Creativity in Business

MBA 899

CREATIVITY IN BUSINESS

Level 1

• All of your work for this module should be contained within a single file.
• It is okay to complete the work in any order, but please keep the responses in order.
• Turn in work using Blackboard using the upload link associated with the assignment (as you did in the Rollcheck assignment) .
• Please submit your responses only or color code them to help me out as I review your work and look for ways to provide value-added comments. It helps not to have to search for your responses buried in the instructions.
• For some activities,  you are asked to provide an “instructional report”. This just means to include information that may be helpful to classmates so they may learn from your efforts.
• Many activities ask you to use a work related challenge. You can use a personal challenge from a current job or a previous job, or you may use a generic work related challenge such as given in the examples below.
• Hours of effort are assigned for each major section as an estimate only. Note that some activities such as the Field Assignments might be completed at work or as part of your daily routine (e.g., Dukes of Habit).

I encourage you to find your own business challenges to use in this work to help tap into the important aspect of intrinsic motivation. Research suggests that intrinsic motivation is key to engaging the subconscious and maintaining the energy needed to explore new patterns and ideas.  This is a great opportunity to tie this course into your own interests and goals by developing challenges that are meaningful to you.  

If you are having problems thinking of challenges, look through the Thinkertoys chapters as the author offers a number of examples from business, see the list of generic challenges given below, or  visit the BB discussion forum Challenges at Work to get ideas from classmates. If you still can’t find a challenge to use, let me know and I will be glad to try to help.

Examples of Challenges to Consider

A few general examples of challenges include: finding ways to get direct reports to solve their own problems, developing more effective onboarding strategies for new employees, improving team communication, merging cultures from acquisitions, improving managing up abilities, motivating a sales team to reach goals near the end of the quarter, improving the customer experience, starting a new business, growing an existing business, managing conflict, better time management skills, better stress management skills, becoming a better listener, improving hiring processes, improving retention rates, developing a better design for a product/process at work, and finding new ways to show appreciation to co-workers.

A.  PERSONAL CREATIVITY (~12 hours)

1. This movie presents basic concepts that are supported by research in cognitive psychology, but presented at a  higher level of abstraction in a more interesting and memorable way as compared to reading the research papers. Award winning National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones uses the metaphor of cameras and photography to make key points about creativity.  

Watch the short movie (~17 minutes) by Dewitt Jones called Everyday Creativity. http://www.everydaycreativityfilm.com/ 

Post a comment in the discussion thread Everyday Creativity about the movie that expresses your views, insights you gained, something you found interesting, etc. (~6 - 8 sentences). Please also post at least 1 response to a classmate’s comment to help stimulate discussion and exchange of ideas.

Thinkertoys

We are using this book because it is the best book I have found for beginning to develop creativity. Each chapter contains examples, step-by-step “blueprints”, quotes and visual illustrations to help make key points. The international management consultant’s organization took a survey of all its members, soliciting the best books for consultants. Thinkertoys was in the top 10 (they didn’t list the ranking for the top 10). Be aware that different techniques are more naturally preferred for different personality types, and that even if a technique is not your favorite, you can stretch your abilities by recognizing this as an opportunity for development.

2. Read Chapters 1 - 4. What are the general differences of Linear Thinkertoys and Intuitive Thinkertoys (you may want to read ahead a bit to formulate an answer)? Which do you think will be more challenging for you? (~2 or 3 sentences)

 3. Do the Tick-Tock exercise on page 5 (include 3 ticks/3 tocks) and include your work in your report.   How does the Tick Tock exercise relate to the image on page 7?  (~1 or 2 sentences) 

4.  Look at the image on page 10.  Notice how your mind fills in the identical letters in a different way based on expectations.   With this in mind, do the Creative Affirmation exercise described on page 9 and try to be creative with your affirmations!  I encourage you to write these affirmations in your Idea Journal (or any other journal), and then type them in your report. One of the intended values of a journal is to help you keep your creative thinking alive after the course is over, and having these affirmations written in your journal would be helpful.