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Module III: Ingenious thinking and

Decision Making
Creative Thinking Name of Institution
Creativity and Creative Thinking Name of Institution

What is Creativity?
Creativity is the bringing into being of something which did not
exist before, either as a product, a process or a thought.
You would be demonstrating creativity if you:
• Invent something which has never existed before
• Invent a new process for doing something
• Reapply an existing process or product into a new or different
market
• Develop a new way of looking at something (bringing a new
idea into existence)
• Change the way someone else looks at something
 Creativity Name of Institution

 We are all creative every day because we are constantly changing the ideas which we hold about the world about
us.
 Creativity does not have to be about developing something new to the world, it is more to do with
developing something new to ourselves.

When we change ourselves, the world changes with us.

The world is affected by our changed actions
 Creative Thinking Name of Institution

• Creative thinking is the process which we use

when we come up with a new idea.
Brainstorming is one form of creative thinking: it works by
merging someone else's ideas with your own to create a new one
This creative thinking process can be accidental or deliberate.
BLOCKS AND BLOCKBUSTERS TO CREATIVE THINKING
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Making Assumptions
Checking Assumptions

Following The Rules Breaking The Rules

BLOCKS AND BLOCKBUSTERS TO CREATIVE THINKING
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Over-reliance on Logic Use Imagination or Intuition

Fear of Failure Risk - taking Culture

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THREE COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY

CREATIVITY

CREATIVE
EXPERTISE THINKING
SKILLS
MOTIVATIO
N
 Myths about Creativity Name of Institution

1. The Smarter you are, the more creative you are

2. The young are more Creative than Old

3. Creativity is reserved for the few- the flamboyant risk
takers

4. Creativity is a Solitary Act

5. You can’t manage Creativity

Critical Thinking Name of Institution

“The important thing is not

to stop questioning. Curiosity
has its own reason for existing”
- Albert Einstein
 The Nine Dot Problem (Maier, 1931)
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• Can you connect all of the

dots with just 4 straight
lines?
• You cannot take your pen off
the paper
• Imagine the dots are drawn
on a flat an immovable
surface
• Donot use more than 4 lines
• Donot over write on the lines
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THINK OUT OF THE BOX…

 BOX- rigid
mindset,
stereotypes,
notions, fixations.
Past experiences.
 Divergent thinking
 Examples?
 PUZZLE Name of Institution

• A guy was once asked a very tricky question during a job interview "You're Driving in
your car on a STORMY day. You pass by a bus stop, and see THREE people waiting
there. The first is the perfect woman of your DREAMS; The Second is an old friend
who once SAVED your life; and the third is a lonely OLD lady who looks really
SICK; If you had only one seat in your car.... Who would you offer a ride to ? Let’s
think about it.... Do you pick up the old woman because she is in critical condition
and you should save her first? ... Do you take the old Friend ? because he once saved
your life and this would be a perfect opportunity for you to pay him back?.... However,
both choices leave you missing out on the woman of your DREAMS....
 Name of Institution

• BUT HE SIMPLY ANSWERED; "I would give the car keys to my old friend, let him drive the old lady to the
hospital, and stay behind to wait for the bus with the woman of my dreams." This answer made me STUNNED. It
Completely changed my outlook....and reminded me to Think outside the box.
 What is creative thinking? Name of Institution

• Creative thinking is the process of generating novel

ideas and alternative courses of action, no matter
how good those ideas and alternatives might be.
• Creative thinking should not be seen as an alternative
to critical thinking
• When you have recognised a problem, then you
should employ creative thinking to produce some
options for solving the problem, then you should
employ critical thinking
• If you haven’t come up with enough options to begin
with, then your critical thinking decision procedure
might produce the wrong result… a dangerous result!
 Name of Institution

• Think of going into the dressing

room when you’re shopping.
How many times do you twist
and twirl in front of the three-
sided mirror before deciding
whether or not to buy? Critical
Thinking is the three-sided
mirror of decision making;
letting you look at all the angles
to make the best possible
choice. Another way of looking
at it…
 Activity - 1 Name of Institution

• Name of Activity : Business Plan

• Objective of Activity : Learning to design an Action Plan
• Description of the Activity: Design a Action Plan on the following Topics
[Link] employees complain that their “morale” is low (they’re
unhappy). How can you address this?
2. You have to open a Theme Restaurant in Amity University
3. Open a Holiday Website.
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Critical Thinking is NOT

driven by answers;
It IS driven by the
questions that you ask.
 Constantly Ask Questions Name of Institution

For example: Suppose you have just read an article that says that the
pigeon population in India is increasing.

