself credit for anything short of perfect, you
don’t recognize the skills and capabilities you do have. And since you value
humility and honesty, you’re not going to pretend to be more skilled or capable
than you think you actually are.
• Know your values
• Ask why
• Find examples
• Look for conflicts
Strategy 2: Remove the blocks

• Record the monologues


• Become aware of the repetitive phrases and patterns in
your internal monologue. As discussed above, they are
clues to the mental blocks you carry and the beliefs behind
them. Write down what you’re hearing, and you might
realize how far off from the truth it is. Or you might
recognize where it’s coming from. The more you know
about the contents of your own mind, the more power you
can exert over them.
• Trace the source
• Require evidence
Strategy 3: Reduce their power

• Assign a percentage
• What’s the risk?
• Not right now
Strategy 4: Transform the block

• Take action
• Talk about it
• See the cycles
• Reset yourself
5. Avoiding mindsets

• What is a Mindset?
• “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your
thoughts become your words, your words
become your actions, your actions become
your habits, your habits become your values,
your values become your destiny.” —
Mahatma Gandhi
• .
Eight principles can be used to describe the
underlying nature of mindsets
1) Mindsets are habits of mind
2) Mindsets are created by experiences
3) Mindsets create blind spots
4) Mindsets are self-deceptive
5) Mindsets shape our everyday lives
6) Mindsets create our shared world
7) Mindsets can be developed in complexity
8) Mindsets can be transcended
TYPES
6. RISK TAKING
• As an entrepreneur you have to be willing to be brave, jump in
and take risks. Without risk, there is no reward. It’s that simple.
Reasons why risk taking leads to success:
• 1. Unforeseen opportunities often come from risk-taking.
• 2. Taking risks shows confidence and helps you stand out.
• 3. We learn from risks and those lessons may lead us on an
important, new path.
• 4. Success won't fall in your lap, you have to pursue it.
• 5. You don't achieve your dreams by playing it safe.
• 6. Embracing risk-taking helps you overcome a fear of failure.
7. PARADIGM SHIFT AND PARADIGM
PARALYSIS:
• A paradigm is a perception or a group of ideas
about how things should be done, made, or
thoughtabout. In other words, it's your perspective
on the world, your point of view, or your beliefs
aboutwhat's true.
• A paradigm shift occurs whenever there's a
significant change in the way an individual or a
group perceives something, and the old paradigm is
replaced by a new way of thinking, or a new belief.
• A paradigm shift (also radical theory change), a concept
identified by the American physicist andphilosopher Thomas
Kuhn (1922–1996), is a fundamental change in the basic
concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline.
A fundamental change in an individual’s or a society’s view of
how things work in the world is called paradigm shift.
• The 6 major paradigm shifts:
1. Push to pull.
2. Consume to Create
3. Assets to Access
4. Linear to Complex
5. Scarcity to Abundance
6. Universal to Unique
• 1. Push to pull is the shift from pushing structures and products to
pulling in resources and demand. We are moving from marketing
existing stocks to manufacturing on demand; shifting from top-
down allocation to pulling resources for projects; moving from
fixed structures to varying constellations, and understanding and
responding to emergent patterns of user behavior.
• 2. Consume to create is the shift from passively consuming to
actively contributing and creating. We are shifting to a more
participatory experience, in which the customer is actively
involved, co-creating the product or experience. We are becoming
prosumers who bring content to platforms such as YouTube and
Facebook.
• 3. Assets to Access is the shift from acquiring and hoarding
knowledge to spreading and sharing knowledge. In education, it
means shifting from memorizing facts to knowing where to find
information. The new skill is searching for and evaluating
information.
• 4. Linear to complex is the shift from independent and predictable
systems to interdependent adaptive systems. We are transitioning
from seeing the world in a linear way, in which small causes have
small effects and large causes have large effects, to realizing that it’s
perfectly possible for large marketing campaigns to have almost no
result, while small things go viral and flood the market.
• 5. Scarcity to abundance is the shift from scarce natural resources to
using natural abundance. Where a specific situation may have had a
limited set of choices, it now specializes on an abundance of
renewable resources.
• 6. Universal to unique is the shift from mass production to tailored
and individualized artifacts. In the health-care field, it is shown by the
emergence of individualized medicine tailored to the genetic make-
up of the user, and by the rise of individual quantified self-data
8. Individual and teamwork

