Creativity for quality improvement

The most basic definition of creativity is to bring something into being. Creativity is defined as the synthesis of existing ideas in a unique way that is appropriate to the context, issue or problem. Creativity is a prerequisite for innovation. Creativity is part of continuous improvement. The terms creativity and innovation are often used to mean the same thing. However, each has a unique connotation. Creativity is “the ability to bring something new into existence.” This definition emphasizes the “ability,” not the “activity,” of bringing something new into existence. A person may, therefore, conceive of something new and envision how it will be useful, but not necessarily take the necessary action to make it a reality. Creativity is a prerequisite to innovation. Creativity is important for the long-term survival of companies and organizations.

The similarity between creative problem solving and creativity depends on the meaning of creativity. Although most of us agree that Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci had the kind of creativity we most appreciate, the word creativity is commonly used in ways that emphasizes the newness of an idea without also implying anything about the value of the new idea. Yet it’s the value of what Einstein and Da Vinci came up with, that makes them highly regarded as creative thinkers. Creative problem solving automatically involves value because a creative solution that fails to bring about improvement is not really a solution. The follow­ing considerations need to be kept in mind while using the term “creative problem solving”:

  • The element of value is not forgotten when the word creativity is used.
  • Improvement is kept in mind as an essential part of creative problem solving.
  • The word problem is used in its broader meaning as an improvable situation.

1. Styles of Creativity

Many styles of creativity exist. They can be generally classified into the following four modes:

Structured creativity: Step-by-step, detailed, complex, tool-intensive, controlled, effective for individuals and groups and requiring little facilitation.

Non-linear creativity: Exciting, unpredictable, fast-paced, focused on quantity and not quality, promoting people involvement and usually used in groups.

Provoked creativity: Catalyst-focused, providing a springboard for forward movement, easy to build on, easy to start, requiring active facilitation and easily used by individuals or groups.

“Aha” creativity: Can be described as having no steps or patterns, focused on big issues, invariably having a defining moment, using simple methods and being individually intense.

2. The Creative Process

Lateral thinking is a term coined by Edward de Bono for the solution of problems through an indirect and creative approach. Lateral thinking is about using reasoning, which is not immediately obvious and about ideas that may not be obtainable by using only the tradi­tional step-by-step logic. The term first appeared in the title of de Bono’s book New Think: The Use of Lateral Thinking published in 1967.

Ideas usually evolve through a creative process whereby imaginative people bring them into existence, nurture them and develop them successfully. The creative process for an idea involves five stages—germination, preparation, incubation, illumination and verification.2

Germination: The germination stage is also termed as the seeding process. The exact manner in which an idea is germinated is a mystery. However, most creative ideas can be traced to an individual’s interest in or curiosity about a specific problem or area of study.

Preparation: Once the seed of curiosity has taken the form of a focused idea, creative people embark on a conscious search for answers. If it is a problem they are trying to solve—such as Alexander Graham Bell’s determination to help those with impaired hearing—then they begin an intellectual journey, seeking information about the problem and study how others have tried to resolve it. If it is an idea for a new product or service, then market research is the business equivalent. Inventors will set up laboratory experiments, designers will begin engineering new product ideas and marketers will study consumers’ buying habits. Any individual with an idea will consequently think about it, concentrating his or her energies on rational extensions of the idea and how it might become a reality. In rare instances, the preparation stage will produce results.

Incubation: Individuals sometimes concentrate intensely on an idea. However, more often, they simply allow ideas time to grow without intentional effort. We have all heard about the brilliant “flashes” of genius, however, few great ideas come from thunderbolts of insight. Most evolve in the minds of creative people while they go about other activities. The idea, once seeded and given substance through preparation is put on a back burner and the sub­conscious mind is allowed time to assimilate information.

Incubation is a stage of “mulling it over” while the subconscious intellect assumes control of the creative process. This is a crucial aspect of creativity because when we consciously focus on a problem, we behave rationally to attempt to find systematic resolutions. When we rely on subconscious processes, our minds are untrammeled by the limitations of human logic. The subconscious mind is allowed to wander and to pursue fantasies. It is, therefore, open to unusual information and knowledge that we cannot assimilate in a conscious state.

Illumination: The fourth stage occurs when the idea resurfaces as a realistic creation. Illumi­nation may be triggered by an opportune incident, as Bell discovered harmonic telegraphy in the accidental twang created by Watson. But there is little doubt that Bell would have had his moment of illumination, triggered perhaps by another incident or simply manifested through hard work. The point, of course, is that he was prepared and the idea was incubated. Bell was ready for an opportune incident and able to recognize its importance when it occurred.

