Ch 3 - Solving Problems Analytically and Creatively Flashcards
Creative problem solving
Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, & Verification
Preparation
Includes gathering data, defining a problem, generating alternatives, and consciously examining all available information.
Incubation
Involves mostly unconscious mental activity in which the mind combines unrelated thoughts in pursuit of a solution.
Illumination
Occurs when an insight is recognized and a creative solution is articulated.
Verification
Involves evaluating the creative solution relative to some standard of acceptability.
Types of pursuing creativity
Incubation, Imagination, Improvement, & Investment
Incubation
Tend to be team players and to foster trust and cohesion.
Imagination
Tend to be experimenters and entrepreneurs.
Improvement
Tend to develop better alternatives and improve upon what already exists.
Investment
Tend to meet challenges head-on, adopt a competitive posture, and focus on achieving results faster than others.
Perceptual stereotyping
Defining a problem by using preconceptions based on past experiences, preventing the problem from being viewed in novel ways.
Noninquisitiveness
The failure to ask questions, obtain information, or search for data.
Synectics
Technique for improving creative problem solving by putting something you don’t know in terms of something you do know.
Flexibility of thought
The diversity of ideas or concepts generated.
4 types of analogies that are recommended as part of synectics
Personal analogies, Direct analogies, Symbolic analogies, & Fantasy analogies
Personal analogies
A synectic problem-solving technique in which individuals try to identify themselves as the problem, asking, “If I were the problem, what would I like? What would satisfy me?”
Direct analogies
A synectic problem-solving technique in which individuals apply facts, technology, and previous experience to solving a problem.
Symbolic analogies
A synectic problem-solving technique where symbols or images are imposed on the problem.
Fantasy analogies
A synectic problem-solving technique in which individuals ask, “In my wildest dreams, how would I wish the problem to be resolved?”
Problem-solving model
Step 1: Define a problem: Determining whose problem & differentiating fact from opinion
Step 2: Generate alternative: Postponing evaluation
Step 3: Evaluating systematically
Step 4: Implement and follow up on the solution: Providing opportunities for feedback
Conceptual block
Inhibits creative thinking
4 conceptual block
Compression, Constancy, Commitment, & Complacency:
Compression
Individuals look too narrowly at a problem, screen out too much relevant data, and make assumptions that inhibit problem solving.
Constancy
Individuals become wedded to one way of looking at a problem.
Commitment
Individuals become married to a particular point of view, definition, or solution, making it likely that they will follow through on that commitment.
Complacency
A lack of questioning and a bias against thinking.
4 ways of defining a problem in a single way and then pursuing that definition without deviation until a solution is reached
Vertical thinking, Ambidextrous thinking, Janusian thinking, & Thinking languages
Vertical thinking
Defining a problem in a single way and then pursuing that definition without deviation until a solution is reached.
Ambidextrous thinking
The use of both the left and right sides of the brain, indicative of the most creative problem solvers.
Janusian thinking
Thinking contradictory thoughts at the same time. It is conceiving two opposing ideas to be true concurrently.
Thinking languages
The various ways in which a problem can be considered, from verbal to nonverbal or symbolic languages as well as through sensory and visual imagery. Using only one thinking language is one indication of the constancy block.