• Teamwork fosters cooperation


• Teamwork broadens horizons
• Teamwork increases productivity
• Teamwork provides learning opportunities
• Teamwork frames the company culture
• Teamwork motivates unity in the workplace.
• Teamwork offers differing perspectives and feedback.
• Teamwork provides improved efficiency and productivity.
• Teamwork provides great learning opportunities.
• Teamwork promotes workplace synergy.
Problem Solving
• Problem solving is a mental process which is the
concluding part of the larger problem process that
includes problem finding and problem shaping where
problem is defined as a state of desire for the reaching of a
definite goal from a present condition that either is not
directly moving toward the goal, is far from it or needs
more complex logic for finding a missing description of
conditions or steps toward the goal.
• Problem solving has been defined as a higher-order
cognitive process that requires the modulation and control
of more routine or fundamental skills
Problem SolvingProblem-solving techniques

• Thesetechniques are usually called problem solving strategies.


• Abstraction: solving the problem in a model of the system before
applying it to the real system
• Analogy: using a solution that solved an analogous problem
• Brainstorming: (especially by using groups of people) suggesting
a large number of solutions or ideas and combining and
developing them until an optimum solution is found
• Lateral thinking: approaching solutions indirectly and creatively
• Fractionalization / Divide and conquer: breaking down a large,
complex problem into smaller, solvable problems
• Hypothesis testing: assuming a possible explanation to the
problem and trying to prove (or, in some contexts, disprove) the
assumption
• Means-ends analysis: choosing an action at each step to move
closer to the goal
• Morphological analysis: assessing the output and interactions of
an entire system
• Reduction: transforming the problem into another problem for
which solutions exist
• Research: employing existing ideas or adapting existing solutions
to similar problems
• Root cause analysis: eliminating the cause of the problem
• Trial-and-error: testing possible solutions until the right one is
found
• Proof: try to prove that the problem cannot be solved. The point
where the proof fails will be the starting point for solving it
Problem solving process:
•  Identifying the Problem 
•  Structuring the Problem(understands)
• Representing
Stage One: Identifying the Problem

• Before being able to confront a problem its existence needs to be


identified.
• This might seem an obvious statement but, quite often, problems will
have an impact for some time before they are recognised or brought
to the attention of someone who can do anything about them.
• Once a problem has been identified, its exact nature needs to be
determined: what are the goal and barrier components of the
problem?  Some of the main elements of the problem can be
outlined, and a first attempt at defining the problem should be
made.  This definition should be clear enough for you to be able to
easily explain the nature of the problem to others.
Stage Two: Structuring the Problem

• The second stage of the problem solving


process involves gaining a deeper
understanding of the problem. Firstly, facts
need to be checked
• The questions have to be asked, is the stated
goal the real goal?  Are the barriers actual
barriers and what other barriers are there?  In
this example, the problem at first seems to be:
• This is also a good opportunity to look at the relationships
between the key elements of the problem.  For example, in
the 'Job-Transport-Money' problem, there are strong
connections between all the elements.
• By looking at all the relationships between the key elements,
it appears that the problem is more about how to achieve any
one of three things, i.e. job, transport or money, because
solving one of these sub-problems will, in turn, solve the
others.
Stage Three: Possible Solutions

• Finding possible solutions to problems. In


group situations this involves finding ways to
actively involve everybody - encouraging
participation and generating as many ideas
and possible solutions as possible.
Creative problem solving
• CPS is a simple process that involves breaking down a problem to
understand it, generating ideas to solve the problem and evaluating
those ideas to find the most effective solutions.
• Highly creative people tend to follow this process in their heads,
without thinking about it.
• CPS is a proven method for approaching a problem or a challenge in
an imaginative and innovative way.
• It’s a process that helps you redefine the problems and
opportunities you face, come up with new, innovative responses
and solutions, and then take action. The tools and techniques used
make the process fun, engaging, and collaborative.
• CPS not only helps you create better solutions, it creates a positive
experience that helps speed the adoption of new ideas
•  CPS educator and practitioner, Ruth Noller,
described CPS as the sum of its parts:
• Creative specifies elements of newness,
innovation, and novelty.
• Problem refers to any situation that presents a
challenge, offers an opportunity,
or represents a troubling concern.
• Solving means devising ways to answer, to
meet, or to satisfy a situation by changing self
or situation.
• C = fa(K,I,E)
•  The Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS), also known as
the Osborn-Parnes CPS process, was developed by Alex
Osborn and Dr. Sidney J. Parnes in the 1950s.
• • Osborn-Parnes CPS process is different from other
"creative problem solving" methods that it uses both
divergent and convergent thinking during each process
step, and not just when generating ideas to solve the
problem.
• Each step begins with divergent thinking, a broad search
for many alternatives. This is followed by convergent
thinking, the process of evaluating and selecting.
• • Thus CPS is a structured method for generating novel and
useful solutions to problems. It is flexible process as well.
CPS Steps

