What is Creative Problem Solving?

Summary

Creative Problem-Solving (CPS) is a structured approach to tackling challenges and generating innovative solutions. It involves stages such as clarifying the problem, idea generation, development, and employment. CPS utilizes both divergent and convergent thinking to refine ideas into practical solutions. Facilitators guide the process, ensuring focus and efficiency without influencing the content, aiming to leave participants feeling productive and ready to implement their creative ideas.

Takeaways

• 🤔 Creative Problem-Solving (CPS) is a natural thinking process for addressing challenges and finding creative solutions.
• 🛠 CPS includes tools to improve performance and help reach more innovative solutions to problems in life.
• 🎯 CPS is applicable to any issue where ownership, motivation, and imaginative thinking are required, such as personal, educational, and organizational challenges.
• 📝 CPS is structured into stages, allowing for a step-by-step approach to problem-solving.
• 🔍 The 'Clarifying' stage is crucial for understanding the vision and formulating the challenge clearly.
• 💡 The 'Idea Harvesting' (IDH) stage is where a multitude of ideas are generated, increasing the likelihood of finding a novel and useful solution.
• 🛑 The 'Developing' stage refines the chosen idea, analyzing its aspects and improving it into a workable solution.
• 🚀 In the 'Employment' stage, the solution is explored for acceptance, and a plan is formulated to implement it.
• 🧠 CPS utilizes both divergent thinking for idea generation and convergent thinking for narrowing down to the best options.
• 🔧 Various tools assist in each stage of CPS, helping groups to overcome challenges and stay focused.
• 👩‍🏫 CPS is often facilitated by a knowledgeable and objective person who guides the group through the process without influencing the content.
• 🌟 A good facilitator possesses qualities like open-mindedness, flexibility, and awareness of group needs, and they help the group to be effective, efficient, and creative.

Q & A

What is CPS and why is it important?

CPS stands for Creative Problem-Solving, a natural thinking process for addressing challenges. It's important because it helps to generate novel solutions, keeps individuals focused, and facilitates the implementation of creative ideas in various life situations.

What are the key stages of the CPS process?

The key stages of the CPS process include the clarifying stage, where the vision and challenge are explored and formulated; the idea generation stage (IDH), where ideas are brainstormed; the development stage, where ideas are analyzed and improved; and the employment stage, where solutions are accepted and a plan is formulated.

Why is it necessary to have a clearly stated challenge in the CPS process?

A clearly stated challenge is necessary to provide a solid foundation for the rest of the CPS process. It helps to guide the direction of the brainstorming and solution development, ensuring that efforts are focused and relevant to the problem at hand.

What is the role of divergent and convergent thinking in the CPS process?

Divergent thinking is used to generate many possibilities, while convergent thinking helps to narrow down to the best options. These thinking processes are employed in each stage of CPS to foster creativity and select the most effective solutions.

How does the CPS process accommodate different starting points for different situations?

Although CPS is divided into stages, it is flexible and allows individuals to start at different points depending on the situation. This adaptability ensures that the process can be tailored to the specific needs and starting conditions of each unique challenge.

What is the purpose of tools in the CPS process?

Tools in the CPS process are designed to assist groups in getting unstuck, staying on track, and reaching consensus. They help to enhance creativity, organize information, and promote effective group dynamics.

What is the role of a facilitator in a CPS session?

A facilitator in a CPS session is responsible for managing the process, ensuring that the group works together effectively and follows the steps of the CPS process. They do not participate in the content generation but help the group to achieve their objectives efficiently and effectively.

What qualities make a good facilitator in the CPS process?

A good facilitator should possess qualities such as open-mindedness, good thinking skills, awareness of the group's needs, and flexibility. They should be experts in the CPS process, capable of bringing focus, structure, and promoting participation from all group members.

How does a facilitator contribute to the effectiveness of a CPS session?

A facilitator contributes by organizing information, promoting diverse viewpoints, asking for feedback, celebrating progress, and encouraging participation. They choose appropriate tools to help the group be effective, efficient, and creative.

What is the expected outcome of a good CPS session?

A good CPS session should leave the participants feeling productive, excited, and prepared to take action. It should enable them to turn their creative solutions into reality.

In what contexts can CPS be applied?

CPS can be applied in various contexts such as personal challenges, educational settings, organizational issues, and group or individual problem-solving scenarios that require imaginative thinking.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Introduction to Creative Problem-Solving (CPS)

The first paragraph introduces CPS as a natural thinking process for tackling challenges, as described by Alex Osborn. It emphasizes the use of CPS to reach creative solutions and its applicability to various settings, including personal, educational, and organizational contexts. The paragraph outlines the stages of CPS, which include clarifying the challenge, idea generation, development, and employment. The role of a facilitator in guiding the process is also highlighted, stressing the importance of their neutrality and focus on process rather than content.

Keywords

💡CPS

CPS stands for Creative Problem-Solving, a natural thinking process aimed at tackling challenges through creative means. It was originally described by Alex Osborn and is the central theme of the video. CPS is characterized by its structured approach to generating innovative solutions and is applicable to a wide range of issues requiring imaginative thinking.

💡Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking is a cognitive process that involves generating multiple solutions or ideas. In the context of CPS, it is used during the idea generation stage to come up with a wide array of possibilities. The script emphasizes the importance of divergent thinking in creating a multitude of ideas to increase the likelihood of finding a truly novel and useful solution.

💡Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinking is the process of narrowing down multiple ideas to the best possible solution. It complements divergent thinking by focusing on refining and selecting the most effective ideas. In the script, convergent thinking is mentioned as a critical part of the CPS process, where ideas are analyzed and improved upon to create a workable solution.

