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4 Business creativity

It’s an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody thought. (Albert von Szent-Györgyi)

Learning objectives This chapter explores:

1 What is creativity? 2 Understanding thinking. 3 Contextual factors affecting personal creativity. 4 Assessing personal creativity potential. 5 Left-brain and right-brain thinking model. 6 Introducing the total thinking model.

Introduction The challenges organisations face as a result of the business environmental paradigm change discussed in Part I call for fresh thinking. The portfolio of management responses that was both effective and efficient in the era of sellers’ markets (collectively referred to as the least-cost production/supply paradigm) need to be revised in order to respond suc- cessfully to the different problems posed by buyers’ markets. In most cases this requires a radical change in thinking. This is the essence of business creativity and the process starts with a review of thinking at the individual level. The chapter explores the process of think- ing by describing the physiology of the brain and discussing how the process of thinking occurs. Once the fundamentals of thinking have been explored the next task is to apply the key principles to the individual’s problem-solving practice. This requires both mental flex- ibility and a tolerance of ambiguity and is a fundamentally a personal journey of discovery. Practical exercises are included to assist individuals to realise the need to evaluate their thinking approach to business problems. (See Figure 4.1.)

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Nasruddin

Mulla Nasruddin was once attempting to repair something, without apparent success, when an onlooker asked scornfully, ‘Do you know what you’re doing?’

Nasruddin replied, ‘No, that’s why I’m doing it.’ The field of creativity research is rich with examples from the lives of remarkable indi-

viduals, but lacks an accepted framework for approaching the many issues that arise when trying to make more general sense of the data. To produce such a framework is an important aim of this chapter.

Figure 4.1 Overview of business creativity.

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Context

What is creativity?

Creativity is a natural gift and part of the wholeness (gestalt) of every individual. It can and should be encouraged. This offers the individual the opportunity to derive more satisfaction from life. Understanding creativity is difficult if we strive to define it in rules and try to put it in a box. By its very nature it is unpredictable, unique, infectious and real. Most, except- ing those with closed minds, can quickly appreciate it when they see it. True creativity has a beauty of its own that often defies logical explanation. So are civilisations all over the world in danger of losing their way by attempting to justify creativity? Can it be bottled, concen- trated in a pill and swallowed? Is it possible to control it by logic alone? Or is it a mysterious force that seems to bless us in puzzling, usually joyful, ways?

Creativity is a unique force that distinguishes the higher orders of fauna, such as homo sapiens from the rest of creation. Other creatures are capable of expressing creativity and creative thought. Squirrels, for example, can do amazing things in pursuit of food. Humans, however, are generally accepted to be the most advanced form of life. So the way in which humans think would seem to hold promise if we are to appreciate human creativity and fully achieve our individual potential to express it. The next section explains how the human brain works. Prepare to be surprised.

Definitions

Creativity has been defined as the generation of new ideas by approaching problems or existing practices in innovative or imaginative ways. It is stated that creativity involves re-examining assumptions and reinterpreting facts, ideas and past experience. It is also reported that a growing interest in creativity as a source of competitive advantage has developed in recent years (Business & Management Dictionary, 2007; Banks et al., 2002; Dundon, 2002). It is an imaginative process with outcomes that are original and of value. One way to find out more about creativity is to ask people about their conception of a creative person. Whether they are lay people or experts in a field, people have implicit the- ories about what it means to be creative. They usually identify personality and cognitive elements such as:

• connects ideas; • sees similarities and differences; • is flexible; • has aesthetic taste; • is unorthodox; • is curious, inquisitive; • questions accepted ways of doing things.

Another way to tease out the governing conditions of creativity is to look at paradigm case examples of what the most creative people do. Much research has gone into trying to under- stand creativity by looking at the way creative minds work (Gardner, 1997). By studying exemplars of creativity such as world-famous writers, artists or inventors one might find a set of necessary and sufficient conditions which defined their creativity. We then might want to try to recreate those conditions in our homes, schools, businesses and community. All have the mental resources to be creative (see Chapter 5).

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Process

Research into the habits of creative people reveals certain common characteristics. They:

• generate ideas; • are flexible in their thinking, experiment and seek variation; • strive for originality; • provide examples of their work.

Generate ideas

Creative people tend to have lots of ideas. They do not limit their thinking to a few ideas; they want more ideas and better ideas. The more they have the greater the likelihood that some of them will work. Some ideas will go wrong. As Edison, the inventor of the telephone said, he needed 100 ideas for he knew that 99 of them might be wrong. Inside the oyster of an idea may be a pearl. Creative people do not discard ideas simply because they seem at first to be a bit odd or unworkable. Output of ideas spurs further ideas, each of which may have an unexpected potential. Creative people are rarely half-hearted. They make an effort to keep thinking, to become absorbed, immersed and fascinated in the subject in hand for the ideas to flood in. When Tolstoy was writing a novel he said he ‘knew’ all his fictional characters inside out because he had thought so much and generated so many ideas about them.