1. Clarify and identify the problem


2. Research the problem
3. Formulate creative challenges
4. Generate ideas
5. Combine and evaluate the ideas
6. Draw up an action plan
7. Do it! (implement the ideas)
b) Research the problem
• The next step in CPS is to research the problem in order to get a
better understanding of it.
• Depending on the nature of the problem, you may need to do a
great deal of research or very little.
• The best place to start these days is with your favourite search
engine. But do not neglect good old fashioned sources of
information and opinion. Libraries are fantastic for in-depth
information that is easier to read than computer screens. Friends,
colleagues and family can also provide thoughts on many issues.
Fora on sites like LinkedIn and elsewhere are ideal for asking
questions.
• There’s nothing an expert enjoys more than imparting her
knowledge. Take advantage of that. But always try to get feedback
from several people to ensure you get well-rounded information.
a)Clarify and identify the problem
• Arguably the single most important step of CPS is identifying your real problem or
goal.
• However, if you break down your problem and analyse what you are really looking
for, it may transpire that the actual issue is that your income does not cover your
costs of living.
• Five whys: A powerful problem-definition technique: ““why is this a problem?” or
“why do I wish to achieve this goal?”, Once you have answered that, ask yourself
“why else?” four more times.
• What do I really wish to accomplish?”, “What is preventing me from solving this
problem/achieving the goal?”, “How do I envision myself in six months/one
year/five years [choose most relevant time span] as a result of solving this
problem?” and “Are my friends dealing with similar problems? If so, how are they
coping?”
• final step is to decide what criteria you will eventually use to evaluate or judge the
ideas. Are there budget limitations, timeframe or other restrictions that will affect
whether or not you can go ahead with an idea? What will you want to have
accomplished with the ideas? What do you wish to avoid when you implement
these ideas? Think about it and make a list of three to five evaluation criteria. Then
put the list aside.
c) Formulate one or more creative challenges

• By now, you should be clear on the real issues behind


your problems or goals.
• The next step is to turn these issues into creative
challenges.
• A creative challenge is basically a simple question
framed to encourage suggestions or ideas. In English,
a challenge typically starts with “In what ways might I
[or we]…?” or “How might I…?” or “How could I…?”
• Creative challenges should be simple, concise and
focus on a single issue.
d)Generate ideas

• Finally, we come to the part most people associate


with brainstorming and creative problem solving:
• idea generation. And you probably know how this
works. Take only one creative challenge. Give
• yourself some quiet time and try to generate at least
50 ideas that may or may not solve the challenge.
• You can do this alone or you can invite some friends
or family members to help you.
e)Combine and evaluate ideas

