Unit III Essay & Project

Overcoming Barriers to Creative Thinking

Now that you are familiar with the creative-thinking process and have employed innovative strategies to complete several assignments, you will learn about potential barriers to creativity and how to overcome them in Unit III.

Ruggiero (2015) describes the following habits that can hinder creativity:

The mine-is-better habit: It is common to be attached to your own ideas, but in order to move beyond the traditional, status-quo approach to problem solving, it is important to be open to the ideas of others as well.

Face-saving: If an error or mistake is made, it can be difficult to acknowledge any fault. Rather than seeking to rationalize the original faulty decision, if you recognize the source of the error and quickly move past it, you have an opportunity to adopt a new process or procedure to avoid repeating the error.

Resistance to change: Any type of change can be overwhelming and challenging. For some, change can feel traumatic, but change is necessary to implement progressive strategies. As an organizational leader, by embracing rather than resisting change, you can assist other employees in welcoming the changes that might benefit the business.

Conformity: We must conform, to some degree, in our personal and professional lives, but innovative thinking, by definition, is one of non-conformity. A willingness to express individual perspectives, especially when they differ from others' ideas, can often propel a business toward creative solutions.

Stereotyping: The tendency to generalize stifles innovation. If you attempt to predict behaviors and outcomes based only on prior experiences or preconceived ideas, it can be difficult to envision new results that might emerge. Questioning preconceived ideas will enable you to imagine new possibilities.

Self-deception: Recall the concepts of truth and knowledge discussed in Unit II. Ruggiero (2015) advised that there are many ways of knowing and suggested that sometimes the information gathered is not complete or accurate. Self-deception is another way that information can be distorted. Inconvenient truths can easily be dismissed to rationalize a behavior or a belief that you want to hold onto; however, this dismissal of information does not change the truth of the situation. It is important to assess situations, ideas, and beliefs critically and accurately in order to make effective decisions and solve complex problems.

Recognizing these bad habits is the first step to overcoming them. The benefits to creative thinking discussed in Unit I and Unit II provide motivation for leaders to strive to avoid these barriers and to encourage others to overcome them.

Being interested in the corporation, the employees, and the society the business operates in is an important trait for organizational leaders. Organizational leaders who are curious and have genuine and varied interests can inspire others to regain their curiosity as well by using the following techniques (Ruggiero, 2015):

1. Be observant: How much do you notice (or not) in the course of your day? Challenge yourself to be more observant, and look for ways to use that information in your personal and professional lives.

2. Look for imperfections: When you observe a flaw, consider the type of opportunities it might present. Does it indicate a need for a new product, or a new process for completing a task? Flaws can often become the spark for new ideas to emerge.

3. Note dissatisfaction: When you feel dissatisfied or notice that others are dissatisfied, identify what might be causing the dissatisfaction. Are you able to find a remedy to remove the source of frustration?

4. Search for causes: Strive to make connections to understand why things are the way they are. This process can be useful in identifying processes that need improvement and understanding why certain processes, products, and procedures work well.

5. Be sensitive to implications: Strong leaders often anticipate that the decisions they make will affect others in both small and significant ways.

6. Recognize opportunities, including in controversies: When you are involved in a controversy or conflict, do you tend to get bogged down in the cause of the conflict? This is an understandable initial response, but innovative leaders find a way to use the conflict to make improvements. Does the controversy present an opportunity to adopt a new process or try a new approach?