Creative people

Creative people are able to overcome the mental blocks to their thinking through being flex- ible and divergent. Some of these blocks include the tendency to think that:

• there is only one right way to do things; • we know all there is to know; • it is wrong to experiment with new ideas.

Being creative means not having to be stuck with one idea, one approach and one way of doing things. It is having the ability to move from a known way to a new way, being willing to change your ideas or views if you need to. Creative people have a thirst for knowledge. They use imagination to play with ideas. They are willing to experiment. The French mathematician Poincaré said: ‘Experiment is the sole source of truth.’ It is also the source of all creativity. Creative people are curious, open-minded and have the confidence to try new ideas.

Strive for originality

Creative people strive for originality by thinking of novel ideas, finding new solutions to problems or creating their own unique ways or plans for doing things. They extend their thinking through a process of elaboration. They are willing to improve on an original idea, so that what they add improves on or takes further the original idea. Elaboration is shown in the number and quality of different ideas used to add on to the original idea, expand- ing on existing knowledge, extending an idea to make it more complex or build a unique feature into a given situation. They try alternatives and don’t give up easily. They have ‘stickability’ – they know that creativity often requires a tremendous struggle for a vision

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to be realised. The painter Turner said: ‘My paintings bring me nothing but pain. The real- ity is so immeasurably below the conception.’

Provide examples of their work

Creative people work hard and continually to improve ideas and solutions, by making gradual alterations and refinements to their works. Contrary to the mythology surrounding creativity, few works of creative excellence are produced with a single stroke of brilliance or in a frenzy of rapid activity (Breen, 2004). Here is Beethoven describing his way of working:

I carry my thoughts with me for a long time, often for a very long time before writing them down . . . I change many things, discard others and try again until I am satisfied; then, in my head, I begin to elaborate the work . . . the underlying idea never deserts me. It rises, it grows. I hear and see the image in front of me from every angle.

(Gruber and Wallace, 1999)

Newton claimed that what enabled him to make discoveries in mathematics and science was his ability to concentrate intently on a problem for hours, days and weeks on end. Research shows that experts in any creative field take about 10 years of practice before they produce a masterwork (Sternberg and Lubart, 1999). Creative excellence in any field seems to require long-term interest and investment of effort (Sternberg, 2006).

The problem with studying paradigm cases of creative people who have excelled in their field is that they are vulnerable to paradigm shift (Kuhn, 1975). Thus the analysis may fit well with the works of preceding artists who were imbued with a reverence for the tradition they were working in, but it may not fit the works of revolutionary creative thinkers. The old ways of study may not fit new technologies. We cannot reinvent the future by copying the traditions of the past. Creative people can learn from a past tradition but need to move beyond that tradition to achieve the most creative expression of their ideas. They need to move into new paradigms, new ways of thinking.

Most acknowledge that creativity exists. Many can name a creative person, alive or dead, though it is amazing how many people seem to think that creativity and the afterlife go together! This chapter asserts that all individuals are naturally creative and that this is by design and not an accident of birth. Of course, some are more creative than others. However, we all have tremendous potential. The curious thing is that many of us keep our creativity under wraps. Perhaps this is because many of us find it easier this way. Many individuals and groups seem to radiate a latent hostility toward creative people. This makes about as much sense as this text trying to convince you that you do not exist!

Curiously, when Western wealth-creation activities were primarily facing a supply gap, the pearl of great price was not creativity or innovation but compliance. The pursuit of order portends a strong attraction to many ‒ usually those doing the ordering ‒ and is necessary for some of the adventures of life. If it becomes the norm ‒ the way things are done at all times ‒ it restricts the creative force. Practised to excess it can sometimes lead to a dangerous myopic condition. As the forces of change are ‘neutralised’ or managed for administrative convenience and short-term advantage so the real, long-term cost becomes staggering. Suddenly in a series of unstoppable shifts the contextual factors impacting on wealth creation undeniably enter a period of explosive change. The result is a dangerous crisis that frequently does not play the game by the rules. As instability is met by complacency, living standards are threatened. What is needed is a new management approach that is contextually aware.

In such a predicament we can place our trust in man’s ingenuity, but only if it is given sufficient space.

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Creative people in business in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America

Africa

Richard Brasher – CEO of Pick n Pay for continued supply of affordable food for all customers is motivated by the three principles of consumer sovereignty, doing good is good business and maximising business efficiency.

Yasmin Belo-Osagle ‒ developed female entrepreneurs across Africa.

Asia

Amit Agarwal – the former assistant to Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezo, established a domi- nant foothold for Amazon in India.