• After you have written down all of your ideas, take a


break. It might just be an hour. It might be a day or
more. Then go through the ideas. Related ideas can be
combined together to form big ideas (or idea clusters).
• Then, using the criteria you devised earlier, choose all
of the ideas that broadly meet those criteria. This is
important. If you focus only on the “best” ideas or
your favorite ideas, the chances are you will choose
the less creative ones! Nevertheless, feel free to
include your favorite ideas in the initial list of ideas.
• F)Draw up an action plan
• At this point, you have some great ideas. However,
a lot of people have trouble motivating themselves
to take the next step. Creative ideas may mean big
changes or taking risks. Some of us love change and
risk. Others are scared by it. Draw up an action plan
with the simple steps you need to take in order to
implement your ideas. Ideas that involve a lot work
to implement can be particularly intimidating.
Breaking their implementation down into a series of
readily accomplished tasks makes these ideas easier
to cope with and implement.
• G ). Do it!
• This is the simplest step of all. Take your action
plan and implement your idea. And if the
situation veers away from your action plan
steps, don’t worry. Rewrite your action plan!
 Pattern Breaking
1. Out of the box
2. Thinking differently
3. Changing your point of view
4. Watching for paradigm shift
5. Dreaming and day dream
6. Challenging conventional wisdom
6. Lateral thinking and random words
7. Morphology
8. Mind stimulation: games, brain-twisters and puzzles
Breaking Old Thinking Patterns
• We can all get stuck in certain "tracks" of thought. They may be so comfortable that
we don't even realize that they're holding us back! So, to have fresh ideas, we need to
break away from established patterns of thought and start to see new paths ahead.
Here are some of the best ways to do 
• Challenge Your Assumptions
• You likely bring a set of assumptions to each and every situation. Many of them may
turn out to be true, but challenging your preconceptions can also open up some
exciting possibilities.
• Think in Reverse
• If you're finding it difficult to think of a new approach, try turning the problem upside-
down!
• Flip the question and explore the exact opposite of what you want to achieve. This can
present you with innovative ways to tackle the real issue.
• Mix Your Media
• Radical ideas can arise from tackling problems in unusual ways. A great way to do this
is to apply different types of creativity – don't just talk or write about your plans,
explore them through music, painting, photography, sculpture… whatever enables you
to express yourself. Fresh thinking can emerge when you let your creative juices flow!
2. Thinking differently
• Thinking differently is more than just a mind setup. It means approaching
problems in new, innovative ways, conceptualizing problems differently and
understanding your position in relation to any particular situation in a way
you’d never thought of before.
• Rule 1. You need to put yourself into situations that expose the singular
elements of your thinking, so you can grow multiple perspectives.
• Rule 2. You have to frame your differentness  in terms of what people can
absorb - or become a radical artist!
• Rule 3. Associative thinking is fine but what makes it work is being able to
withhold judgment.
• Rule 4: You need a framework for how you diagnose problems and the levels of
tolerance you are prepared to offer.
• Rule 5. It is more random than we want to believe and your explanatory
frameworks are weaker than they seem, anyway. We have to think differently.
• Final rule. Your different thinking is a product of what goes on in a changing
information layer. Understand that and new ideas will open up to you
3. Changing your point of view
• One truism holds that changing one’s perspectives is
like changing the window through which you view the
world.
•  Acknowledging and thinking about different
perspectives is an important part of developing
throughout one’s life.
• Changing ingrained perspectives can be difficult, but if
you take a holistic approach to considering your
perspectives and those of others, you can change your
perspective and how you view the world around you.
1. Evaluating Your Perspectives
a) Think about your perspectives and how they shape you.
b) Consider the sources of your perspectives.
c) Envision how your life would be if you changed your perspectives.
2. Considering the Perspectives of Others
d) Acknowledge that other people have different perspectives
e) Talk to someone else about his perspectives and what informs them.
f) Be respectful and don’t debate.
3. Reformulating Your Perspectives
g) Acknowledge that you choose your own perspectives
h) Educate yourself.
i) Take classes or participate in continuing education activities.
j) Read a wide variety of media and sources. 
k) Travel as much as you can
l) Volunteer or help others.
m) Incorporate new information as well as the perspectives of others.
n) Express and enact your new perspective.
4. Watching for paradigm shift
• A fundamental change in approach or underlying
assumptions
• A paradigm shift is a major change in the concepts and
practices of how something works or is accomplished.
• A paradigm shift very often happens when new
technology is introduced that radically alters the
production process of a good or service.
• example, the Internet created a paradigm shift in the
way business is conducted. 
5. Challenging conventional wisdom,

Conventional wisdom means beliefs or


opinions that most people accept as correct.
Provocation.
• Cause a radical departure from current thinking. Types of
provocation include:
• Escape/negation of things that are taken for granted.
“Building software is free.”
• Reversal (reversal of relationships; like escape, but
narrower). “Servers call clients.”
• Exaggeration (values become very large or small, etc.).
“Programs are a single line of code.”
• Distortion of normal relationships (as in time order). “The
program is written before the requirements”
• Wishful thinking (positive version of escape). “Wouldn’t it
be nice if programs wrote programs.”
Mind stimulation
• Brain games are defined as any activity that stimulates
your thinking. That includes word puzzles like crosswords
and Scrabble, but also traditional games like chess,
Sudoku, and bridge. It also includes creative outlets like
painting, playing an instrument, or learning a language..
• The more convincing evidence is that brain games may
help sharpen certain thinking skills that tend to wane
with age, such as processing speed, planning skills,
reaction time, decision making, and short-term memory,
according to a study in the November 2016 International
Psychogeriatrics.

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