Monday, 27 June 2022
Chapter 4: Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
Business
1. What is Creativity?
• Introduction
A very speci c way of thinking. There are various techniques & skills that can be
learnt to enhance creativity. A crucial aspect of modern day business is to stay
ahead in an increasingly competitive society.
2. Problem Solving
Problems can either be anticipated - known as Predictable Problems (e.g. rapid
growth in the business is going to result in needing more o ce space or people can
work from home) - or they can be unexpected, e.g. natural disasters or a competitor
coming out with an awesome product that draws your entire target market away in a
ash.
• Problem-Solving Techniques
1 of the simplest techniques to use when the problem entails a no. of possible
solutions is a ‘Pros & Cons Chart’. With this technique, you look @ the arguments
both for & against each option, & base your decision on the 1 that has the highest
no. Pros, or the least Cons
A. Pros & Cons Chart:
You need to weigh up the options using the more detailed info you now have. It is
therefore necessary 1st to prioritise the issues & then decide. In order to analyse the
chart more intelligently, you could use some sort of weighting technique.
Suggestions for weighting a Pros & Cons Chart:
• Allocate a ranking of importance (most important A, least important F) & then see
in which sect the most As & Bs occur; or
• Score each aspect on a scale of 1-5, where 5 is a more important aspect, & then
adding each sub-sect up to see where the highest score is. This its often referred
to as Force Field analysis.
1
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fi ffi
Chapter 4: Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
Business
1. What is Creativity?
• Introduction
A very speci c way of thinking. There are various techniques & skills that can be
learnt to enhance creativity. A crucial aspect of modern day business is to stay
ahead in an increasingly competitive society.
2. Problem Solving
Problems can either be anticipated - known as Predictable Problems (e.g. rapid
growth in the business is going to result in needing more o ce space or people can
work from home) - or they can be unexpected, e.g. natural disasters or a competitor
coming out with an awesome product that draws your entire target market away in a
ash.
• Problem-Solving Techniques
1 of the simplest techniques to use when the problem entails a no. of possible
solutions is a ‘Pros & Cons Chart’. With this technique, you look @ the arguments
both for & against each option, & base your decision on the 1 that has the highest
no. Pros, or the least Cons
A. Pros & Cons Chart:
You need to weigh up the options using the more detailed info you now have. It is
therefore necessary 1st to prioritise the issues & then decide. In order to analyse the
chart more intelligently, you could use some sort of weighting technique.
Suggestions for weighting a Pros & Cons Chart:
• Allocate a ranking of importance (most important A, least important F) & then see
in which sect the most As & Bs occur; or
• Score each aspect on a scale of 1-5, where 5 is a more important aspect, & then
adding each sub-sect up to see where the highest score is. This its often referred
to as Force Field analysis.
1
fl
fi ffi
