To
t
Conceptual blocks
• 
• 
• 
• 
To
• 
l
o
a
• 
o
• 
b
h
t
y
Creative v Analytical
‘Analytical problem solving
n  is focused on getting rid of problems.
o  Creative problem solving is focused
on generating something new’
o  Whetten and Cameron (2002, pp. 165-6)
following Covey (1998)
o  People have problems with creative
approaches ...
Conceptual blocks
o  Mental obstacles constrain the way
n  problems are defined
n  limit the solutions thought relevant
o  Whetten and Cameron (2002, p. 166)
o  We all have them
o  Generally we don’t recognise them
Creativity
o Involves the use of intuition,
ingenuity, insight
o Rather than narrowing down to
“one best decision,” opening to
create new possibilities, many
alternatives
o Outgrowth of training and
experience
Repeat
Conceptual Blocks
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
Constancy
Commitment
Compression
Complacency
Conceptual Blocks That Inhibit
Creative Problem Solving
o Constancy
n Vertical thinking
n One thinking language
o Commitment
n Stereotyping based on past experience
n Ignoring commonalities
o Compression
n Distinguishing figure from ground
n Artificial constraints
o Complacency
n Noninquisitiveness
n Nonthinking
o Defining a problem in only one way without
considering alternative views.
o Not using more than one language to define
and assess the problem.
o Present problems are seen only as the
variations of past problems.
o Failing to perceive commonalities among
elements that initially appear to be different.
o Not filtering out irrelevant information or
finding needed information.
o Defining the boundaries of a problem too
narrowly.
o Not asking questions.
o A bias toward activity in place of mental work.
Conceptual Blocks
1. Constancy
2. Commitment
3. Compression
4. Complacency
Constancy block
o  Constancy or consistency
n  we become attached to one way of
defining, describing or solving problems
o  Constancy is usually highly valued
o  associated with maturity, honesty and
intelligence
o  Festinger (cognitive dissonance), Heider
(attribution theory) saw the need for
constancy as a prime motivator of human
behaviour
Constancy example I
o  Vertical thinking - Edward de Bono
n  define a problem in one way and
pursue only that definition to reach a
solution
n  Gathered data and possible alternative
solutions are consistent with the one
definition
n  Compare this with lateral thinking
deBono’s Ways of Thinking
Lateral v Vertical
o Vertical Thinking
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
Continuity
Chooses
Stability
Searches for what
is right
Analytic
Where the idea
came from
Moves in the most
likely directions
Develops an idea
o  Lateral Thinking
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
n 
Discontinuity
Changes
Instability
Searches for what
is different
Provocative
Where the idea is
going
Moves in the least
likely directions
Discovers the idea
Lateral solutions
o  Alexander Graham Bell
n  Working to develop a hearing aid;
invented the telephone
o  Harland Sanders
n  Trying to sell a recipe to restaurants;
developed Kentucky Fried outlets
o  Karl Jansky
n  studying telephone static; invented
radio astronomy
Shifting definition
o Bell, Sanders and Jansky shifted definition
o So did Percy Spencer
n  From
‘How do we save our military radar business?’
n  to
‘Are there other applications for magnetrons?’
‘Can we get people beside the military to buy them?’
‘Can we sell them to households?’
‘Can magnetrons be used practically and safely at home?’
Shifting definition
o So did Spence Silver
n From
‘How do I get an adhesive with a stronger bond?’
n to
‘How do I apply a glue that doesn’t stick firmly?’
‘Can it be made to stick to one surface but not another?’
‘Can we replace staples, thumbtacks and paper clips?’
‘Can 3M make and package a glue that wont stick?’
‘Can we get people to pay $1.00 for scrap paper?’
Deflect from constancy
o  Shifting definitions is not easy
n  One must resign from consistent use of a definition
and/or approach
n  It is not natural.
n  It requires individuals to deflect their tendency
toward constancy.
n  Tools that can help overcome the constancy block
while avoiding the negative consequences of
inconsistency.
