Albert Einstein said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Creativity in #problemsolving is a necessity for today’s and future workforce. There are several examples, where creative problem solving has been successfully used to overcome major real life problems.
When NASA’s Apollo 13 lunar landing mission was aborted after an accident in the service module’s oxygen tank, the main challenge for NASA was to bring the astronauts back to earth safely. This rescue project involved creative problem solving with very limited available resources. They had to use Lunar Module to bring the crew back to earth, but its navigation system was not designed for that task. Also, lunar module was designed to support 2 men for 2 days, but they had 3 men travelling for 4 days. All these problems had to be solved within a very limited window of time.
NASA ground crew devised a creative way to attach square command module canisters to the round lunar module environmental system by using available material such as plastic bags, cardboard, tape and all other materials on board. NASA successfully overcame all obstacles, and safely brought the astronauts home.
#creative problem solving (CPS) is not limited only to emergencies and crises. In simple terms, CPS involves redefining problems and coming up with actionable innovative solutions. There are established models and techniques for CPS, and everyone can be trained to use CPS. Every human being can use CPS principles, irrespective of the geographical location, age, educational background, language spoken and affiliation (or lack of it) to any organization.
CPS is a necessary skill for everyone, but we need to overcome a few barriers. Here are five common barriers, and suggested actions:
1. Lack of awareness and training:
Barriers:
- Not many conventional educational institutes have CPS integrated in their programs.
- Lack of knowledge and training in CPS creates hesitance to venture in this area for individuals and organizations.
Recommendations:
- CPS awareness program followed by assessment of training needs can be a starting point.
- Training can start small, such as lunch and learn sessions.
- Not everyone may need same amount of training or handholding.
- Make CPS training part of employee induction program.
2. It’s not for me:
Barriers:
- There can be misconception that only trained consultants or experts can use CPS.
- CPS models and tools can be overwhelming for some.
Recommendations:
- It is important to make CPS training and implementation simple and practical, so that it can be easily applied in daily life/work.
- Highlight the fact that CPS is for everyone. CPS can be seen applied in day to day life by common man without any formal CPS training or tools, in the form of a ‘Jugaad’. Jugaad, a very common word in India, was added by Oxford Dictionary in 2017 to its list. It defines ‘Jugaad’ as “A flexible approach to problem-solving that uses limited resources in an innovative way”.
3. It won’t work here:
Barrier:
- We are a small team/shop/organization, or we do mundane work, hence it won’t work here.
Recommendation:
- CPS is not limited to certain jobs or positions or type of work. An individual, a small team, a big organization or a city can effectively use CPS. After 9/11 attacks, Gander, a small town in Canada welcomed 6,700 stranded passengers on 38 planes. This mega challenge was successfully dealt with by the entire city working as a team, and using creative solutions. How did they feed 6,700 people on a short notice? By using hockey rink as walk-in refrigerator!
4. Environment/culture:
Barriers:
- Lack of supportive environment can discourage creative thinking.
- New ideas may threaten the status quo, and hence there can be resistance to accept them.
- Stringent deadlines and stress can make creativity a luxury.
- Sometimes abundance of resources can act as a barrier. When we have no constraints, we tend to use the quickest or easiest solution.
Recommendations:
- To facilitate creative thinking it is critical to encourage questions. There are no stupid questions. Culture of asking questions will lead to right questions, and right questions lead to innovations. Encourage people to ask questions that make them think of all possibilities, and not just right or wrong answers.
- Limiting resources or progressive reduction of specific resources can motivate the workforce to think creatively.
- In order to stimulate creative thinking, reduce stress and put the team in positive mood.
5. Fear of rejection/failure:
Barriers:
- The thought of other people judging their ideas may refrain some from generating them.
- People tend to be scared of failure due to the possible repercussions.
Recommendations:
- However stupid an idea may sound, it can be the missing piece to solve a big puzzle.
- Risks and failures are part of CPS, and to err is not wrong.
- It is important to accept that there can be more than one right answer; some better than others.
Final thoughts:
We tend to use #problemsolving methods that worked for us in the past. Being creative is necessary and possible for everyone. #creativity can be innate skill for some, but it can also be learnt. We are told to follow the rules; we need to learn to intentionally break the rules. We are told to be practical; we need to learn to be sometimes impractical and creative.
It’s OK to be adventurous...
Amarendra (Amar) Ghanekar MSc, PMP, CISA is CEO of Amar Consulting and Training Inc. Amar provides Digital Marketing Project and Program Management solutions. Amar can be reached at amar@amarcorp.com