Jean Liu – president of Didi Kuaidi, daughter of the founder of Lenovo, built China’s largest car-sharing and taxi business.

Europe

Maria Grazia Chiuri – reinvigorated the Rome-based Valentino brand together with co-creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.

South America

Maria Claudia-Laccutre ‒ president of ProColumbia, rebranded the government agency that promotes non-traditional Columbian exports, foreign investment and international tourism.

Carlos Mario Rodriguez – completed a crossbreeding of Starbucks first-ever hybrid of a high-producing coffee plant that is rust resistant.

Sources: FastCompany, ‘Most creative people 2015 and 2016’; pick n pay website, http://www. picknpay.co.za/about-us-introduction.

Ordinary individuals just need to believe that it can happen. A vital first step is for an indi- vidual to rediscover their own creativity. It is hoped that this chapter will help many honest enquirers.

Key principles

Understanding thinking

To realise the full potential of our brains it is helpful to briefly explore how the physiology works before assessing our creative thinking potential.

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Physiology of the brain

By any account the human brain is an incredible machine. It controls all the activities and reactions of the body and is the centre of emotion, memory and personality. Whereas the heart is the functional centre, it is the pump that circulates our blood; it is the brain, the organic computer that is the true expression of life. Whereas the heart enables us to be, the brain enables us to live. It is made up of millions of very small cells called neurons. The average individual has over ten thousand million of them (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006). They are two categories of cells: those that carry information to and from the body via the spinal cord and those that cross-connect the constituent parts of the brain. Basically there are three key parts to the brain: the cerebrum, the cerebellum and brain stem or medulla oblongata, as shown in Figure 4.2.

The brain is the coordinator of the nervous system and controls most of our conscious and unconscious actions. The cerebrum is the largest and most highly developed part of the brain and on inspection looks a little like a walnut. It consists of two approximately equal halves or lobes called the cerebral hemispheres. In humans this part of the brain is so large that it has had to be wrinkled, like a walnut, to fit into our shells or skulls. The surface of the cerebrum is referred to as the cerebral cortex or grey matter. Below the cerebral cortex is the white matter that is a mass of nerve fibres connecting the cortex with the body and other parts of the brain. Information flows into the brain from the body by a process known as sensation. Messages come from the skin, muscles, eyes, ears, nose and other sense organs by the sensory nerves. The brain processes the information and then sends out responses along the motor nerves to the muscles of the body that control all the body movements. Different areas of the cortex control different parts of the body. Curiously, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa, with the centre brain somehow coordinat- ing this activity.

The cortex is the place that determines our awareness of the environment around us. The eyes look at the world and the ears listen, but it is the cortex that sees, hears and understands. It decides what responses to trigger having evaluated the external stimuli. This is where trust or suspicion is determined and it is the centre of our creativity. The cerebellum is below the cerebrum (see Figure 4.2) and assists the cerebral cortex by providing fine control of intricate movements, such as walking, writing and driving. The medulla oblongata, or brain stem, connects the cerebrum and cerebellum to the spinal cord and so to the rest of the body. This part of the brain provides a largely automatic control of the body’s internal organs.

Figure 4.2 Lateral view of cerebrum, cerebellum.

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The working brain: a synaptic wonder

Each brain cell or neuron is structurally independent. In other words, they do not come into contact with each other. They communicate with other cells by a subtle interchange of com- plex electrochemical signals, which is a process known as contiguity and was first advanced by the Spanish scientist Ramon y Cajal in 1889. Each neuron has three distinct components: the cell body or soma; the main nerve fibre or axon, which is the main exit of information transmitted by the cell; and a number of receiving branches or dendrites. Dendrites and axons range in size from a millimetre to one and a half metres in length. All along their length are little acorn-like shapes called dendritic spines or synaptic buttons that contain chemical material that provide the means for connections to be made between brain cells. This occurs when an electrical impulse travels through the liquid filled space between two adjacent cells and connects their synaptic buttons.

The amount of activity going on in the brain is incredible. It can usefully be likened to the amount of traffic through a busy electronic telephone exchange. Incoming messages are auto- matically connected to a multitude of cells as the brain processes the input stimuli to produce a suitable response or outcome. This is the product of a complex evaluation procedure that coordinates the contributions of thousands of individual brain cells and produces a distinct electromagnetic routing or pathway that is known as a memory trace. If the same or similar stimuli or enquiry is repeated, the brain automatically energises the memory traces it formed, thus speeding up the response time. This is the essence of learning. As each brain cell is capable of directing information to as many as 10,000 other brain cells in the same instant, the problem-solving potential at the individual’s disposal is virtually infinite.

