Creative ability in business.

Creative Problem Solving is a process that allows people to apply both creative and critical thinking to find solutions to everyday problems. Creative Problem Solving eliminates the tendency to approach problems in a haphazard manner and, consequently, prevents surprises and/or disappointment with the solution. Used by thousands of group leaders seeking a friendly introduction to using Creative Problem Solving, this book is a time-honored classic. Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction is based on more than five decades of extensive research, development, and field experience in educational settings, businesses, and many other organizations. Written for both group leaders and individuals seeking a systematic way to build innovative and effective solutions, Creative Problem Solving is perfect for any type of setting. This definitive guide shows you how to find successful solutions to important challenges. Creative Problem Solving (CPS) can help your students to approach problems and deal with change in a deliberate and constructive way, building their confidence and success in working with complex issues. This revised and updated fourth edition includes: easy-to-follow instructions for using Creative Problem Solving; practical tools for understanding the challenge, generating ideas, and preparing for action; expanded guidelines for planning your approach to Creative Problem Solving; strategies that ensure successful group dynamics; the latest trends in creative thinking and group problem solving; and practical suggestions for those new to Creative Problem Solving. Educational Resource

Creative Approaches to Problem Solving (CAPS) is a comprehensive text covering the well-known, cited, and used system for problem solving and creativity known as Creative Problem Solving (CPS). CPS is a flexible system used to help individuals and groups solve problems, manage change, and deliver innovation. It provides a framework, language, guidelines, and set of easy-to-use tools for understanding challenges, generating ideas and transforming promising ideas into action. Features and Benefits: - Specific objectives in each chapter for the reader - This provides a clear focus for instruction or independent learning - Practical case study introduced in the beginning of each chapter and then completed as a "rest of the story" toward the end of the chapter - This feature provides an application anchor for the reader - Upgraded mix of graphics - These updated and refreshed graphics include tables, figures, and illustrative images that are designed to provide "pictures" to go along with the word. The aim has been to aid attention, retention, and practical application - Enhanced emphasis on flexible, dynamic process-- Enables users to select and apply CPS tools, components, and stages in a meaningful way that meets their actual needs - A framework for problem solving that has been tested and applied across ages, settings, and cultures-- Readers can apply a common approach to process across many traditional "boundaries" that have limited effectives. Creative Approaches to Problem Solving has been (and continues to be) used as a core text for faculty who are teaching courses in Creative Problem Solving or Creativity and Innovation as part of an MBA program, or in Education, a course on Creativity (often as a component of certification or endorsement requirements in gifted education). It is also used as a core text for those enrolled in professional development, continuing education, or executive education programmes.

This book features 50 brief situations that present interesting opportunities and open-ended challenges to engage students in Creative Problem Solving. These brief, practical, everyday situations provide motivating starting points for practicing CPS with groups of many sizes and ages. Grades 3-8

The hallmark of an exceptional career is the ability to devise innovative solutions for work challenges. Therefore, creative thinking skills are vital for your professional advancement. Recent research has revealed a direct causality between ideas and profitability, which means that in today’s competitive and technology-rich work environment, the most crucial element separating an extraordinary career from an ordinary one is creative thinking skills. As one of the world's premiere success experts, Brian Tracy knows anyone can become more creative by practicing with a few helpful tools. This concise, easy-to-read book guides you to immediately begin generating a stream of productive ideas. In Creativity & Problem Solving, Tracy reveals 21 proven techniques that will help you: Stimulate the three primary triggers to creativity Inspire a creative mindset in staff through recognition, rewards, and environment Use methods to solve problems, improve systems, devise new products, and come up with fresh, exciting marketing angles Ask focused questions to generate elegant solutions Understand the difference between mechanical and adaptive thinking Rigorously evaluate new ideas without shutting down the creative impulse Containing mind-stimulating exercises and down-to-earth strategies, Creativity & Problem Solving will help you tap into the root source of their own intuitive genius--and gain the winning edge they’ve been missing all this time.

This accessible text provides a lively introduction to the essential skills of creative problem solving. Using extensive case-studies and examples from a range of business situations, it explores various problem-solving theories and techniques, illustrating how these can be used to solve a range of management problems. Thoroughly revised and redesigned, this new edition retains the accessible and imaginative approach to problem-solving skills of the first edition. Contents include: * blocks to creativity and how to overcome them * key techniques including lateral thinking, morphological analysis and synectics * computer-assisted problem solving * increased coverage of group problem-solving techniques and paradigm shift. As creativity is increasingly recognized as a key skill for successful managers, this book will be welcomed as a comprehensive introduction for students and practising managers alike.