In learning to master creative problem solving, the best and sometimes the only way
is to learn through trial and error.
Here is another exercise to help you increase your ability to solve problems creatively
Creative Exercise 3 - Increase your problem solving flexibility
Defining a problem too narrowly can inhibit and delay finding a solution. The creative
problem solver tries to state the requirements as broadly as possible at the beginning.
If, after a reasonable time, no solution presents itself, he tries to restate it
in such a way that a new avenue of approach becomes available.
Less successful problem
solvers, on the other hand, persist doggedly in the same direction, even when the
difficulty does not yield to their efforts. They are blocked from considering new
directions by stubborn commitment to the old.
Look at the sketch below and imagine
that you are the person shown standing in the room. You have been given the task
of tying together the ends of the two strings suspended from the ceiling. The strings
are located so that you cannot reach one string with your outstretched hand while
holding the second in your other hand. The room is totally bare, and you have only
the resources you would normally have in your pocket or handbag. How do you solve
this problem?
Most people will see the difficulty as a shortness of reach. That is, they state
the problem to themselves as: "how can I get to the second string?" The consequence
of this perspective is that all effort goes into vain efforts to find a means of
making one of the strings longer. But the ‘givens’ of this problem make such a solution
impossible.
The problem, however, could be defined as "how can the string and I get
together?" This enables another sort of solution to occur to you, one that requires
you to see the difficulty in terms of getting the second string to come to you. If
you tie a small object (say, a key or a ring) to the end of one string and set it
swinging like a pendulum, you can grab it while still holding the end of the second
string in the other hand.
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Creativity coaching can help you solve your problems in the way that you need.