Constancy example II
o  Using only one thinking language
n  Mostly we are thought to think in words
o  We could use
o  Symbolic: mathematics or computer
languages
o  Sensory: smell, tactile images or
sensations
o  Feelings or emotion: happiness, fear,
anger
o  Visual: mental pictures
Constancy example III
o  In a search for oil
n  vertical thinkers determine a spot for the hole and
drill the hole deeper and deeper until they strike oil.
n  Lateral thinkers, on the other hand, drill a number of
holes in different places in search of oil.
n  The vertical-thinking conceptual block arises from not
being able to view the problem from multiple
perspectives - to drill several holes - or to think
laterally as well as vertically in problem solving.
Multiple Thinking Languages
The more languages available to
problem solvers, the more creative
the solution will be.
3-
Conceptual Blocks
1. Constancy
2. Commitment
3. Compression
4. Complacency
Commitment block
o  Once committed to a point of view,
definition or solution, this can be a
block to seeing other possibilities
o  We consider
n  Stereotyping
n  Ignoring commonalities/similarities
Perceptual Stereotyping
o  Define present problems
n  in terms of, or
n  as variations of
o  problems encountered in the past
o  Alternatives proposed as solutions
are ones that worked in the past
o  Both definition and solution are
restricted by the past
Good/bad
o  Perceptual stereotyping is good:
n  It helps organise problems using a
small amount of data
n  saves time as no need to analyse every
problem that comes along
o  Perceptual stereotyping is bad:
n  discourages novel views of problems
Magnificent magnetrons
o  Percy Spencer admired John Cockcroft,
the inventor of the magnetron
n  It was assumed that as the British invented it,
then their version would be best
o  Despite his admiration for Cockcroft,
Spencer wrote:
n  ‘The technique of making these tubes … was
awkward and impractical’
n  Silver pushed for improvements
You can’t do this ...
o  Spence Silver
n  recalled later that journals and books
said glue couldn’t be made by using
lots of polymer - rather the advice was
‘use it sparingly’
n  This doesn’t mean ignore experience or
history
o  ‘People who don’t know their history are
doomed to relive it’
Yes, but...
o  Commitment to a course of action
based on experience can
n  inhibit viewing problems in new ways
n  finding new things
n  solving some problems at all
o  Example: Are you committed to
Shakespeare?
Ignoring commonalities
o  Failure to see similarities across data
o  Problem-solver becomes committed
n  to a particular point of view
n  idea that elements are different
o  Consequently he/she can’t
n  make connections
n  identify themes
n  perceive similarities
Avoiding overload
o  Seeing similarities means not solving
each problem individually
n  compare with stereotyping advantage
o  It can mean making connections ...
Example I
o What are common terms that
apply to both water and finance?
3-
Percy Spencer is hot
o  One of Spencer’s colleagues:
o  ‘In the process of testing … [a magnetron
with a bulb] … your hands got hot. I
don’t know when Percy really came up
with the thought of microwave ovens, but
he knew at that time - and that was
1942’.
o  Another said:
o  ‘Spencer had a mind that allowed him to
hold an extraordinary array of
associations on phenomena and relate
them to one another’.
Art Fry is sticky
o  Fry’s final breakthrough at 3M was
making the connection between
n  marking hymns in a choir book, and
n  a glue that wouldn’t stick permanently
o  Exercise:
n  What are common terms that apply to
both water and finance?
