Essay on Managing Creative Thinking in Organizations

Published: 2021-07-21
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Creativity is whereby something valuable is created. This phenomenon promotes the art of being productive by implementing what goes on in the mind of human beings using the available resources. The use of SCREAM methodology in creative thinking which involves substitute, combine, reverse, eliminate, adapt and magnify allows one to become an excellent creative thinker. This method helps in identifying opportunities, removing creativity barriers and improving imagination.

SCREAM turns creative ideas into reality by helping create an action plan. For organizations to be successful, various approaches can be taken to manage creativity of employees for optimum results. There is the need for a defined structure in a company which helps in setting boundaries for sustainable innovation of ideas. Various creativity ideas have been developed to attain maximum development in an organization. In this regard, this paper has described three different examples of creativity that relate to the SCREAM methodology that can be used to manage creativity in organizations to prevent stagnation.

According to the SCREAM methodology, substitution help in identifying parts, procedures or materials that can be substituted. When different ideas are developed, Combine method determines what can be put together to form a good solution. Many solutions arise to solve a problem hence the importance of reverse which determines the order in which these solutions can be implemented and if there are goals that can be reversed. Elimination method help removes the unnecessary parts of solutions and enables separation of one compact solution to a smaller one. Adapting ideas from other peoples point of view or other organizations makes solutions more efficient. Magnifying solutions allow organizations to add to them and multiply them if need be. The creative thinking examples used in this paper are related to the SCREAM methodology.

Brainstorming is necessary for creative thinking. A group of people in an organization can contribute ideas without practically thinking about it. The purpose is to come up with different ideas outside the box and then filter them to remain with the most appropriate approach. This technique is best used by a group of people instead of individuals to generate as many ideas as possible for finding a solution to a problem (Herrmann & Herrmann. 2015). This approach encourages participation from all members in an organization hence improving their creative abilities. There are rules which involve the brainstorming exercise that is designed to prevent social inhibitions and increase creativity among the menders.

Firstly, allowing new perspectives widens the range of finding solutions. Secondly, the quantity of the ideas matters for they develop into quality and hence improve the chances of finding a solution. Lack of criticism is another important rule because the judgment of ideas in a brainstorming exercise can inhibit some members from participating. Lastly, adding up all ideas and improving them is an essential practice that helps build up solutions. There are various techniques used in brainstorming. To mention a few one of the methods is classic brainstorming which involves focusing on a problem for a short period to generate many possible solutions and choosing the idea with the highest score.

Another technique is exaggerating the problem so that it can be addressed from different angles thus allowing the members to think for solutions creatively. Using what if the question is a brainstorming skill that raises possible solutions that involve creative thinking. Seeking opinions from other people such as different organization is a skill that shows one's creativity in an organization because one can get a solution from a different point of view. Lastly, providing risky ideas in a brainstorming exercise widens the range of solutions to a problem. Brainstorming as an example of creative thinking has no limits for one is allowed to come up with any idea to solve a problem. This method improves creativity among individuals for enhancement of an organization.

Provocation is another example of creative thinking. This technique works by upsetting the way the mind thinks hence provoking people to go beyond their comfort way of thinking to a creative world of thought. People develop a pattern of thinking from various experiences, and it becomes hard to think outside these trends. Often are times when a person has a solution to a particular problem, but the pattern that the brain is used for answering questions make it difficult to access that solution. Provocation comes hand in hand in this situation for it makes people think outside the comfort of their brains.

The technique is implemented by deliberately making outrageous and unreasonable statements. For example, stating that by getting rid of all computers if they are have been causing problems to the productivity of the company can result in ideas such as removing all computers and installing new models. The first step of developing solutions from provocation is creating the incitement. Developing a provocation involves making a statement that is taken for granted many times, but it should be related to the problem being solved. At times provocations are not considered realistic or possible. This brings us to the next step of turning a provocation to a good idea (Herrmann & Herrmann. 2015). A fundamental concept that is important in solving the problem is extracted from the provocation and used to develop a realistic solution using principle.

The final step is obtaining value from the provocation by making it a possible settlement to a problem but not trying to justify it as a good solution. Proactive statements are the key to provocation for they disrupt the thinking patterns and the logical extensions from experiences. A valid statement can be examined by; what would be its benefits. Are there principles that can support it to make the statement work? Does the provocation need special circumstances to make it sensible? What would be the consequences of the statement? Provocation techniques help re-examine current processes in an organization and improve productivity with those ideas.

The third example of creative thinking is role play. This is a beneficial tool that helps people in preparing for unpredictable situations. In the context of creative thinking, two or more people act out a situation. Role playing helps people stay creative in unpredictable, difficult situations by imitating certain scenarios. When it comes to creative thinking, some ideas seem brilliant, but when they are practically demonstrated in role play, they fail. Some modifications can be done during role play to develop an idea and make it more appealing. For an organization to come up with the notion of role play they need to establish details a plan of what is to be accomplished.

The reason why role play is an important tool for creative thinking is that one can change their way of seeing things from another persons point of view (Herrmann & Herrmann. 2015). This technique works when a person is given a role to play as a different person and understand how they would approach a problem. Since people are different, they use different angles to approach the same information which is necessary for obtaining a solution.

In an organization, role play can be useful in three different ways. To begin with, a group of people can assume different occupations then interact to learn what each person views that particular profession. Secondly, a group of people can adopt one occupation and exchange ideas on that occupation according to their point of view. Lastly, people can pretend to be the problem, and other people ask what it is like to be the problem and have the people ask them how they would respond. Role plays are the most efficient testing tools of an idea to determine whether it can be practically implemented.

Managing creativity in an organization is important for it helps in preventing it from being stagnant. The three examples given in this essay are one of the several ways creativity can be enhanced. These models interrelate in creative thinking such that role play is involved in brainstorming and provocation ideas can be used in brainstorming. The examples include the SCREAM technique whereby they require replacing plans with more pleasant ones as identified by various personnel. Different ideas from different people are combined to develop solutions for problems. Role playing help in reversing certain ideas that seem right before they are practically demonstrated. The three techniques can also be used to eliminate some ideas by voting for the favorable ones and eventually remaining with the best.

The role play method enables people to adapt to different ideas and view solutions from other peoples perspective. After developing ideas using any technique, they can be magnified to make a reasonable and more efficient solution to a problem. Creative thinking is, therefore, an art that challenges people to find solutions creatively instead of critically by stepping out of their healthy mind set way of solving problems.

References

Herrmann, N., & Herrmann-Nehdi, A. (2015). The Whole Brain Business Book: Unlocking the Power of Whole Brain Thinking in Organizations, Teams, and Individuals. McGraw Hill Professional.

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