Creativity in the KnowledgeBased Society

1
Creativity in the Knowledge-Based Society

• Steven H. Kim
• ? 2001 Steven H. Kim

2
Overview

• In recent decades, the pace of life at work and
  home has accelerated as a result of technological
  changes, international trade, and global reach of
  cultural icons.
• In this dynamic environment, everyone must adjust
  quickly to new developments while exhibiting
  creativity on a steady basis.
• This primer presents a framework for creative
  decision making, identifies components of the
  creative process, examines the nature of
  difficult problems, and explores the role of
  precedents in creative problem solving.
• Understanding the ways of creativity enhances
  innovation in practical decision making.

3
Introduction

• Each person encounters problems of varying
  complexity every day of his or her life.
• The word problem is used here in a general sense
  to refer to any mental activity having some
  recognizable goal.

4
Some Views of Creativity

• Creativity been identified in the past as (C.
  Taylor, Various Approaches to, and Definitions
  of, Creativity)
• Novel perception
• Innovation
• Expression
• Psychoanalytic model
• Thinking process
• Varia anything which contributes to knowledge
• These definitions are either
• too specific
• too general, or
• too skewed

5
Attributes of Creative People

• Creative people (J. Hayes, CMU, Cognitive
  Processes in Creativity)
• Work hard.
• Are devoted to their work.
• Have higher standards than others.
• Strive for originality.
• Set their own agenda take independent action.
• Display more flexibility than others.
• Do not have higher IQs or better school grades
  when adjusted for age education.
• ? These attributes are all motivational, not
  cognitive.
• Cognitive abilities do not differentiate
  creative from noncreative people.

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Attributes of Problems

• Problems may be characterized by three dimensions
  relating to domain, difficulty, and size.
• The domain refers to the realm of application.
• These realms relate to science, technology, arts,
  social crafts, etc.
• The dimension of difficulty pertains to the
  conceptual challenge involved in identifying an
  acceptable solution to the problem.
• A difficult problem is one that admits no obvious
  solution, nor even a well-defined approach to
  seeking it.
• The size denotes the magnitude of work or
  resources required to develop a solution and
  implement it.
• This attribute differs from the notion of
  difficulty in that it applies to the stage which
  comes after a solution has been identified.

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Components of the Creative Process

• The components of the creative process may be
  broadly categorized in terms of a problem, the
  resolution process, and the solution itself.
• The problem or task sets in motion the ideation
  phase.
• Since the solution for a difficult task cannot be
  obtained in a straightforward fashion, the
  ideation phase consists of a sequence of
  generate-and-test cycles
• Potential solutions or intermediate results are
  concocted, evaluated for their utility, and
  examined to guide the next cycle of idea
  generation.
• The new solution may represent a minor variation
  on an existing candidate, or a radically new
  approach.
• This procedure usually continues until an
  acceptable solution is found.
• At other times, the procedure may be aborted
  before a final resolution is reached.

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Means and Ends

• Much has been written in the past about
  procedures for solving straightforward problems,
  as well as creativity in the arts, sciences, and
  daily life.
• According to the traditional perspective, problem
  solving (means) and creativity (ends) are
  distinct phenomena.
• In reality, creativity is the byproduct of the
  means to a worthwhile end.
• Creativity is therefore a secondary attribute.

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Nature of Difficult Problems

• The term problem is used in a general sense to
  refer to any task that requires resolution.
• These tasks may range from solving a mathematical
  problem to formulating a business strategy from
  generating an engineering prototype to conceiving
  an artistic design.
• A problem is called easy if the identification of
  an acceptable solution is straightforward.
• A hard or difficult problem is one whose
  resolution is not readily discernible.
• Difficulty in resolving a problem often relates
  to the route rather than the destination the
  desired objective may be known, but not its means
  of attainment.

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Well-Defined and Ill-Defined Problems

• Difficult problems tend to be ill-structured in
  the sense that they cannot be readily stated in
  precise terms.
• E.g. In the desire to enhance the quality of
  life, how do you define quality?
• On the other hand, a problem can be stated
  precisely without being susceptible to ready
  resolution.
• Attaining immortality is a straightforward goal
  with no obvious solution.
• If a problem can be resolved through a
  straightforward recipe, we say that the problem
  has an algorithmic solution.
• An algorithmic procedure is one that is often
  guaranteed to find the best solution to the
  stated problem.
• Many well-defined problems offer no known
  algorithmic solutions.
• Even a simplified domain such as chess admits no
  surefire strategies for success. But not all is
  lost without algorithms.

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Nature of Creativity

• Creativity may be regarded from a static or
  dynamic viewpoint.
• The former perspective focuses on the
  relationships among the components of the
  solution.
• The latter emphasizes the sequence of events
  leading to the solution.

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Static View of the Solution

• Multidistance Principle A creative solution
  contains elements exhibiting both proximal and
  distal characteristics (Kim, 1990a).
• The elements are close in the sense that they
  exhibit a common theme relating to the problem at
  hand.
• Yet by the definition of creativity, there must
  be least one feature that separates them so that
  they are not normally perceived as neighbors in
  the space of concepts.
• The proximal aspects may be clear to the problem
  solver, but the distal features are more subtle.
• If the situation were otherwise, the solution
  would be obvious and therefore uncreative.

13
Dynamic View of Creative Generation

• Dynamic aspect of creativity refers to the
  process of generating a solution to a difficult
  problem.
• Hallmark of the dynamic phase is the fusion of
  alternative trains of thought in a process of
  positive or negative interference.
• Creativity consultant Edward de Bono has referred
  to the dynamic aspect as lateral thinking, to
  denote the fusion of parallel trains of thought.
• This is in contrast to vertical thinking,
  relating to a straightforward process of
  deduction.
• Integration of the static and dynamic
  perspectives is embodied in many innovative
  ideas.
• E.g. Darwins notion of natural selection arose
  after reading Malthus Essay on Population.

14
Evolution or Revolution?

• Major advances in science seem to occur through a
  series of novel paradigms or models.
• The paradigms are viewed as sudden or
  revolutionary phenomena, each of which is
  followed by a quiescent period during which
  scientific advances occur incrementally, by
  filling in the gaps in the paradigm and perhaps
  expanding it in minor ways.
• The solution to most difficult problems lies not
  in a solitary idea, but in a collection of them.
• However, the evolutionary nature of ideas has
  been characterized by Douglas Hofstadter, a
  computer scientist, as variation on an underlying
  theme.
• The cognitive psychologist Jay Paul Guilford
  voiced a kindred view in asserting that no idea
  is 100 percent novel.

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Rules for Creative Work

• Creativity is the child of joyful work.
• Principle of Gravity
• Take your work seriously.
• Principle of Levity
• Strive to enjoy your work.

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Need for Reform

• Proper incentives
• Reward action, not words.
• E.g. Pay for a star programmer in the U.S. is
  more than 10 times the average programmers wage.
• Tolerance for failure
• Silicon Valley embraces failure, while Route 128
  does not.
• Give prizes and recognition for grand failures.
• Proper disincentives
• Demote or transfer out workers who do not yield
  results, including managers.
• Meaningful metrics
• E.g. 50 of revenues must be from products
  introduced during past 3 years.
• Publish metrics of performance
• E.g. comparison of productivity with Intel,
  Microsoft, IBM in the U.S.

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Conclusion

• Contrary to popular perception, creativity is not
  a mysterious process or attribute.
• It is a secondary property of a solution to a
  difficult problem.
• An enhanced understanding of creativity sets the
  foundation for a systematic approach to
  innovative decision making.
• In a society of knowledge, it is imperative to
  understand the ways of creativity and to apply
  innovative thinking to problem solving at work,
  school, and home.