Conceptual Blocks
1. Constancy
2. Commitment
3. Compression
4. Complacency
Compression block
o  Looking too narrowly at a
problem
o  Screening out relevant data
o  Making assumptions that inhibit
problem solution
o  We consider
n  Artificially constraining problems
n  Not distinguishing figure from
ground
I Artificial constraints
o  Unconsciously we might impose
constraints that:
n  make problems impossible to solve
n  arise from hidden assumptions we
make
o  for example assuming some solutions are
off limits
o  Example:
II Separating figure from
ground
o  Reverse of artificial constraints
o  Separating figure: the inability to
constrain problems sufficiently so
they can be solved
n  Often need to filter out inaccurate,
misleading or irrelevant information
n  This lack of compression can serve to
block definitions and alternative
solutions by allowing complexity
Separation at Raytheon and 3M
n  E.g.’s: Whetten and Cameron (pp. 176-7)
o  George Foerstner
n  he compressed the problem by separating out
the complexity of the science
o  Spence Silver
n  Added complexity to overcome compression
about ‘good’ glues
n  His glue failed the conventional test:
‘more stickiness, stronger bonding is best’
Conceptual Blocks
1. Constancy
2. Commitment
3. Compression
4. Complacency
Complacency block
o  Blocks that arise from
fear, ignorance,
insecurity, mental
laziness, …
o  We look at
n  Lack of questioning
n  Bias against thinking
I Lack of questioning
o  Being unwilling to ask questions as:
n  it might expose ignorance or naiveté
n  it may appear threatening to others as
they think their claims are under
challenge
o  Thus, creative problem solving
might be (personally) risky as
n  It may involve interpersonal conflict
n  there is great scope for mistakes
Mistakes
o Linus Pauling, Nobel prize winner:
‘If you want to have a good idea have a
lot of them, because most of them will be
bad ones’
o Nikki Giovanni, poet:
‘Mistakes are a fact of life
It is the response to error that counts’
‘Of Liberation’ (1970)
o Yet, we are not rewarded for bad
ideas
Some questions
o  Ask and ask:
n  When would it be easier to learn a new
language? When you are five or now?
Why?
n  How many times in the last month have
you tried something that has less than
a 50 per cent chance of succeeding?
n  When did you last ask three
consecutive ‘Why’ questions?
Curiosities
o  Why are there 21 guns in a 21-gun
salute?
o  Why doesn’t sugar spoil or go
mouldy?
o  Why is Jack the name for John?
o  How do they print ‘M&M’ on the
sweets?
Age and curiosity
o  Inquisitiveness tends to decline with age
n  we have learned it is wise to be/appear intelligent
n  ‘being intelligent’ means knowing the answers,
not asking good questions
n  Thus, people tend to
o  learn less well
o  take fewer risks
at 35 than at five
I’m with Dylan Thomas
‘Do not go gentle into that good
night,
Old age should burn and rave at
close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of
the light.’
‘Do not go gentle into that good
night’ (1952)
Silver on complacency
‘People like myself get excited about
looking for new properties in materials.
I find that very satisfying, to perturb the
structure slightly and just see what
happens.
I have a hard time talking people into doing
that - people who are more highly
trained.
It’s been my experience that people are
reluctant just to try, to experiment - just
to see what will happen.
(Nayak and Ketteringham, 1986, p. 58)
II Bias against thinking
o An inclination to avoid doing cognitive
work - thinking. Like other blocks, it
is
n Partly cultural
n Partly personal
Example: A recently retired professor wrote
in the THES that:
his wife could not accept for forty years of
working life, that sitting still and looking
out the window was in fact work.
Action required
o  Work is
n  equated with action
n  there is a bias against thought
o  Example in Whetton and Cameron of
employee who does not move from a
relaxed position for more than half
an hour.
n  Would you be uncomfortable?
n  Would you want change?
Some reflections
n  ‘Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of
thought and the friend of flattering
illusions.’
Joseph Conrad, Nosteremo (1904)
n  ‘It is vain to say that human beings ought
to be satisfied with tranquillity; they
must have action; and they will make it if
they cannot find it.’
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847)
n  ‘When the going gets tough; the tough go
shopping.’
Anon
Left hemisphere
o  Left-hemisphere thinking
n  for logical, analytical, sequential tasks
n  likely to be organised, planned and
precise
n  Left activities: Language and
mathematics
o  Formal education emphasizes left
hemisphere thinking
n  More so in the East than in the West
n  Yet, what do make of this ...
Africa
o  ‘Westerners have aggressive,
problem-solving minds;
o  Africans experience people.’
Kenneth Kaunda, attributed 1990
Right hemisphere
o  Right-hemisphere thinking
n  for intuition, synthesis, playfulness and
qualitative judgement
n  more spontaneous, imaginative and
emotional
o  Problem solving via
n  logic, reason, and utility is valued (the
LH)
n  sentiment, intuition or pleasure is seen
as tenuous or inferior (the RH)
Ambidextrous
o  Research suggests that
n  creative problem solvers use
both the left- and the right
hemispheres
n  they switch easily from one to
the other
o  Creative ideas arise in the RH
most often; but they are
processed in the LH