Blocks to Creativity, and how to remove them

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Blocks to Creativity, and how to remove them

• Bonnie Cramond
• University of Georgia

Adams, J. L. (2001). Conceptual blockbusting A
guide to better ideas. Cambridge Perseus.
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Warmup--Activity 1Did you read both ands?

• Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater had had a wife and
  couldnt keep her he put her in a pumpkin shell
  and and there he kept her very well.

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Most People Wont

• unless they have seen this or suspect something.
• BlockWe tend to see what we expect to see.
• Thats why we are often not good proof readers of
  our own work
• That is also why we often stereotype.

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Activity 2

• Draw no more than 4 straight lines
• without lifting your pencil from the paper
• cross through every dot once
• One solution is to go beyond the boundaries of
  the rectangle formed by the dots.

. . . . . . . . .
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Alternative Responses

• Cut the dots out, line them up and use 1 straight
  line.
• Curve the paper around and use 1 winding line.

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Activity 3 Use 6 Pencils to Make 4 Equilateral
Triangles

• Use the 6 pencils to create 4 equilateral
  triangles
• The ends of the pencils create the angles
• Dont break the pencils
• One solution here is to create a 3-dimensional
  object. If three of the pencils form a tent over
  the three in the base, all directions are
  followed.

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Block

• Another block is the tendency to delimit the
  problem area too closely.
• The directions did not say that you had to stay
  within the rectangle formed by the dots, or that
  the triangles had to be in a flat plane, but
  people usually make that assumption, limiting
  their solutions.
• Other assumptions, for the 9 dot problem, are
  that the paper cant be cut or turned, or the
  writing implement cant be very large.

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Activity 4

• A general wants to send his army in a surprise
  attack on the enemy camp. However, if he sends
  the whole army in, they will be noisy and lose
  the element of surprise. If he only sends part
  of the army in, they may be quiet, but they will
  be outnumbered. What could he do?

One solution is analogous to the general
attacking the enemy camp problem. Small squads
can approach quietly and convene in full
strength in the enemy camp.
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Block

• Inability to see the problem from various
  viewpoints
• We often fail to transfer solutions from one
  situation to another analogous situation in a
  different setting.

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Activity 5 Can you pick the right penny without
looking at one?
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4
2
5
6
3
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Can you pick the right penny without looking at
one?
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Block

• Saturationwe tend not to look at things that we
  see all of the time
• This can prevent us from seeing a problem if it
  is something that has been around.

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Activity 6

• There are many possible solutions to this
  problem, but one that should be obvious,
  urinating into the pipe to make the ball float
  up, is usually not mentioned in a group because
  of taboos.

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Act. 7 Paper Folding

• Imagine a sheet of notebook paper, 8.5 X 11
• Now, imagine folding it in half,
• Again
• Again
• Again
• Again
• Again
• Again
• Again
• Now, how many sheets thick is the paper?
• This is impossible. The paper would be too
  thick to fold. Trying to solve this
  mathematically is incorrect.

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Act. 8 Buddhist Monk

• Must there be a spot that he passes at the same
  time on both days? YES!
• You need not tell where or when, just if. Can
  you prove your answer? See the next slides

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One Proof--Graphic

• Instead of one monk on two days, the same problem
  can be represented by two monks on one day.
• At 600 am, one starts at the bottom of the path
  and the other starts at the top.
• Must they run into each other along the way?

Top of Mt
6 p.m.
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Another Proof--Visual
If there were two monks, they would run into each
other somewhere along the way, although it is
impossible to predict where or when. So, the
monk would have to touch on the same place at a
time although we dont know where or when.
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I. Perceptual Blocks

• Seeing what you expect to see--stereotyping (Act
  1- reading past words)
• Difficulty in isolating the problem (During the
  1970s, Detroit automakers attempted to sell more
  American cars by making them bigger more
  luxurious. They did not isolate the correct
  problem.)
• Tendency to delimit the problem area too closely
  
• (9 dot problem 6 pencils)
• Inability to see the problem from various
  viewpoints (Gamma Ray Activity)
• Saturation (Coin exercise)
• Failure to utilize all sensory inputs (We tend to
  rely on vision too much.)

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Emotional Blocks

1. Fear to make a mistake, to fail, to risk
2. Inability to tolerate ambiguity overriding
   desires for security, order "no appetite for
   chaos
3. Preference for judging ideas, rather than
   generating them
4. Inability to relax, incubate and "sleep on it
5. Lack of challenge problem fails to engage
   interest
6. Excessive zeal over-motivation to succeed
   quickly
7. Lack of access to areas of imagination
8. Lack of imaginative control
9. Inability to distinguish reality from fantasy

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Cultural Blocks
False beliefs that

• Fantasy and reflection are a waste of time, lazy,
  even crazy
• Playfulness is for children only
• Problem-solving is serious business and humor is
  out of place
• Reason, logic, utility, practicality are good
  feelings, intuition, qualitative judgments,
  pleasure are bad
• Tradition is preferable to change
• Any problem can be solved by scientific thinking
  and lots of money
• Taboos (steel pipe)

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Intellectual and Expressive Blocks

1. Solving the problem using an incorrect language
   (verbal, mathematical, visual) (paper folding)
2. Inflexible or inadequate use of intellectual
   problem solving strategies (Buddhist Monk)
3. Lack of, or incorrect, information (WMDs in
   Iraq?)
4. Inadequate language skill to express and record
   ideas (verbally, musically, visually, etc.)

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Environmental Blocks

1. Lack of cooperation and trust among colleagues
   (murder committees)
2. Autocratic boss who values only his own ideas,
   does not reward others
3. Distractionsphone, easy intrusions and
4. Lack of support to bring ideas into action.

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Murder CommitteesMurder Ideas

• This telephone' has too many shortcomings to be
  seriously considered as a means of communication.
  The device is inherently of no value to us.
  Western Union internal memo, 1876
• I think there is a world market for maybe five
  computers. Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
• The concept is interesting and well-formed, but
  in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must
  be feasible. ?Anonymous Yale University
  management professor in response to Fred Smith's
  paper proposing reliable overnight delivery
  service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express
  Corp.)

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More Murderers

• Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to
  try and find oil? You're crazy. Anonymous
  drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to
  his project to drill for oil in 1859.
• Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous
  fiction. ?Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology
  at Toulouse, 1872
• Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.
  Lord Kelvin, 1895
• Who the hell wants to hear actors talk??H. M.
  Warner, founder of Warner Brothers film studios,
  1927

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We Can Remove Blocks by

• Being aware of them
• Practicing breaking them
• Manipulating our environment so that it is most
  supportive of our creativity
• Avoiding murder committees