💡Facilitator

A facilitator in the CPS process is an individual who guides the group through the stages of problem-solving without participating in the content creation. The script highlights the facilitator's role as being crucial for maintaining focus and structure, ensuring that the group effectively reaches its objectives. The facilitator's qualities include open-mindedness, good thinking skills, and flexibility.

💡Clarifying Stage

The clarifying stage is the first phase of the CPS process where the vision is explored, and the challenge is formulated. The script mentions that having a clearly stated challenge is essential for moving forward in the process. This stage sets the foundation for the rest of the CPS steps.

💡IDH Stage

IDH stands for Idea Harvesting, the stage in CPS where ideas are generated. The script notes that the more ideas produced, the higher the chance of finding a novel and useful solution. This stage is where the group leverages divergent thinking to brainstorm a wide range of potential solutions.

💡Development

Development in CPS refers to the stage where an idea is chosen and then analyzed and improved upon. The script describes this as the time to make the idea a truly workable solution, indicating that this stage involves refining the selected idea to ensure its effectiveness.

💡Employment Stage

The employment stage is the final phase in the CPS process where the solution is explored for acceptance and a plan is formulated. The script mentions that in this stage, details such as what needs to happen, by when, and by whom are worked out, indicating the transition from idea to actionable plan.

💡Tools

Tools in the context of CPS are methods or techniques used to assist groups in getting unstuck, staying on track, and reaching consensus. The script mentions that these tools are employed throughout the stages of CPS to help groups be effective, efficient, and creative.

💡Novel Solutions

Novel solutions refer to new and original ideas that are generated through the CPS process. The script emphasizes that CPS aims to reach novel solutions, indicating the process's focus on innovation and creativity in problem-solving.

💡Participation

Participation in the CPS process is the active involvement of all group members in contributing ideas and feedback. The script notes that a good facilitator encourages participation from everyone, which is crucial for the group's collective creativity and the success of the problem-solving process.

Highlights

CPS, or Creative Problem-Solving, is a natural thinking process for tackling challenges.

CPS was originally described by Alex Osborn and includes tools for improving performance in the problem-solving process.

The process helps in reaching more creative solutions to problems that arise in various aspects of life.

CPS is used to generate novel solutions and keep focus on track for issues that require imaginative thinking.

It can be applied to personal, educational, organizational, and group challenges.

The process is divided into stages to be moved through one at a time, depending on the situation.

The clarifying stage involves exploring the vision and formulating the challenge for the process.

Having a clearly stated challenge is crucial for moving forward in the CPS process.

The IDH stage is where ideas are generated, with quantity leading to the likelihood of novel and useful ideas.

Divergent thinking is employed to generate many possibilities, while convergent thinking narrows down to the best options.

In the development stage, ideas are analyzed and improved to become workable solutions.

The employment stage involves exploring acceptance and formulating a plan for implementing the solution.

Facilitated CPS allows for a focused and efficient process, with a facilitator managing the group's workflow.

The facilitator's role is to guide the group without participating in the content generation or expressing opinions.

A good facilitator possesses qualities such as open-mindedness, good thinking skills, and flexibility.

The facilitator organizes information, promotes different viewpoints, and encourages participation from everyone.

A successful CPS session leaves participants feeling productive, excited, and prepared to act on their creative solutions.

Transcripts

CPS or creative problem-solving is a

natural thinking process for working

through challenges originally described

by Alex Osborn CPS includes tools for

improving performance within the process

to help us reach more creative solutions

to the problems that arise in life we

use CPS because it gets us to novel

solutions it keeps us focused and on

track and takes us to a point where we

can actually make our creative ideas

happen we can employ CPS for any issues

over which we have ownership and

motivation and that require imaginative

thinking so it works with personnel

challenges at home in school classrooms

within organizations and with groups or

individually CPS is divided into stages

to move through one at a time although

you may find yourself at different

starting points for different situations

the clarifying stage involves exploring

the vision and formulating the challenge

these inform the rest of the process it

is important to have a clearly stated

challenge to move forward the IDH stage

is where the ideas happen the more ideas

you have the more likely you are to have

a truly novel useful idea from this

multitude of ideas you then choose what

you will do to address your challenge

now it is time to develop your idea here

you analyze the aspects of the idea and

improve upon it this is the time to make

it a truly workable solution in the

employment stage you have a solution on

hand and you must explore acceptance and

formulate a plan in this stage you work

through the details of what needs to

happen by when and by whom in each stage

we employ both divergent thinking

generating many possibilities and

convergent thinking narrowing down to

the best options there are a lot of

different tools that help us through

each stage these tools help groups get

unstuck when working with a difficult

challenge stay on track

be their most creative and reach

consensus CPS is a facilitated process

when we choose someone to facilitate it

allows us to stay devoted to the process

the facilitators main job is to run how

the group works together and the steps

they take the facilitator does not

participate in the content meaning they

do not generate ideas or give opinions

the only decisions they make are related

to what the group does within the

session the facilitator is an objective

person who is solely focused on helping

the group to effectively and efficiently

obtain their stated objectives the

facilitator is a very important role

that takes knowledge and practice the

qualities of a good facilitator are

open-mindedness good thinking skills

awareness of the group's needs and

flexibility a good facilitator is an

expert in the process they bring focus

and structure organize information

promote different viewpoints ask for

feedback celebrate the progress of the

group and encourage participation from

everyone throughout a session they

choose tools that will help the group to

be effective efficient and of course

creative a good CPS session leaves the

client feeling productive excited and

prepared to move into action to make

their creative solution a reality

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