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UCS 3212 Creativity and
Innovation
Week 8: Creative problem solving

What is Problem Solving?
• normally associate problem
solving with overcoming a
difficulty or avoiding some sort
of pain
• focus attention on the word
“problem”…
...
if faced with new unchartered problem areas, relevant
scripts are not available…
...


Problem solving using Index metaphor

Creative Problem Solving (CPS)
• a way of deliberate thinking and behaving process
“a structured process for solving problems or finding opportunities,
used when you want to go beyond conventional thinking and
arrive at creative (novel and useful) solutions”

• a process, method, or system for approaching a problem
in an imaginative way and resulting in effective action
• a proven method for approaching a problem or a
challenge in an imaginative and innovative way
• a tool that helps people re-define the problems they face,
come up with breakthrough ideas and then take action
on these new ideas

Principles of CPS techniques (Osborn &
Parnes)

Explore the challenge
Fact Finding - Gather Data
• Assess and review all the data pertains to the situation at hand
• Who’s involved, what’s involved, when, where, and why it’s important
• Make a list of the facts and information, hunches, feelings, perceptions,
assumptions and gossip around the situation
Problem Finding - Clarify the Problem
• Explore facts and data to find all problems, challenges and opportunities
• Make sure you’re focusing on the right problem
• Re-define what you want or what’s stopping you

Objective Finding
• Identify Goal, Wish or Challenge
• Also known as mess finding

Objective finding/Mess finding

Mess-Finding
A mess is a set/system of problems whose
interactions are complicated and not clearly
understood
...


Mess-Finding Example: identify symptons
Absenteeism
Morale

Turnover

Mess-Finding
Reactive Approach: Observing unexpected
change in a metric (e
...
increase in workers
absence, decrease in workers performance)
...

continuous

Mess-Finding Tool
Gap Analysis
What SHOULD be

Gap
What ACTUALLY is

Symptoms: Inconsistencies between how the system
is expected to perform and how it is actually performing
...


Something’s gone wrong

Raised expectations
Gap

Gap

Double whammy

It never did work right
Gap

Gap

Fact-Finding
Measures of Effectiveness

Organization’s Goals

Basic Issues

Obstacles

Existing Models

Fact-Finding
The purpose of fact-finding is to gather as much information
as possible to increase understanding about the mess
...

Focus is on mess – not solutions at this stage
...

• Encompasses:
•
•
•
•

Conditions
Symptoms
Causes
Triggering events

Problem-Finding
Types of errors:
• Type I: Solving a problem that doesn’t exist
...

• Type III: Solving the wrong problem
...

Real problem: Teachers have wrong attitudes about
students
...
Kipling method
• Root Cause Analysis

Generate Ideas
Idea Finding - Generate Ideas
Generating ideas is much more than
brainstorming
explore ideas that are possible solutions
and have the most fun
stretch to make connections, take risks,
and try new combinations to find
potentially innovative solutions

Idea-Finding
Purpose: To generate alternative ideas for solutions to the
problem
...

Avoid judgement & criticisms

Idea-Finding
Some Helpful Tools
• Brainstorming

poverty

• Cause-and-Effect Diagrams

Lack
education

Corrupt
government

•Low income
•No land

•Low income
•No
qualification
•Low integrity
•Lack
democracy

Idea-Finding
More Helpful Tools
• “What if?” questions
• Change the wording of the problem
statement
...


Prepare for action
Solution Finding – Select and Strengthen Solutions
First, try to strengthen and improve the best ideas
generated
...
Apply that
criteria to the top ideas and decide which are most likely
to solve the redefined problem
...
A creative idea is not really useful if it won’t be
implemented
...


Solution-Finding
Purpose: To select the best solution from the alternatives
identified in the idea-finding stage
...
”

Solution-Finding
Acceptance
Cost

Practicality

Performance
Time

NPV

ROI

Acceptance-Finding
Purpose: To develop a plan of action to
implement the solution
...


Acceptance-Finding
Some Helpful Tools
• PERT Charts

• Gantt Charts

Monsanto uses CPS to structure $1 billion Nutrasweet program
...

Mead Fine Paper establishes new standard for paper brightness
...
Using CPS, the team achieved an unheard of 99% achieving a new world
standard
...
A team of CEF colleagues as charged with helping a Kodak
division improve productivity
...
Management credited
the program with helping the group save $3 million annually
...
Over a seven-year period, from 1982-1989, the company
flattened costs using the Osborn Parnes Creative Problem Solving process, which was
taught to multi-functional teams working internally as well with vendors

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