Creativity and Problem-Solving

INTRODUCTION

In this lesson, we will present the definition of creativity and its key characteristics: relevance and novelty. Through examples by brainstorming and six hats tools, the student will learn how to enhance the quantity and quality of the creative ideas.

Once this lesson is completed and approved, learners will be able to:

• Understand the concept of creativity based on the level of relevance and novelty.
• Explore the use of the brainstorming tool to make a list of ideas and discover how creativity emerges.
• Develop the concepts of novelty and relevance and learn how to find the most creative and valuable ideas.

WHAT IS CREATIVITY

What is creativity? Creativity is not a mystical force that enlightens only a few. Creativity is not only something that is tangible and recognizable; it is also learnable. It is essential that you enhance your creative abilities because it is needed to solve problems with two characteristics, relevance and novelty.

• Relevance is the degree to which a solution solves the problem thoroughly.
• Novelty is the degree of difference or originality that that solution exhibits.

Practice solving problems with higher degrees of relevance and novelty will train us to generate ideas in greater quantity and quality, and that is creativity.

Artistry is often mistaken for creativity, but artistry is the skill of creating beauty, not the ability to solve problems. Just because one can not draw or paint doesn't mean one is not creative. These are two separate skill sets.

CREATING A LIST OF IDEAS

The creative process always begins with the creation of a large number of new ideas

In a brainstorming exercise where a list with ideas is created, usually, the first few items on the list are most likely the more obvious ideas, and the last few items on the list are typically a bit more unusual.

This is because the first ones are easy, but you had to stretch the imagination more to continue generating ideas.

As a piece of takeaway advice, never quit the creative process too soon because continuing the process will lead to the most potent ideas.

Idea generation has a shape that can be graphed. The vertical axis is Q, the quantity or quality of the ideas that are generated. The horizontal axis is T, the amount of time taken to create those ideas.

In a brainstorming session, the first ideas come early and fast. Those are the ones everyone generates, but it became harder to generate ideas as the process comes along. There is a lull in that ideation until some comes across a divergent idea that sparked a second set of novel ideas before bottoming out.

Idea Generation:

Image: Portigal, S. (2015) Soft skills are hard https://www.slideshare.net/steveportigal/soft-skills-are-hard-45029654. 23/02/2015  Slideshare slide 55/61 [13/06/2021]

This is the shape of ideation, and it plays out this way consistently.

Creativity is a skill you can cultivate. The most creative responses in a brainstorming exercise are drawn from one’s experience, perspective, and years of indirect and inadvertently training to solve problems quickly, not because creativity is a supernatural talent.

This is a trainable, learnable skill. Those who excel at it do so because they've consciously been practicing problem-solving with relevance and novelty. This is the key to creative training.

THE ROLE OF RELEVANCE

Relevance is the degree to which a problem is solved fully.

All solutions are not created equal. Some solutions solve only a part of the problem. Another, even cause more problems than they solve.

Every idea that we generate carries a degree of relevance. If we learn how to solve problems with a high degree of relevance, we improve the creativity in the solution.

Adults typically excel at relevance. Looking at the following graph, the first torrent of ideas in any brainstorming session is usually of very relevant issues that solve the problem thoroughly, but these ideas generally lack novelty.

Image: Kempinski, N. (2012) The hump. In Who is Nock? 14/05/2012 https://whoisnick.com/the-hump/ [13/06/2021]

Usually, the ideas that you think least creative are the ones that have the most relevance. On the other hand, novelty is what makes an idea innovative but, without relevancy, that idea's worthless.

The goal is to identify how to generate ideas that maintain that relevance so that we can begin to add novelty.

If you want to learn to generate ideas quickly, you have to determine the minimum outcome for success. This concept stands for what has to happen, at least, for the problem to be considered solved.

If you get an idea that doesn’t feature that problem, it is irrelevant how novel the solution becomes. Relevance and novelty are both needed.

In every problem you encounter, the first thing to look at is to identify the minimum outcome. With that, you have your necessary idea foundation, and then,  you're free to add novelty to the equation.

THE ROLE OF NOVELTY

Relevance is the intensity and effectivity by which a problem is solved. Novelty is the degree of originality and uniqueness of the solution.

Novelty is often seen as the most critical characteristic of the quality of an idea. We value the ideas that are new, special, unknown, and cut through the normalcy of an experience. On the other hand, Relevance is often assumed in a solution. To consider a problem solved, relevance is taken for granted. Ump in the graph

The first bump in the previous graph represents the relevant ideas, those that came easy. The second bump references ideas that are more novel and went after the relevant ones are exhausted. The ideas in the second bump could be described by the low-hanging fruit analogy and are usually less relevant than the first ones.

