Blocks to Creativity, and how to remove them

Bonnie CramondUniversity of Georgia

Adams, J. L. (2001). Conceptual blockbusting: A guide to better ideas. Cambridge: Perseus.

Warmup--Activity 1Did you read both

ands?

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater had had a wife and couldn’t keep her; he put her in a pumpkin shell and and there he kept her very well.

Most People Won’t…

…unless they have seen this or suspect something.

• Block—We tend to see what we expect to see.• That’s why we are often not good proof

readers of our own work• That is also why we often stereotype.

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.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Alternative Responses

• Cut the dots out, line them up and use 1 straight line.• • • • • • • • •

• Curve the paper around and use 1 winding line.

Activity 3: Use 6 Pencils to Make 4 Equilateral Triangles

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 can’t be cut or turned, or the writing implement can’t be very large.

Activity 4A 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. Smallsquads can approach quietlyand convene in full strengthin the enemy camp.

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.

Activity 5 Can you pick the right penny without looking at one?

1 4

2

3

5

6

Can you pick the right penny without looking at one?

Block

• Saturation—we 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.

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.

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.

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

One Proof--Graphic

• Instead of one monk on two days, the same problem can be represented by two monks on one day.

• At 6:00 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

.

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 don’t know where or when.

I. Perceptual BlocksA. Seeing what you expect to see--stereotyping (Act 1-

reading past words)B. 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.)

C. Tendency to delimit the problem area too closely (9 dot problem; 6 pencils)

A. Inability to see the problem from various viewpoints (Gamma Ray Activity)

B. Saturation (Coin exercise)C. Failure to utilize all sensory inputs (We tend to rely

on vision too much.)

Emotional Blocks

1. Fear to make a mistake, to fail, to risk2. Inability to tolerate ambiguity; overriding desires for

security, order; "no appetite for chaos”3. Preference for judging ideas, rather than generating them4. Inability to relax, incubate and "sleep on it”5. Lack of challenge; problem fails to engage interest6. Excessive zeal; over-motivation to succeed quickly7. Lack of access to areas of imagination8. Lack of imaginative control9. Inability to distinguish reality from fantasy

Cultural Blocks

A. Fantasy and reflection are a waste of time, lazy, even crazy

B. Playfulness is for children onlyC. Problem-solving is serious business and humor is out of

placeD. Reason, logic, utility, practicality are good; feelings,

intuition, qualitative judgments, pleasure are badE. Tradition is preferable to changeF. Any problem can be solved by scientific thinking and

lots of moneyG. Taboos (steel pipe)

False beliefs that:

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.)

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. Distractions—phone, easy intrusions; and4. Lack of support to bring ideas into action.

Murder Committees—”Murder” 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.)

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

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