Practice

Contextual factors affecting personal creativity

Anyone is capable of responding creatively. The issue is to what end and how often. Of course, some will be naturally more creative than others. Figure 4.3 illustrates some of the ways that ordinary everyday people exhibit creativity. The degree to which personal creativ- ity occurs depends on a complex set of environmental or contextual factors. Social pressures, such as the pressure to conform to group norms, can either encourage or discourage creativity depending on the value placed on such activity by the dominant social rules. Technology can trigger creativity when a new and accepted (wanted) application suddenly appears. A useful example of this is provided by the development of the electric toothbrush that took off after the technology behind rechargeable batteries was perfected. Economic factors too can play their part, as many on low budgets know when they ‘make a penny do the work of a pound’. Finally, political factors can influence creative responses. Examples of this include a variety of novel ways of ‘getting round’ ‒ legally and otherwise ‒ existing and proposed legislation. Take some time out and think of a handful of examples!

Whilst creativity will occur, to some degree, even when it is discouraged and opposed by organisations in society, its incidence increases if it is actively encouraged. This coaxing has to occur at two distinct levels: that of the individual and that of the social groups/organisations to which the individual belongs. An adult, like a child, needs to feel safe if he or she is to play creatively. Heightened tension and emotional pressure are bad for creativity. The individual has to experience a satisfactory level of safety and to trust the personnel around him or her. No trust, little creativity.

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Organisations and creativity

Organisations cannot respond creatively. What they can do, though, is to actively encour- age their individuals. Thus the incidence of creative activity is contextually governed by the degree of group and/or organisational support. At the individual level the vibes that are in the air have to be convincing. Corporate motherhood statements and other forms of ‘chin music’ are to no avail unless the ‘place feels right’. When this is the case then the people will invoke the processes and creative responses will occur.

Expressing natural skills

Whilst it is true that all individuals possess creativity ‒ it’s a gift of nature ‒ most of us fail to make the most of it. As creativity is a dynamic phenomenon, a force, we cannot learn to effectively improve our use of it by only studying the literature. If we realistically wish to develop our creativity skills then we must be prepared to have a go. The first major chal- lenge facing many individuals is to overcome their shyness and apprehension and let the genie out of the bottle. Starting with the knowledge that all individuals are creative is both reassuring and challenging. It provides comfort in that most of us are aware of our creative achievements, no matter what private beliefs we may harbour about their frequency, strength or durability. It presents a challenge in that most will readily accept that any skill can be developed by sustained exercise.

Car drivers have to overcome inhibitions and agree to take their first driving lesson. Then, despite the possibility of a few shocks and surprises, they need the resolution to see a driving tuition programme through and then to present themselves for examination. If successful, most drivers then cease to put a lot of sustained effort into improving their general driving skills. Experience on the open road does develop their driving skills in some respects but also leaves them prey to developing bad habits. Most, for example, fail to continuously update their knowledge of the Highway Code. In short, many of us become lazy. We are easily satisfied with a relatively low level of achievement. Some of us later rue this, when a sudden challenge to our skill response leaves us wanting. As the environment on the roads is constantly changing we would be wise to keep our relative skill level high. Frequently the problems we face are the result of someone else’s failings. Thus, to survive on today’s roads we need to be continuously updating both our own driv- ing skills and learning how to cope with the mistakes of others. Passing the driving test and just driving is not sufficient. Likewise, making do with our natural creativity skill level is not enough.

Action

Assessing personal creative potential

If we are intent on discovering what we can do to improve our creativity, it is helpful to start by getting a measure as to where we are now. This can be achieved, to some extent, by recourse to an appropriate audit or inventory. An improvement programme can then build on this apparent skill level. It is important to realise that such ‘tests’ are not infallible measures of our creative performance. They merely confirm that we are creative and provide some indicative evidence of the use to which we consciously put creative skills. A subsequent run- ning of the selected audit should then provide evidence of development.

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There are a number of tests widely available that can help us to get a picture of our pre- sent level of creative activity. However, few were designed exclusively to reflect creative responses. Most are intended to reveal other personal characteristics such as psychological type (Myers-Briggs and McCaulley, 1988), personality (16PF, see http://similarminds.com/ cattel-16-factor.html (accessed 15 June 2016)) and learning styles (Kolb, 1984; Honey and Mumford, 1985; Pritchard, 2014) or team working attributes (Belbin, 1981). One (Kirton, 1987) was developed to measure creative style.

Personal Creativity Audit

The Personal Creativity Audit (PCA) was developed at Durham University to provide evi- dence that individuals are creative and to give an indication of an individual’s tendency to use creativity skills in daily situations. Appendices 4.1 and 4.2 contain the PCA together with responses and scoring instructions. For any such inventory to be useful it has to be capable of measuring what it is intended to measure and to be reliable in the responses that it elicits from respondents. However, some people will inevitably try to read the algorithm to delib- erately register high scores rather than complete the inventory with a view to seeing what it says about them. Despite these reservations such inventories can provide a snapshot that can be illuminating.

Personal creativity in action

How do you think you can help yourself to release more of your natural creativity? Take a short break and try to jot down at least five ideas.

Figure 4.3 Activities that entail personal creativity.

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Here are a few exercises and ideas to help you develop your own creative thinking.

• How many potential uses can you think of for an ordinary paper clip? • Irrespective of how good an artist you judge yourself to be, grab a piece of paper

(A4 size is ideal) and try and draw a quick head and shoulders sketch of yourself. Now choose a hat from the options below.

{{ Mexican hat {{ Top hat {{ Cloth cap {{ Deerstalker {{ Chef’s hat

Now draw your chosen hat on your head and shoulders. Why did you choose the hat you did? Express your reasons in a short sentence. Would you have preferred to have chosen one of the other hats? If so, which one and

why did you pass it by? If it was because you had doubts as to whether you could draw it have a go right now.

How many uses can you think of for an ordinary builder’s brick?

Now ponder on the following:

According to all the laws of aerodynamics, a bumblebee cannot possibly fly. The bumble bee does not know this, so it goes ahead and flies anyway (Anonymous).

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap (Heimal, 1983).

• Play a track of your favourite music. How would you:

{{ Briefly describe it with words? {{ With pictures? {{ Can you hum it unaccompanied?

• Look out of the window and focus for half a minute on an object.

Now close your eyes. Think of something that has been troubling you today. Think about the object . . . make any connections? Get any good ideas? If not, try again, and you too can experience the Eureka effect!

Work environment and performance

No matter how we look at individual responses there is little doubt that the organisational work environment has a direct effect on performance. The role models, paradigms, reward systems, management culture, peer pressures, official and unofficial and psychological con- tracts all act to encourage some responses and to discourage others. This places – as will be explored in Chapters 5 and 7, a considerable responsibility on individuals who seek to work in teams. Figure 4.4 summarises four response sets that have been discovered in research work in England. If an individual is working in an environment where the management

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are highly concerned about their own interests and render poor regard to the individual’s interest, this is likely to result in programmed, robotic responses from the member of staff. This situation is typified by people going through the motions to earn their corn and is unlikely to encourage a creative attitude to the job. On the other hand, where management are concerned with the personal wishes of their staff this will trigger a reciprocal response from the individuals and will provide the opportunity for highly creative responses.

However, if these responses are not continuously encouraged and action is seen to result, this can lead, sadly, to situations where the individual becomes disenchanted. If this occurs then the goose that laid the golden egg is effectively killed and the individual will slip into the damped innovation quartile and possibly to the robot quartile.

Whilst there is merit in an individual taking stock and seeking to discover a position on an audit such as KAI (n.d.), MBTI (n.d.) or LSI (Duff and Duffy, 2002), it must be remembered that these inventories only provide, at best, some indicative information. This must then be closely vetted for its contextual relevance – most people appear to be different at home from the way they are at work. Most psychometric tests carry error propensities resulting from a variety of factors such as environmental/contextual issues, test procedures and classification typologies, and so on. Furthermore, some individuals may be discouraged by the results of such inventories and so withdraw into their shells, especially if they perceive that manage- ment are not very interested in them. Others may, unless carefully advised, believe that core behaviours and responses cannot be changed. Whilst this is true for the broad personality characteristics that tend to be set in the first 20 years of life, it is not true for several learnt behavioural responses that can be changed. Individuals can choose to change many of their behavioural responses such as learning and skill styles.

Left-brain and right-brain thinking model

Have you ever heard people say that they tend to be more of a right-brain or left-brain thinker? From books to television programmes, you’ve probably heard the phrase mentioned numerous times or perhaps you’ve even taken an online test to determine which type best describes you. In right-handed people it is thought that the left-brain lobe is the centre of

Figure 4.4 Individual response patterns.

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deductive logical thinking with the right lobe being the centre of creative thought. The pat- tern is reversed for left-handed people. The theory was first publicised by the American psychologist R. W. Sperry who was awarded the Noble Prize in 1981.

Clearly, it is desirable to gain insight into how we can maximise our thinking potential. We need both critical and creative thinking, both analysis and synthesis, both the parts and the whole to be effective in our thinking. We need reason and intuition, order and adventure. We need creative thinking to generate the new, but critical thinking to judge it. The techno- logical world enables us to access knowledge in abundance, but creativity is in short supply. Many have sought to differentiate these two kinds of thinking Table 4.1 presents a summary of the most commonly found distinctions.

According to the American psychologist R. W. Sperry, the two hemispheres of the cortex appeared to control separate, distinct intellectual enquiries (see Table 4.2).

The right hemisphere appeared to be active in the processing of the following:

• rhythm • spatial awareness • gestalt (wholeness) • imagination • colour • dimension.

Table 4.1 Exploring logical and creative thinking

Logical left-brain thinking Creative right-brain thinking

Analytic Generative Convergent Divergent Vertical Lateral Probability Possibility Judgement Suspended judgement Hypothesis testing Hypothesis forming Objective Subjective Single solution Possibility of several solutions Closed Open-ended Linear Associative Quantitative Qualitative Logical Intuitive Yes but . . . Yes and . . .

Table 4.2 Cortical hemispheres

Left-brain functions Right-brain functions

Written language Insight Number skills 3-D forms Reasoning Art awareness Spoken language Imagination Scientific skills Music awareness Right-hand control Left-hand control

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The left hemisphere, by contrast seemed to process an equally important but different pattern of memory traces covering a variety of learnt skills including:

• language • logic • quantitative ability • sequential ability • linear ability • analytical ability.

Generally speaking, the left side of the brain tends to control many aspects of language and logic, while the right side tends to handle spatial information and visual comprehension. However, recent research has shown that the brain is not as dichotomous as once thought. Today, neuroscientists know that the two sides of the brain collaborate to perform a broad variety of tasks. The left-brain and right-brain theory has been over-generalised by popular psychology and self-help texts but has its place in helping people to understand their respec- tive thinking strengths and weaknesses.

Learning skills

When the range of skills – the ability to cut, develop and maintain complex memory trace sets – of both cortical hemispheres are combined, the individual has a dazzling potential to develop his or her thinking. The equipment is there for us to generate an amazing array of responses. The degree to which we are able to do this is a function of our thinking skills and our determination to improve them.

Many of us regard thinking as a natural skill and tend to get lazy in our approaches to information processing and problem solving. Effective thinkers take care of their grey matter as an athlete takes care of his physical skills. To do our best we need to look after our brains. If we look at the incredible human machine in computer terms, as a unit of hardware, then we can work towards getting the maximum from it by paying attention to how we put it to use. Thinking can be likened to the sustained development of software. The quality of output produced by computers is directly related to the quality of the input (in terms of clarity – the what); the method of processing it (software – the how); and the performance specifica- tion of the machine (individual ability). Whilst it is true that each individual has a different potential in terms of what can be achieved, as some are just cleverer than others, many of us can improve our thinking performance by making the best use of our potential. This can be achieved by thinking about thinking to select the most appropriate approach to solving a particular problem. Many of us try to get our brains to give us an instant answer or quick fix. We turn on our hardware and use the software already installed. If this can find the required collection of memory traces then this represents our thinking. Whilst this is probably in order for familiar problems this rather mechanistic or programmed approach will not serve us too well with rather more complex and or infrequent problems. This requires total as opposed to partial thinking.

Introducing the total thinking model

Total thinking, it is posited, occurs when we seek to focus the full power of our brain on a problem. This means using the potential of both hemispheres of the cortex described

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above. Strange as it may seem, many peoples around the world choose to develop the skills in the left hemisphere to a higher level than those of the right hemisphere. This produces an over dependence on logic as a key response to stimuli and the associated tendency to try to think in terms of programmed patterns. Overdependence on such partial thinking can result from personal choice or from a perception that the intuitive, emotive and ‘arty’ skills such as colour, design, imagination, movement and sound are in general not the way to behave in public. This is curious as many of us actually take part in activities that utilise these skills in public as well as paying to view other people performing! Obviously there has been some sustained conditioning here that over time has resulted in the development of certain traditions or paradigms that preclude the regular adoption in our public lives of many right-brain skills.

Perception

Priming illusion

1000

20

30

1000

1030

1000

20

________

Add up the row of numbers out loud. What is your answer? Do it again? Most people get the wrong answer! Only look in the appendices after you have tried to this exercise.

Half-brained thinkers!

Both hemispheres of the cortex provide potentially powerful problem-solving power. In reality, all individuals will display a degree of total thinking in their private and pro- fessional lives, as they are people. The issue is the degree. In most cases it is small, as individuals tend to select a thinking style that is usually highly biased to the left hemi- sphere, so in terms of degree are predominantly partial thinkers. Gifted artistic individuals can exhibit the reverse pattern. Both will fail to achieve the benefits that flow from a better-balanced use of total thinking. In many respects such people could, with tongue in cheek, be accused of half-brained thinking! Perfection, defined as a completely balanced total thinking approach to life, is very difficult to achieve. However, as the positive benefits from minor gains in our use of both left- and right-brained thinking are so immense we are all capable of developing our problem-solving performance. The question is whether we choose to do so.

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Creative thinking applications

The following are some of the ways creative thinking can be used:

• To foster a more innovative, forward thinking culture able to respond to rapid changes in the marketplace.

