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Project Management

5. Creativity as a value creation tool

Clip 915 – Think diff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmwXdGm89Tk

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Creativity is a tool

• The idea of creativity was developed at the end of 60’s and was divided into three parts:

• The capability to be creative• The creation process• Tools and techniques to help our creative skills

• Creativity is a everyone’s ability. Each man, independently from his gender, age, race or religion, has a creative potential. Creative potential means “The ability to have original and effective ideas” (J.P. Guilford)

• “Life is a tangle of routine and creativity” (A. Maslow)

• In every business organization, the manager has two main missions as well: conservation and innovation

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• Making questions is the first skill of a innovator manager, researcher, genius…

• Making questions is often more and more important rather than finding answers. Questions are movement (moveo?), answers are routine

• We learn more from our errors, because errors force us to re-done the process. If all is right, we are not forced to go over the process again

• The discovery of America was an error… Colombo left Europe with wrong informations…

• Routine means: “No brain process”

Creativity is a tool

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• Starting from prehistory, men created; but they realized that it was more easy reproduce rather than creating

• This fact defined the division between creative roles and reproducer roles. This division is nowadays evident in our society, in our organizations, in our companies

• Who become innovator break the process (and breaking process causes a physiological discomfort - try a neurochemical discomfort). This is evident in some social systems, where innovative persons are socially excluded, because they pose a threat to stability (in the history, only Creta – Minosses – and Athen – Pericle – accepted creativity as a social value)

Clip 804 – Carpe Diem innovating

00:20:12 – 00:23:53

Creativity is a tool

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• Up to 50’s, the industrial cognitive model was based on stability: every man could have success into the society by applying standard solutions invented by experts

• The school system itself is still based on the QI (Binet & Simon), on the convergence intelligence, on deductive system to create a thought and on the ability to replicate the models learnt

• The convergence intelligence is good to manage repetitive situations, but it is completely ineffective to understand innovations, to invent solutions never tried, to create innovation

Creativity is a tool

Clip 984-985 – TEDx school kills creativity

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• Starting from 60’s the environment become turbulent with unexpected situations very hard to manage (market, politic, social, ethic…)

• Thus, the ability to find alternative and new solutions, new answers, new paths got important even more rather than improving existing solutions. This ability was called “Divergent intelligence”

• To create means “making a real and appropriate assembly, by using existent elements” (H. Jaoui, 2000)

• This definition is good for an idea, a concept, a product, a engineered process, a poem…

• Changing your traditional view… might make you wonder!

Creativity is a tool

Clip 805 – Carpe Diem Change

00:41:14 – 00:42:55

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Principle 1: Every one of us has a huge un-explored potential

• In the past, learning was based on study and experience that passed to people all the necessary tools and use instructions => competence = existing models reproduction = success

• Nowadays everyone feel the need to put into discussion all the acquired models and to invent others more effective

• The creative potential, the divergence intelligence, the right part of brain processes, defines four main factors:• Brain fluidity (number of answers possible to face a problem or stimulus)• Brain flexibility (how is the answers variability)• Ideas originality (ability to express innovative and neverseen ideas)• Ideas elaboration capacity (ability to pass from ideas to actions, with a powerful

connection to energy and motivation)

Hubert Jaoui, “la Créativité mode d’emploi”, ESF éditeur, 1990-2000

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 1: Every one of us has a huge un-explored potential

Creative person

Believes in some idealsFeels confortable with himselfDreamCourageGood humor / sense of

humorSense of beautyWill and persistanceSinthesysWinning willSensitivityCommunication skill

Life enjoyCuriosityNarcissism

Manual skills / bricolageCritical senseAmbitiousYoung spiritCommon sensIntuitionDynamism

Non creative person

ShynessStrenght excessBrain rigidityAutocompiacimentoTimore del ridicoloAlways criticNon-listenerApathyNon lickingProudsAggressiveFair/ anxietySpecializationLazinessDiscouragement

RoutineLuxuryPessimismContempt for somebody

Test

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 2: This potential can be developed

1. You need to wish to do it (willingness)2. You have to recognize any restraint to this development:

• Social restraints (conformism, fears, too much respect of traditions)• Psychological restraints (staidness, game belittling, humour, emotions)• Logical restraints (too much importance to deductive reasoning,

rationality prevalence upon fantasy)3. Training

Attention! We cannot be creative in discomforting and painful situations … we have to manage the context and the company atmosphere… Game is the decisive tool

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 3: Working together

• The main tool at the base of innovation is the so called “Bi-association” (Koestler) = putting together (in a mental or physical way) two element that never meet each other. The combination, if original and valid, is creation

• This tool is more easy if is used in a group formed by people from different culture, skills and character

• The running team will amplify the contribution: 2+2>4.

Clip 801 – Apollo 13 piolo quadrato

(Chapt 12) 1:16:28 1:24:31

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 4: Use simple tools to analyse and solution hunting

• The problem solving models are effective, but they need to describe the problem in a correct and complete way (problem definition: a good question is half answer – R. Valentini, 1999)

• We can disassemble problems into sub problems more easy to be solved, but this implies a effort of logic and immagination (Cartesio)

• Facing a problem:• Approach it without prejudice• Be curious in an active way without limits• Explore under different point of view• Disassemble the problem and re-build it to watch sub-targets and priority

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 4: Use simple tools to analyze and solution hunting

• The brain map – was invented by the British pedagogue Tony Buzan as a way to take notes

• Starting from one word or idea, we can write the ideas-association around the original one, joining them together in a grid. Thus for each idea we can repeat the same process and so on…

• The brain map is effective to report an argument and it can help a creation process

A

AAAB

ACAD

ABBABC

ACA

ACD

AABTest

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 4: Use simple tools to analyze and solving hunting

• The creative analysis – this tool is a two-step one: during the first phase we have to re-define more and more the problem or the target with different words

• Now, write sentences starting with “How can I do…?”, or “My target will be achieved if….” and, please, complete them…

• During the second step you have to read the sentences and choose what looks more suitable regarding the situation

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 5: To have a lot of creative ideas (= original, interesting and concrete)

• Double funnel method – the base principle of each creative thought is the division between two step: one opening step (divergence) and a moment of focus (convergence)

• During the divergence step our mind must be free without any prohibition, free and able to imagine all. It is very important to avoid every form of censorship and critique

• In the focus step we have to come back to the convergence brain to be able to evaluate the ideas from the previous phase

• Open-close, divergence-convergence…. It is the live movement (heart thudding, breath, see movement)

Creativity is a tool

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Principio 5: To have a lot of creative ideas (= original, interesting and concrete)

• Use different creative tools at the same moment – ideas association,, sequential thought, lateral thought, ….

• One of the most powerful tool of our brain is the ability to manage a lot of processes at the same time (multitask)

• When you face a problem, you always set two or more alternative thinking processes. If some of them meets an obstacle, you can carry on with the rest of the thought. Very often you discover that the second option is elaborated by the brain when you sleep, by a background process

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 5: To have a lot of creative ideas (= original, interesting and concrete)

• Magic thought method – a magic idea is a fantastic idea, the ideal answer to a problem we have to face (the fantastic machines of Giulio Verne, the Leonardo’s projects are an example of magic thought)

• Creation, often, means to imagine a wonderfully effective idea (in theory) and apparently not feasible, then thinking about the way to make it feasible

Esempio pens magic

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 5: To have a lot of creative ideas (= original, interesting and concrete)

• The Brainstorming – 50 years ago, a New Yorker advertising manager, Alex Osborn, realized that during the meetings, a lot of time (80%) was wasted to criticize and destroy other people’s ideas

• Osborn thought to divide the meeting into two parts: 45 minutes of free expression, when everybody could express freely all what was passing through their brain, without fear to be criticized, and 45 minutes of evaluation and analysis of declared ideas

• Game rules:• Censorship not allowed• Quantity first of all• Eccentricity welcomed• Systemic multiplication

Creativity is a tool

Clip – Steve Job NeXt Brainstorming Think diffhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNeXlJW70KQ

Clip – Steve Job 1997 Apple Brainstorming Think diff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMQhOm-Dqohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keCwRdbwNQY

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Principle 5: To have a lot of creative ideas (= original, interesting and concrete)

• The analogy – when brainstorming didn’t produce a satisfied idea, we can use the analogy

• It consists in finding a similarity between a thing in the natural world and the solution we are looking for

• Es.: analogy between a spider web and the fisherman’s net; between the eyelid and the car glass viper; bat’s driving system and the radar….

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 6: Do you know how to buy and sell ideas? (to direction and to colleagues)

• In order to be able to sell, we have to listen very well the other man, in order to discover needs, wishes and deliver a proposal correctly and honesty to satisfy him

• A new idea meets two kind of obstacle:• The more original it is, the more difficult it is to tell• If the idea puts under discussion routines, organizations and/or

marked territories, it is felt as dangerous (remember professor Keating!). Thus we have to do a good marketing to our idea and correctly locate into the market and accordingly to internal projects

• We have to grow up in communication skills to be prompt to show the ideas every moment

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 6: Do you know how to buy and sell ideas? (to direction and to colleagues)

• An obstacle to a full comprehension of a new idea is strictly connected to how our brain works. As a mater of fact we can understand only the ideas for what our mind is ready

• “…if a day I would have an idea really innovative, I will be unable to understand it” (J. Piaget)

• A scientist proved a joint between new ideas comprehension and love – affectivity – (S. Baruk): to be able to understand a new idea, we have to love it, welcome it with love..

• The angel’s Advocate technique – is a listener technique in opposition to the trend to criticize the new ideas

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 6: Do you know how to buy and sell ideas? (to the Board and

to colleagues)? “Angel’s Advocate”• Listen to the idea and try to repeat it with your own words. Verify if your pair

agrees with the meaning of the repeated idea; use words like: “If I get it right, your idea is….”. The target of this phase is to verify the real comprehension about the idea and to point out attention and interest

• Look for an aspect or a part that you like within the idea. Use words like: “What I like in your idea is…”. Being honest is essential. This part helps you to adopt a positive and cooperative attitude within the organization…. Cooperative attitude is active inside our class

• Idea’s actual analysis. Here we can find weaknesses or criticalities. These need to be conveyed by using the sentence: “…and… how do you think you can overcome the problem related to….”

• The adoption of this technique constructive interactions, facilitate ideas understanding and boosts empathy

Creativity is a tool

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Principle 7: Channel energies on common success goals• We have a lot of methods and models to be creative, very often the

insufficient resource is energy = willingness to achieve the target and the ability to channel the largest part of our resources on the defined target:• By spreading a vision of the future in which most colleagues are willing to

indentify themselves• By stirring to take the initiative and risks, recognizing then, the right to

make mistakes (through mistakes you grow up, within freedom you create, within relationship you find values).

• By sustaining innovators (remember Steve Jobs!)• By acting and infecting others with positive thinking: any problem has at

least two solutions• Human energy is spontaneously channelling in a positive, creative and

cooperative direction. Only when it encounters obstacles (actual or imaginary) the energy can turn into negative and destructive. So: knock obstacles down!

Creativity is a tool

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Die Slowly, He who becomes the slave of habit, who follows the same routes every day, who never changes pace, who

does not risk and change the colour of his clothes, who does not speak and does not experience, dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion, who prefers black on white, dotting ones is rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer, that turn a yawn into a smile, that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings, dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy, who is unhappy at work, who does not risk certainty for uncertainty, to thus follow a dream, those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives, die slowly.

He who does not travel, who does not read, who does not listen to music, who does not find grace in himself, she who does not find grace in herself, dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem, who does not allow himself to be helped, who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops, dies slowly.

He or she who abandons a project before starting it, who fails to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know, he or she who doesn't reply when they are asked something they do know, dies slowly.

Let's try and avoid death in small doses, reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.

Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.”

“Die Slowly” - Pablo Neruda

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