The important point is that most creative people go through many cycles of prepara­tion and incubation, searching for that catalyst of an incident that can give their idea full meaning. When a cycle of creative behaviour does not result in a catalytic event, the cycle is repeated until the idea blossoms or dies. This stage is critical for individuals because ideas, by themselves, have little meaning. Reaching the illumination stage separates daydreamers from creative people who find a way to transmute value.

Verification: An idea once illuminated in the mind of an individual continues to have little meaning until verified as realistic and useful. Verification is a stage of development that refines knowledge into application. This is often tedious and requires perseverance by an individual committed to finding a way to “harvest” the practical results of his or her creation. During this stage, many ideas fall by the wayside as they prove to be impossible to execute or have little value. More often, a good idea has already been developed or the aspiring orga­nization finds that competitors already exist. Inventors quite often come to this harsh con­clusion when they seek to patent their products only to discover that similar inventions are registered.

3. Creative Problem-solving Tools

In business, creativity is used to solve problems. Therefore, the greater the amount of cre­ativity that can be unleashed, the better the solution is likely to be. Several tools have been developed to enhance and extract the creative talents among individuals and groups. The effectiveness of these tools is a function of the people, the environment, the process need(s) and the problem being addressed. These tools help in developing creative focus, setting direction, exercising the mind, shattering paradigms and gaining new insights. These tools assist in creating a framework that over time has consistently yielded better results.

4. The Six Thinking Hats3

The Six Thinking Hats method is a creativity technique to solve problems and arrive at deci­sions. Dr Edward de Bono invented this method in the early 1980s. The method is a frame­work for thinking and can incorporate lateral thinking. Judgemental thinking has its place in the system. However, it is not allowed to dominate as in normal thinking.

Organizations such as Prudential Insurance, IBM, Federal Express, British Airways, Pola­roid, Pepsico, DuPont, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, possibly the world’s largest compa­nies, use this methodology to creatively solve problems.

The six hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels. The method promotes fuller input from more people. According to de Bono, “it separates ego from performance.” Everyone is able to contribute to the exploration without denting egos as they are just using one of the coloured hats from among the six mentioned hats. People can contribute irrespective of a hat even though they may initially support the oppo­site view. Where six coloured, metaphorical hats represent the styles of thinking, the thinker can put on or take off one of these hats to indicate the type of thinking being used. This put­ting on and taking off of hats is essential. The hats must never be used to categorize individu­als, even though their behaviour may seem to invite this. When done in a group, everybody wears the same hat at the same time.

The six hats are briefly explained below:

White hat: The white thinking hat covers data, information and facts and identifies the gaps and information needs. This is used to analyse past trends and to extrapolate from historical data.

Red hat: The red thinking hat originates in intuition, feelings and emotions brought on by the current discussions. Feelings need not be justified, allowing for valuable input. This input is valuable only when grounded in logic.

Black hat: The black hat indicates looking at things pessimistically, cautiously and defen­sively. One must try to see why ideas and approaches might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan or course of action. It allows you to eliminate them, alter your approach, or prepare contingency plans to counter problems that arise.

Yellow hat: The yellow hat stands for sunshine thinking and helps to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps to see all the benefits of the decision, the value in it and spot the opportunities that arise from it. Yellow hat thinking helps everyone to keep going when things look gloomy and difficult.

Green hat: The green hat represents creativity. This is where creative solutions to a problem can be developed. There is little criticism of ideas. However, a certain amount of pain or negative energy is associated with green hat thinking.

Blue hat: The blue hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. Blue hat thinking is utilized when an overview and process control are needed. This thinking is not focused on the subject but rather on the thinking about the subject. Blue hat thinking identifies “other hat thinking” needed to facilitate and make progress. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into green hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for black hat thinking, etc.

Suggested hat sequence: The following hat sequence is advised:

  1. White hat: Presents information and data
  2. Green hat: Provides creative thinking
  3. Yellow hat: Gives rationale for why it may work
  4. Red hat: Feedback feelings and intuition
  5. Black hat: Gives rationale for why it may not work
  6. Blue hat: Provide guidance to the direction taken by the thinking process

The Six Thinking Hats method is a good technique for looking at the effects of a decision from different points of view. It allows necessary emotion and skepticism to be brought into what would otherwise be purely rational decisions. It opens up the opportunity for creativ­ity within decision making. It also helps, for example, persistently pessimistic people to be positive and creative.

Plans developed using the “Six Thinking Hats” method are considered to be sounder and more resilient. This technique helps to avoid public relations mistakes, and also enables to spot good reasons not to follow a course of action before you have committed to it. The key theoretical reasons to use the Six Thinking Hats are to:

  • Encourage parallel thinking
  • Encourage full-spectrum thinking
  • Separate ego from performance

Example: The directors of a real estate company are looking at whether they should con­struct a new office building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply. As part of their decision, they decide to use the Six Thinking Hats technique during a planning meeting.