• To support the development of a new, more effective innovation strategy. • To enable leaders to solve persistent problems. • To help an older more traditional organisation shake off bureaucracy and shift to a more

flexible, responsive, innovative culture. • To help develop creative thinking approaches in project work teams faced with solving

new business challenges. • To respond to the impact of technology on business processes.

The ability to demonstrate creative thinking is much in demand by companies and many may wonder just how do I, an ordinary person, develop the ability to demonstrate prowess. See the outline notes on the CPS toolbox featured in the appendix to Chapter 5.

Summary This chapter has revisited thinking. In the current business environment, individuals, groups and organisations need to sharpen their thinking skills. Whilst core knowledge (general or specific) is necessary, in times of discontinuous change it requires special thinking skills if it is

Figure 4.5 What do you see at first?

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to result in discoveries that are truly innovative. Total thinking is a process that enables the full power of people’s brains to be applied to problems that result from the challenges presented by a dynamic and competitive business environment. Success cannot now be assumed to result by steadfastly using yesterday’s processes and theories. The business world requires managers to develop a new way of doing things. This chapter has sought to show how thinking can be boosted if individuals, groups and top management personnel can learn to make use of both left- and right-brain thinking. This will enable them to discover a new expertise for today’s challenging business context. Chapter 5 seeks to equip you with a set of practical thinking tools.

Discussion questions 1 How would you explain what creativity is to a fellow student or work colleague? 2 Name three living creative business people. 3 Why is meant by the term total thinking? 4 What is the difference between logical thinking and creative thinking?

Exercises

Sexism

List as many examples of gender discrimination in the workplace as you can. See Appendix 4.3 for the top 10!

YouTube

‘Sexism Coverage Steals the Show at 2016 Olympics’ https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=eUhf-Jyy1_Y.

Beijing Express problem

Instructions

See if you can solve the problem posed below. Proceed as follows:

1 Try to solve the problem in 10 minutes maximum. If you feel that you have discovered the answer turn to Appendix 4.4 to check if you have been successful.

2 Now find a friend or colleague and see if they can solve the problem in 10 minutes maximum. If they declare the wrong answer explain how you worked out the correct solution.

Brief

• Four spies in trench coats sat in four facing seats. • They travelled the Beijing Express. • With two by the window and two by the aisle. • The arrangement was strange, as you’ve guessed. • The British spy sat on Mr B’s left. • Mr. A had a tan coloured coat. • The spy dressed in olive was on the German’s right.

82 Innovation from theory to practice

• Mr. C was the only cigar smoking man. • Mr. D was across from the American spy. • The Russian, in Khaki, had a scarf around his throat. • The British spy stared out of the window on his left.

SO WHO WAS THE SPY IN THE RUST COLOURED COAT?

References Banks, M., Calvey, D., Owen, J. and Russell, D. (2002) ‘Where the art is: Defining and managing

creativity in new media SMEs’, Creativity & Innovation Management, December, Vol. 11, Issue 4, pp. 255–64.

Belbin, M. (1981) Management Teams: Why they Succeed or Fail, Oxford, Heinemann. Breen, W. (2004) ‘The 6 Myths of Creativity’, Fast Company, December, Issue 89, pp. 75–8. Business & Management Dictionary (2007) London, Bloomsbury Business Library. Duff, A. and Duffy, T. (2002) ‘Psychometric properties of Honey & Mumford’s Learning Style

Questionnaire’, Personality and Individual Differences, 5 July, Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp. 147–63. Dundon, E. (2002) Seeds of Innovation, American Marketing Association, Chapter 1, ‘Believe in creativity’. Encyclopaedia Britannica (2006) 15th edn, Chicago, IL, Encyclopaedia Inc. Gardner, H. (1997) Extraordinary Minds: Portraits of Four Exceptional Individuals and an Examination

of Our Own Extraordinariness, New York, NY, Basic Books. Gruber, H. E. and Wallace D. B. (1999) ‘The case study method and evolving systems approach

for understanding unique creative people at work’, in Heppell, S. (ed.), Handbook of Creativity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Heimel, C. (1983) ‘Lower Manhattan survival tactics’, Village Voice, Vol. 13, p. 26. Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (1985) The Manual of Learning Styles, Maidenhead, Peter Honey

Publications. KAI (n.d.) Kirton Adaptation Index, http://www.kaicentre.com (accessed 16 November 2016). Kirton, M. J. (1987) Adaption-Innovation Theory (KAI) – Manual, 2nd edn, Hatfield, Occupational

Research Centre. Kolb, D. (1984) ‘Problem management: Learning from experience’, in Srvastra, S. and Associates

(eds.), The Executive Mind, London, Jossey Bass. Kuhn, T. (1975) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago, IL, University of Chicago Press. MBTI (n.d.) Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/

mbti-basics/ (accessed 16 November 2016). Myers-Briggs, and McCaulley, M. H. (1988) Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Palo Alto, CA, Consulting

Psychology Press. Pritchard, A. (2014) Ways of R.J Sternberg (2006), ‘The nature of creativity’, Creativity Research

Journal, Vol. 18, Issue 1, Jan., pp. 87–98. Sternberg, R. J. and Lubart T. I (1999) ‘The concept of creativity: Prospects and paradigms’, in

Sternberg, R. J. (ed.), Handbook of Creativity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Selected YouTubes ‘What Is Creativity?’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-lJdS6ofQ. ‘The Brain’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMKc8nfPATI. ‘Can You Solve the Chameleon Riddle?’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRC7_Uv72iI. ‘Left Brain vs Brain Education’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxSmOOaXrHk. ‘Balance Logical & Creative Thinking’, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query= Logical+vs+Creative+thinking.

Business creativity 83

‘How to Use the Brain More Effectively’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXJDJ8rqjLY.

‘How to Use a Mind Map’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0XzZCd2tPE.

Appendix 4.1: Personal Creativity Audit (PCA)

Instructions

1 Copy the questionnaire before attempting the audit. 2 Answer the questions honestly and as quickly as you can by placing a tick in the box that

most closely matches your characteristics. 3 Do not confer with others as you are completing the audit exercise.

Table 4.3 Personal Creativity Audit

Question Never Sometimes Fairly often Regularly

1 Do you remember your dreams as images? 2 How often do you make time for hobbies? 3 How often do you read? 4 Do you like to stick to the rules? 5 Do you listen to others’ ideas? 6 Do you inspire others? 7 How often do you show a sense of

humour? 8 Do you take part in sporting activity? 9 Are you a perfectionist? 10 Are you an optimist? 11 Do you have any ideas of your own? 12 Are you courteous? 13 How often do you hum or sing? 14 Are you predictable? 15 Do you like exercising administrative

(rank) authority? 16 Are you a good listener? 17 Are you a resourceful person? 18 Do you tend to work on one idea at a

time? 19 Do you welcome change? 20 Do you have many original ideas? 21 Do you actively promote them? 22 Are you a loner? 23 Do you like organisations with lots of

rules and identified procedures? 24 Are you self-motivated? 25 Are you a good problem solver? 26 Are you good at improvisation? 27 Do you prefer to adapt the ideas of

others? 28 Do you challenge rules if you think that

they are silly? 29 If people oppose your ideas do you give

up promoting them? 30 Do you use metaphors when

communicating key points?

84 Innovation from theory to practice

Appendix 4.2: assessing PCA performance

Instructions

1 Circle the Descriptor you selected (i.e. Never, Sometimes, Fairly Often or Regularly) in the table below.

2 Next add up your overall score and place it on the creative spectrum in Figure 4.6.

Table 4.4 Personal Creativity Audit coding

Question Never Sometimes Fairly Often Regularly

1 1 2 3 4 2 1 2 3 4 3 1 2 3 4 4 2 4 3 1 5 1 2 3 3 6 1 2 3 4 7 1 2 3 4 8 1 2 3 4 9 1 2 3 4 10 1 2 3 4 11 1 2 3 4 12 1 2 3 4 13 1 2 3 4 14 4 3 2 1 15 4 3 2 1 16 1 2 3 4 17 1 2 3 4 18 4 3 2 1 19 1 2 3 4 20 1 2 3 4 21 1 2 3 4 22 4 3 2 1 23 4 3 2 1 24 1 2 3 4 25 1 2 3 4 26 1 2 3 4 27 4 3 2 1 28 1 2 3 4 29 4 3 2 1 30 1 2 3 4

Figure 4.6 Personal creativity assessment spectrum.

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Appendix 4.3: sexism Findings of Stylist magazine survey

1 Being expected to make the tea – 43 per cent. 2 Enduring sexual innuendos – 38 per cent. 3 Having appearance/clothing commented on – 33 per cent. 4 Being accused of being pre-menstrual/menstrual – 29 per cent. 5 Being presumed less competent than male colleagues – 27 per cent. 6 Been joked about in a sexist way – 24 per cent. 7 Being paid less than male colleagues for the same job – 19 per cent. 8 Being presumed to be more junior than they are – 18 per cent. 9 Being spoken over/patronised in meetings – 18 per cent. 10 Being expected to keep the office tidy – 17 per cent.

Source: Matharu, H., ‘The top 10 sexist things that happen to women at work’, Independent, News/Business,17 September 2015.

Appendix 4.4: Beijing Express problem solution The British spy has the rust coloured coat.

Appendix 4.5: priming illusion solution The answer is 4100.