Note: The myth of the “Low Hanging Fruit” means that the fruit in the lowest part of a tree is easy to collect, takes the amount if effort or energy, and also supposes a low level of risk. This easy stuff in a company also energizes the least amount of people.

How could we generate ideas that are both relevant and novel?

As adults, we are used to defining solutions to problems, but we struggle with absurdity because we think those do not solve the problem. Then we start with relevance.

Kids think on the other way round, they struggle with relevance and excel at novelty. Kids could help us to think more creatively.

If we want to practice novelty effectively, we have to go to the extreme and play in an absurd space. To obtain novel ideas is easier, to begin with, a ridiculous idea and then pull them back into relevancy than other ways.

What would you have to do to make that actually buildable?

For instance, if one of your features was, say, a racing track with treats. Pulling that back might look like a treadmill with a scrolling background behind it. It may take keeping the concept behind the solution but restructuring the execution to be more relevant. Novelty has become the guarantee of creative quality, but relevance remains necessary to ensure that the problem is solved by that idea.

If you think about the ideas you frequently generate, would you say that these ideas are crazy, or would you need a push to define them as novel?

The truth is, most of the ideas that we produce have to be pushed forward into the creative territory.

SOURCE: Collins, B. (2017) Here’s what Hans Zimmer says about the shameful agony of creativity. In Mission.org 31/08/2017 from https://medium.com/the-mission/heres-what-hans-zimmer-says-about-the-shameful-agony-of-creativity-eb28e00940e4 [13/06/2021]

As you see in the figure, the most ordinary ideas are further away from the “your best idea zone” than the absurd ones. Then, it would be easier to pull ideas back from absurdity than to push them forward from ordinary. For us, it is easier to add relevance to an absurd idea than to add novelty to a relevant one.

The issue that holds us back from starting with crazy ideas is because, too often, our goal is approval rather than innovation.

If we work in any form of the business environment, we spend most of our professional time generating ideas for approvals rather than innovative solutions. From our boss's approval to the client's approval, most of the ideas we generate are meant to pass some form of the approval process.

Here it is an example, in an article of Hans Zimmer, where he talks about creativity and how this composer search for absurd ideas when it comes to creating a new music film: https://medium.com/the-mission/heres-what-hans-zimmer-says-about-the-shameful-agony-of-creativity-eb28e00940e4

Hans Zimmer recommends: “The next time you are struggling with a creative project, try to come up with as many absurd ideas as possible… then seek what is relevant.

Another example of embracing absurdity is the design of an innovative and playful pool table as an exercise of fueling creative thinking:

Source: Fast Company, 3 July 2016. 10 Exercices to fuel creative thinking https://www.fastcompany.com/3057486/10-exercises-to-fuel-creative-thinking [13/06/2021]

Here, there is another example related to China’s cultural heritage, bringing to life “Mistic trees” through multimedia effects.

Source: Marek Hilge, H. (2021) Mystic Tree show. Bringing China’s Cultural Heritage to life by leveraging the magic of multimedia in https://www.henryhilge.com/8359125/mystic-tree-show  [13/06/2021]

CONCLUSIONS

Creativity is the resolution of a problem with a high degree both in relevance and novelty.

When crafting new ideas, the idea generation can be graphed in a double bump figure. The first bump describes the first group of ideas that usually come early and fast and are relevant to solve the problem but typically lack novelty. The second bump corresponds to a second and harder stage that sparks around a new divergent idea put onto the table when the first ones are exhausted. This second torrent of ideas is more creative.

To obtain creative ideas, it is easier to pull down an absurd idea that pushes forward a relevant one. Several examples of innovative ideas have been shared in the lesson as an example.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Collins, B. (2017) Here’s what Hans Zimmer says about the shameful agony of creativity. In Mission.org 31/08/2017 from https://medium.com/the-mission/heres-what-hans-zimmer-says-about-the-shameful-agony-of-creativity-eb28e00940e4 [13/06/2021]

Courseware (2019) Creativity: Thinking out of the box. Courseware.com

Fast Company, 3 July 2016. 10 Exercices to fuel creative thinking https://www.fastcompany.com/3057486/10-exercises-to-fuel-creative-thinking [13/06/2021]

Gray, D.; Brown, S,; Macanufo, J. (2010) Gamesorming. A playbook for innovators, Rulebreakers, and changemakers. O’Reilly Media Eds.

Marek Hilge, H. (2021) Mystic Tree show. Bringing China’s Cultural Heritage to life by leveraging the magic of multimedia in https://www.henryhilge.com/8359125/mystic-tree-show  [13/06/2021]

Mumaw, S. (2020) Creativity. Generate Ideas in Greater Quantity and Quality. LinkedIn Learning.

Seelig, T. (2017) Creativity Rules. Get Ideas Out of your head and into the world. HarperOne Eds.

Here you have the content of this lesson in pdf: