Creativity and innovation go together, but they are different.95 Creativity means the ability to develop unique alternatives to solve problems. Innovation is the organizational implementation of the creative ideas.96 Innovation is important to organizational suc- cess,97 and many companies are working to enhance creativity and innovation.98 In this section, we’ll focus on creativity that can take place during the third step of the decision-making model.
The Creative Process
For a company to be creative, managers need to set creativity work goals99 and de- velop a creative climate.100 For example, 3M’s goal is to generate 30 percent of reve- nues from new products introduced in the past five years.101 Steve Jobs at Apple was probably the most innovative CEO.
Creativity is about coming up with ways to improve products and processes by rethinking a problem and creating opportunities.102 To improve your creativity, focus on thinking about new products, processes, and procedures that are designed to be useful, in both your personal and professional lives. Follow the stages in the creative process. The four stages in the creative process are: (1) preparation, (2) possible solu- tions, (3) incubation, and (4) evaluation. These steps are also listed in Model 11.3.
1. Preparation. You must become familiar with the problem. This is done during steps 1 and 2 of the decision-making model. Get others’ opinions, feelings, and ideas, as well as the facts. When solving a problem, look for new angles, use im- agination and invention, and don’t set boundaries—think outside the box!
2. Possible solutions. Generate as many possible creative solutions as you can think of, without making any judgments. The brainstorming rules (discussed next) will provide details.
3. Incubation. After generating alternatives, take a break. It doesn’t have to be long, but take time before working on the problem again. During the incubation stage, you may have an insight into the problem’s solution. Have you ever worked hard on a problem and become discouraged, but when you had given up or taken a break, the solution came to you?
WORK APPLICATION 11-12
Solve the problem you gave in Work Application 11-11, following the five steps in the decision-making model.
Write it out clearly, labeling each step.
CS
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 13.
WORK APPLICATION 11-13
Give an example of how you solved a problem using the stages in the creative process, or used the creative process to solve an existing problem.
MODEL 11.3 | Stages in the Creative Process
Stage 1:
Preparation
Stage 2:
Possible solutions
Stage 3:
Incubation
Stage 4:
Evaluation CS
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 14.
Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
4. Evaluation. Before implementing a solution, you should evaluate the alternative to make sure the idea is practical. Evaluation through feedback often leads to more creativity.
How people respond to creative ideas affects behavior. For a list of responses that kill creativity, see Exhibit 11.6. Avoid these responses and discourage others from using them as well.
Using Groups to Generate Creative Alternatives
In step 3 of the decision-making process, organizations today are using group input to generate creative alternatives.103 Exhibit 11.7 lists the five techniques that are described here.
Brainstorming Brainstorming is the process of suggesting many alternatives, without evaluation, to solve a problem. When brainstorming, the group is presented with a problem or opportunity and asked to come up with creative solutions. Brainstorming Learning Outcome 11-7
Describe five techniques for generating creative alternatives.
EXHIBIT 11.6 | Responses That Kill Creativity
• It isn’t in the budget.
• We’re doing fine now, so why change?
• It costs too much.
• We don’t have the time.
• That will make other products obsolete.
• We’re too small/big for it.
• We’ve never done it before.
• Has anyone else ever tried it?
• It won’t work in our company/industry.
• That’s not our problem or responsibility.
• We’re not ready for that.
• We tried that before and it doesn’t work.
• You’re years ahead of your time.
• It can’t be done.
• You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
• Let’s form a committee.
• It’s too radical a change.
• Don’t be ridiculous; let’s get back to reality.
EXHIBIT 11.7 | Techniques for Generating Creative Alternatives
Consensus
Delphi technique Nominal grouping
Brainstorming
Synectics
Techniques for generating creative alternatives to
solve problems
is commonly used for creating new products, naming products, and developing adver- tising slogans. Here are four interrelated brainstorming rules:
• Quantity. Team members should generate as many ideas as possible. More ideas increase the chances of finding an excellent solution. Generating alternatives is step 3 of the decision-making model.
• No criticism. Team members should not criticize or evaluate ideas in any way during the solution-generation phase of brainstorming. Evaluation is done in step 4 of decision making—analyze alternatives and select one.
• Freewheel. You can’t think outside the box when you are in it. You have to see things from new angles or perspectives. Team members should express any idea that comes to mind, no matter how strange, crazy, or weird—thus, the need to avoid criticism that will hinder members’ creativity and to avoid responses that kill creativity (see Exhibit 11.6).
• Extend. Team members should try to build on the ideas of others and even take them in new directions. Extending helps build quantity and freewheeling, but watch out for criticism.
• Brainwriting. Brainwriting is a variation of brainstorming. To eliminate the influence of team peer pressure and other members’ suggestions, participants write their ideas down. Then ideas are recorded, and members try to improve and combine ideas. It is especially relevant for use with virtual teams meeting online.
Synectics Creativity is about coming up with new ideas.104 Synectics is the process of generating novel alternatives through role-playing and fantasizing. At first, to expand the group’s thinking process, the leader does not state the exact nature of the situation. For example, when Nolan Bushnell wanted to develop a new concept in family dining, he began by discussing general leisure activities. Bushnell then moved toward leisure activi- ties having to do with eating out. The idea that came out of this synectics process was a restaurant–electronic game complex where families could play games and purchase pizza and hamburgers. The restaurant–electronic game complex is called Pizza Time Theatre and its mascot is Chuck E. Cheese, which is also used as the restaurant’s name.
Nominal Grouping It is appropriate to use nominal grouping to ensure that status dif- ference among members doesn’t influence the process and decision; some members tend to agree with the boss or informal leader and ignore low status ideas.105 Nominal grouping is the process of generating and evaluating alternatives through a structured voting method. This process usually involves six steps:
1. Each member individually generates ideas in writing (brainwriting).
2. In a round-robin fashion, members give ideas. Someone records all ideas where everyone can see them.
3. Alternatives are clarified through a guided discussion and any additional ideas are recorded.
4. Each member rates the ideas and votes; the voting eliminates alternatives.
5. An initial vote discussion takes place for clarification, not persuasion. During this time, it is recommended that members present the logic behind the reasons they gave for the various alternatives.
6. The final vote is taken to select the alternative solution presented to the leader.
Management may or may not implement the decision.
Consensus A consensus is a cooperative attempt to develop a solution acceptable to all employees,106 rather than a competitive battle in which a solution is forced on some CS
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 15.
Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
members of the group. The major benefit of consensus is that since the solution is the group’s, members generally are more committed to implementing it. The process is to have a discussion trying to get everyone to agree on the decision to solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity.
Delphi Technique The Delphi technique is considered a variation of nominal grouping, without face-to-face interaction at any point, and it also includes consensus. The Del- phi technique polls a group through a series of anonymous questionnaires. The opin- ions of each round of questionnaires are analyzed and resubmitted to the group in the next round of questionnaires. This process may continue for five or more rounds be- fore a consensus emerges. The technique is used for technological forecasts, such as what the next online breakthrough will be.
WORK APPLICATION 11-14
Give example situations in which it would be appropri- ate for a manager to use each of the five techniques for generating creative al- ternatives (brainstorming, synectics, nominal group- ing, consensus mapping, and the Delphi technique).
A P P L I C A T I O N S I T U A T I O N S / / /
Using Groups to Generate Alternatives AS 11-5
In the five situations below, identify the most appropriate group technique to use to generate alternative solutions.
A. Brainstorming C. Nominal grouping E. Delphi technique
B. Synectics D. Consensus
21. You want to develop some new and different toys. You are meeting with employees and children together.
22. Your department is suffering from morale problems.
23. You must decide on new furniture for the office.
24. You want to reduce waste in the department.
25. You want to project future trends of the business.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Decision Making
The challenge in decision making is to maximize the advantages while minimizing the disadvantages and the bottom line is that the group decision must have synergy. Syn- ergy occurs when the group’s solution to a problem or opportunity is superior to all individuals’. Unfortunately, research indicates that people often choose inferior alter- natives when choosing in groups.107 Skill Building Exercise 11-3 gives you the oppor- tunity to see if your group can reach synergy. See Exhibit 11-8 for the advantages and disadvantages of using group decision making.
When to Use Groups in Decision Making Use groups when making important nonrecur- ring decisions when the outcome is risky or uncertain, using the decision-making model. The question today isn’t so much about should we use groups to make deci- sions,108 but what level of participation should we use? Skill Building Exercise 11-4 at the end of the chapter develops this skill.