What is Creative Problem Solving?
Summary
TLDRCreative 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
- ๐ค Creative Problem-Solving (CPS) is a natural thinking process for addressing challenges and finding creative solutions.
- ๐ CPS includes tools to improve performance and help reach more innovative solutions to problems in life.
- ๐ฏ CPS is applicable to any issue where ownership, motivation, and imaginative thinking are required, such as personal, educational, and organizational challenges.
- ๐ CPS is structured into stages, allowing for a step-by-step approach to problem-solving.
- ๐ The 'Clarifying' stage is crucial for understanding the vision and formulating the challenge clearly.
- ๐ก The 'Idea Harvesting' (IDH) stage is where a multitude of ideas are generated, increasing the likelihood of finding a novel and useful solution.
- ๐ The 'Developing' stage refines the chosen idea, analyzing its aspects and improving it into a workable solution.
- ๐ In the 'Employment' stage, the solution is explored for acceptance, and a plan is formulated to implement it.
- ๐ง CPS utilizes both divergent thinking for idea generation and convergent thinking for narrowing down to the best options.
- ๐ง Various tools assist in each stage of CPS, helping groups to overcome challenges and stay focused.
- ๐ฉโ๐ซ CPS is often facilitated by a knowledgeable and objective person who guides the group through the process without influencing the content.
- ๐ 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
๐ค 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กCPS
๐กDivergent Thinking
๐กConvergent Thinking
๐กFacilitator
๐กClarifying Stage
๐กIDH Stage
๐กDevelopment
๐กEmployment Stage
๐กTools
๐กNovel Solutions
๐กParticipation
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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