They first analyse the problem by looking at it with the white hat. They analyse the data and find a sharp reduction in vacant office spaces. They anticipate a severe shortage of office space by the time the office block is completed. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least the construction period.

With the red hat line of thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly. Though it will be highly cost-effective, they worry that people will not like to work in it.

When they think with the black hat, they worry that government projections may be wrong. The economy may be on the threshold of a “cyclical downturn,” in which case the office building may be empty for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then companies will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same rent.

With the yellow hat, however, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of money. If they are lucky, they could perhaps sell the building before the next downturn or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through any recession.

With green hat thinking, they consider whether they should change the design to make the building more pleasant looking. Building prestige offices that people may want to rent in any economic climate may make sense. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short-term to buy up property at a low cost when a recessionary phase begins again.

The blue hat has been used by the meeting’s Chair to move between the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles or from criticizing other peoples’ points.

5. CREATES

CREATES is a technique that can be used to spark creativity and help overcome challenges. In essence, CREATES is a general purpose checklist with idea-spurring questions, which are both easy to use and powerful. Each letter in the acronym represents a different way in which you can play with the characteristics of what is challenging you to trigger new ideas:

C = Combine

R = Rearrange/reverse

E = Exaggerate (magnify)

A = Adapt

T = Transform

E = Eliminate (or minify)

S = Substitute

In order to use the CREATES technique, first state the problem you’d like to solve or the idea you’d like to develop. It can be anything—a challenge in your personal life or business. It may be a product, service or process that you want to improve on. After pinpointing the challenge, it’s a matter of asking questions about it using the CREATES checklist to guide you.

Combine: Creative thinking usually involves the combination of ideas. Think about com­bining two or more parts of your problem to create a different product or process or to enhance their synergy. A great deal of creative thinking involves combining previously unre­lated ideas, goods or services to create something new.

Rearrange/reverse: Rearranging what is known in order to find out what is not known is often a part of creativity. Rearrangement usually offers countless alternatives for ideas, goods and services. Reversing one’s perspective on ideas, goods or services opens up thinking capability. Think of what you would do if part of your problem, product or process worked in reverse or were done in a different order.

Exaggerate: Think about ways to exaggerate or magnify your idea. Search for ways to exag­gerate, magnify, add to, or multiply ideas, products or services. Magnifying your idea or parts of it may increase its perceived value or give new insights about what components are most important.

Adapt: Adaptation involves using others’ ideas and changing them to satisfy needs. Think about adapting an existing idea to solve your problem. The solution of your problem is probably out there already. Bear in mind that all new ideas or inventions are borrowed to some degree. The following questions may be asked while following the CREATES technique:

C (Combine): “How can I combine selling with other activities?”

R (Rearrange): “How can I change, reorder or reverse the way I sell?”

E (Exaggerate): “What can I magnify or put more emphasis on when selling?”

A (Adapt): “What can I adapt or copy from someone else’s selling process?”

T (Transform): “How can I put my selling to other uses?”

E (Eliminate): “What can I eliminate or simplify in my selling process?”

S (Substitute): “What can I substitute in my selling process?”

Box 10.1 discusses an innovative tool developed by a management expert at the Federa­tion of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) that organizations can use to generate ideas.

Box 10.1 Idea Clock

All innovations are triggered by ideas. In the absence of a systematic approach, there is always the dearth of innovative ideas as a result of which many organizations are left far behind. Many organizations still resort to the “trial and error” method under which innovation is merely a lucky accident. The idea clock developed by Pravin Rajpal, under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), is a simple but powerful tool, which can be used by any one in the organization to generate new ideas for creativity and innovation.

The idea clock is a systematic way of generating creative and innovative ideas for business. It inte­grates idea generation principles with time. It is a real-time clock on the computer, which shows 10 scientific principles of “creativity and innovation” along with two questions, “what else?” and “how else?” These principles and questions are written along with each number on the clock. As the clock needles show the actual time, they also point out the different principles. At different times of the day, the needles keep shifting from one principle to another to form hundreds of permutations and combinations to spark creative and innovative ideas.

Source: Adapted from www.ficci-etkf.com/ideaclock.htm, accessed March 2010.

Source: Poornima M. Charantimath (2017), Total Quality Management, Pearson; 3rd edition.

2 thoughts on “Creativity for quality improvement

  1. Melaine says:

    I read this piece of writing fully concerning the difference of latest and previous
    technologies, it’s remarkable article.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *