Strategies to Creatively 
Solve Problems
Brainstorming
Group process   encourage wild ideas   far fetched   allow no negative comments     defer all judgment   seek many ideas & prioritize them later

Lists can be used by individuals or groups
- Sketching is a way to make visual lists
- Checklists   i.e. yellow pages used to find a career or business idea   - Attribute lists also called "part changing" 

Example - In designing a soap dish one needs to consider: 
attributes of slick wet soap
soap's tendency to deteriorate in water
attributes and interests of the user  (make a list)
attributes of the room in which it will be used (make a list)
attributes of possible materials from which to make the dish
attributes of of the possible processes by which to make the dish

One of the most creative soap dishes made by one of my students was in the shape of an elephant that held the soap in its mouth.  In making a list that considered the individual interests of the user, the student listed the interests of her mother (the user) who was elephant collector.  She then had to "invent" a functioning solution to make an elepant into a functioning soap dish.  This was not a "form follows function - less is more" solution.

Synectics Group
process using diverse experts who search for unique ways to solve problems. 

In classroom grouping one would seek to design the makeup of the each group with the maximum diversity.

meaning and methods

Accidents and Mistakes
This produces creative results if it results in reflection, experimentation, change and practice based on the mistake experiences

Malcolm Gladwell  "The Physical Genius - What do Wayne Gretzky, Yo-Yo Ma, and a brain surgeon have in common?"  The New Yorker, August 2, 1999
http://www.gladwell.com/1999/1999_08_02_a_genius.htm

Gladwell relates a very telling story of two typess of surgeons.  The one type, when asked if they ever make mistakes, readilty says that mistakes happen all the time.  They see things that go wrong and they take time to reflect, experiment, practice, and so on until they find a way to make improvements.  The second type, when asked if they make mistakes might admit to having some bad outcomes, but not to making mistakes.  The second group tends to be the ones that end up with malpractice problems.

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updated 29 February 2004


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