• Why?
Why is the population increasing?
• What?
– What effect is this increase having on the population?
• Where?
– Where is the population increasing? Is it all over the India, or just in isolated
locations?
• Who?
– Who is affected by the increase in the population of pigeon? Are the hunters
affected?
When?
– When did this increase begin occurring? How long will the increase
continue?
• How?
– How can we stabilize the pigeon population?
The Drop Block Problem Name of Institution

What will happen to the block of

wood when the person lets go of
it?
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The Drop Block Problem

The block will drop down as it is drawn to earth by

gravity
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The Drop Block Problem

… so long as the person is on earth.

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The Drop Block Problem

It will float up if the person is under water.

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The Drop Block Problem

And it will go nowhere (or a little bit sideways?!) if

the person is in space.
 Critical Thinking in Your Life Name of Institution

• Personal Life
– What constitutes a healthy diet?
– Which investment is better for my family? Why?
• Professional Life
– In what ways can we improve our product?
– How do the actions of our company affect others? The environment?
• Academic Life
– What are the main points of this text?
– Which major should I choose…why?
• Spiritual Life
– How do these teachings apply to my life?
– Are there contradictions in what is being said?
Name of Institution
Name of Institution
 Your Turn… Name of Institution

• Imagine you live in a world where there are only 10 words you can ever use.
You can repeat them as much as you want, but you can’t ever use any other
words.
• Write down the 10 words you’d choose.
• Next, make sentences with them in order to communicate something to your
group.
• Use feeling and gesture to help them understand you. You can measure their
understanding by writing your actual intended meaning below the sentence.
Remember, you’ve only got 10 words to use, so choose them well!
Name of Institution
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There is a difference between Critical Thinking and

Problem Solving.
Critical Thinking is an intentional and reflective way
of looking at things or circumstances, while
Problem Solving focuses on a specific situation.
PROBLEM SOLVING CYCLE Name of Institution
 DIVERGENT THINKING Name of Institution

• Creativity makes use of divergent thinking, which is solving problems with many possible solutions, as
opposed to convergent thinking, which is solving problems with a single, correct answer.
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Six serving men- Rudyard kipling

• I keep six honest serving men. They taught me all I know today- their
names are what, why, when, how, where and who.
• Eg: Why young boys join criminal gangs?
Positive negative
What is good about gangs? What is bad about gangs?
Why do gangs exist? Why do many boys not join gangs?
When do boys join gangs? When do boys not join gangs?
How do gangs recruit boys? How do boys resist/avoid gangs?
Where do gangs operate? Where do gangs not operate?
Who joins gangs? Who does not join gangs?
CREATIVITY PROCESS Name of Institution

I C E D I P

GEOFF Petty’s ICEDIP Model of CREATIVITY

 Name of Institution

GEOFF Petty’s ICEDIP Model of CREATIVITY

1. Inspiration
• In which you generate a large number of ideas.
• This is the research or idea-generation phase. The process is uninhibited and
characterised by spontaneity, experimentation, intuition, and risk-taking
• People wonder where creative people find their good ideas. The answer is,
in amongst a huge pile of bad ones. Creativity is like mining for diamonds,
most of what you dig is thrown away, but that doesn’t make the digging a
waste of time.
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GEOFF Petty’s ICEDIP Model of CREATIVITY

2. Clarification
• In which you focus on your goals. Key questions are:
• ◊ what am I trying to achieve here?
• ◊ what am I trying to say?
• ◊ what exactly is the problem I am trying to solve?
• ◊ what would I like the finished work to be like?
• And in more open ended work:
• ◊ how could I exploit the ideas I have had?
• ◊ where could this idea take me --- what could I make of it?
 Name of Institution

GEOFF Petty’s ICEDIP Model of CREATIVITY

3. Evaluation
• In the evaluation phase you examine your work for strengths and
weaknesses. Then you need to consider how the work could be
improved, by removing weaknesses but also by capitalising on its
strengths.
 Name of Institution
GEOFF Petty’s ICEDIP Model of CREATIVITY

4. Distillation
• In which you look through the ideas you have generated and try
to determine which ones to work on
5. Incubation
you leave the work alone, though you still ponder about it
occasionally , leaving it ‘on the surface of your mind’.
Many brilliant ideas have occurred in the bath, or in traffic jams.
If you are able to stop work on a project for a few days, perhaps
to work on other things, this will give your subconscious time to
work on any problems encountered
Whenever Sir Isaac Newton had a particularly thorny problem he
always worked on it just before he went to sleep. He said "I invariably woke
up with the solution"
 Name of Institution

GEOFF Petty’s ICEDIP Model of CREATIVITY

6. Perspiration
In which you work determinedly on your best Ideas
This is where the real work is done. You are involved in
determined and persistent effort towards your goal, this will
usually involve further 'inspiration' ‘distillation’ and
'clarification' phases.
 ICEDIP mindsets Name of Institution

INSPIRATION CLARIFICATION
Deeply engrossed, fearless, free Clear-minded, unhurried, questioning
Researching and generating a large number of ideas. Clarifying the purpose and keeping a sense of direction.
Being uninhibited, spontaneous, experimental and Focusing on how the finished work will look. Clarification
intuitive. If most of the ideas are workable, you did is a process, not an event! It is done at frequent
not take enough risks! intervals.

EVALUATION DISTILLATION
Self-critical, positive, willing to learn Strategic, reflective
Considering how the work can be improved. Building Deciding what ideas to work on. Selecting best ideas or
on strengths, identifying weaknesses and viewing combining them into even better ones. Thinking about
them as opportunities for improvement. Not seeing where the ideas can take you.
criticism as a threat.

INCUBATION PERSPIRATION
Unhurried, trusting, flexible Enthusiastic, positive, persistent
Leaving the work alone for a while, pondering it Generating a number of drafts, separated with
occasionally (keeping it on the surface of your mind), clarification and evaluation phases. Creative people
giving the subconscious time to work on it often do not accept a first draft, but go over and over a
piece until it is to their liking.
 Name of Institution

•
Activity-
Name of Activity : GOOD –BAD-INTERESTING
2
• Objective of Activity : Develop Creativity
• Description of the Activity:
1. Students will be divided into groups of 5
2. Each group will be given themes
3. Each group has to come up with 1 good, 1 bad and 1 interesting thing about the theme.
4. Eg : Theme: DISEASE
Good: Medical and pharmaceutical companies make big profits.
Bad: Humans suffer pain, misery or early death.
Interesting: Word breaks down to DIS-EASE suggesting strong mental
component to illness.

• Learning Outcome:
 ACTIVITY-2 - THEMES Name of Institution

1. MURDER
2. ILLITERACY & POOR EDUCATION
3. FRIENDSHIP
4. LOVE
5. PROBLEMS
6. TECHNOLOGY
7. LANGUAGE ENGLISH
8. POLITICS
9. MEDIA
[Link]
11. EXPECTATIONS
[Link]
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Decision Making Styles

Tolerance for Ambiguity

High
Analytical Conceptual

Directive Behavioral
Low
Tasks and Technical People and Social
Concerns Concerns
Value Orientation
The stages of decision making Name of Institution

Identifying and
diagnosing
the problem
Generating
alternative
solutions

Evaluating
alternatives

Making the
choice

Implementing
the decision

Evaluating
the decision
Managing group decision making Name of Institution

Leadership Constructive Conflict

1. Avoid domination 1. Air legitimate
2. Encourage input differences
3. Avoid groupthink 2. Stay task-focused
and satisfying 3. Be impersonal
4. Remember goals 4. Play devil’s advocate

Effective Group
Decision Making

Creativity
1. Brainstorm
2. Avoid criticizing
3. Exhaust ideas
4. Combine ideas