Groups & Teams Overview
Jasmine Linabary
Creativity is a concept related to creating novel and valuable ideas in some context. It is considered a fundamental trait for industry professionals and academics in the 21st century. This chapter will first define creativity and distinguish it from innovation. Then, it will discuss techniques for enhancing creativity in groups and teams.
Understanding Creativity
Creative thought is a mental process involving creative problem solving, the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of existing ideas or concepts, fueled by conscious or unconscious insight. From a scientific point of view, the products of creative thought (sometimes called divergent thought) are usually considered originality and appropriateness.
Although intuitively a simple phenomenon, it is rather complex. It has been studied in behavioral psychology, social psychology, psychometrics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, philosophy, aesthetics, history, economics, design research, business, management and communication, and others. The studies have covered everyday, exceptional, and even artificial creativity. Unlike many phenomena in science, there is no single authoritative perspective or definition of creativity. And unlike many phenomena in psychology, there is no standardized measurement technique.
Creative problem-solving is a unique form of problem-solving in which the solution is independently created rather than learned with assistance. Creative problem-solving always involves creativity. However, creativity often does not involve problem-solving, especially in music, poetry, and art. Creativity requires newness or novelty as a characteristic of what is created, but creativity does not necessarily imply that what is created has value or is appreciated by others. To qualify as creative problem-solving, the solution must either have value, clearly solve the stated problem, or be appreciated by someone for whom the situation improves (Fobes, 1993). The situation before the solution should not be labeled as a problem. Alternate labels include a challenge, an opportunity, or a situation with room for improvement (Fobes, 1993).
Distinguishing Between Creativity and Innovation
It is often helpful to explicitly distinguish between creativity and innovation. Creativity is typically used to refer to the act of producing new ideas, approaches, or actions. At the same time, innovation generates and applies such creative ideas in some specific context.
In the context of an organization, therefore, the term innovation is often used to refer to the entire process by which an organization generates creative new ideas and converts them into novel, practical, and viable commercial products, services, and business practices. In contrast, the term creativity is reserved to apply specifically to generating novel ideas by individuals or groups as a necessary step within the innovation process. For example, Amabile et al. (1996) suggest that while innovation “begins with creative ideas,”
“…creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the second.”
Although the two words are novel, they go hand in hand. To be innovative, employees have to be creative to stay competitive.
Creativity Techniques
Creativity techniques are methods to promote original thoughts by facilitating divergent and/or convergent thinking. Many of the techniques and tools for creating an effective solution to a problem are described in creativity techniques and problem-solving.
Creative-problem-solving techniques can be categorized as follows:
- Creativity techniques are designed to shift a person’s mental state into one that fosters creativity. These techniques are described in creativity techniques. One such popular technique is to take a break and relax or sleep after intensively trying to think of a solution.
- Creativity techniques are designed to reframe the problem. For example, reconsidering one’s goals by asking, “What am I trying to accomplish?” can lead to valuable insights.
- Creativity techniques are designed to increase the number of fresh ideas. This approach is based on the belief that a more significant number of ideas increases the chances that one of them has value. These techniques involve randomly selecting an idea (such as choosing a word from a list), thinking about similarities with the undesired situation, and hopefully inspiring a related idea that leads to a solution. Such techniques are described in creativity techniques.
- Creative problem-solving techniques are designed to efficiently lead to a fresh perspective that causes a solution to become apparent. This category helps solve incredibly challenging problems (Fobes, 1993). Some of these techniques involve identifying independent dimensions that differentiate (or separate) closely associated concepts (Fobes, 1993). Such techniques can overcome the mind’s instinctive tendency to use “oversimplified associative thinking,” in which two related concepts are so closely associated that their differences and independence are overlooked (Fobes, 1993).
Group Critical Thinking Strategy
Group Critical Thinking Strategy is a commonly used group creativity technique designed to generate many ideas to solve a problem. In 1953, Alex Faickney Osborn popularized the method in a book called Applied Imagination. Osborn proposed that groups could double their creative output with Group Critical Thinking Strategy. Although group critical thinking strategy has become a popular group technique, when applied in a traditional group setting, researchers have not found evidence of its effectiveness in enhancing the quantity or quality of ideas generated. Because of such problems as a distraction, social loafing, evaluation apprehension, and production blocking, conventional Group Critical Thinking Strategy groups are little more effective than other types of groups, and they can be less effective than individuals working independently, depending on the circumstances (Diehl & Stroebe, 1991; Mullen, Johnson, & Salas, 1991; Nijstad, Stroebe, & Lodewijkx, 2003). In the Encyclopedia of Creativity, Tudor Rickards (1999) summarizes its controversies in his Group Critical Thinking Strategy entry and indicates the dangers of conflating productivity in group work with several ideas.
Although traditional group critical thinking strategy does not necessarily increase the productivity of groups (as measured by the number of ideas generated), it may still provide benefits, such as boosting morale, enhancing work enjoyment, and improving teamwork. Thus, numerous attempts have been made to improve group critical thinking strategy or use more effective variations of the basic technique. For example, Olivier Toubia (2006) of Columbia University has conducted extensive research in idea generation and concluded that incentives are extremely valuable within the group critical thinking strategy context.
Ground Rules
There are four basic rules in Group Critical Thinking Strategy (Osborn, 1963). These are intended to reduce social inhibitions among group members, stimulate idea generation, and increase the overall creativity of the group.
- Focus on quantity: This rule enhances divergent production, aiming to facilitate problem-solving through the maxim quantity breeds quality. The assumption is that the greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a radical and effective solution.
- Withhold criticism: In Group Critical Thinking Strategy, criticism of ideas generated should be put ‘on hold’. Instead, participants should focus on extending or adding to ideas, reserving criticism for a later ‘critical stage’ of the process. By suspending judgment, participants will feel free to generate unusual ideas.
- Welcome unusual ideas: To get a good and long list of ideas, unusual ideas are welcomed. They can be generated by looking from new perspectives and suspending assumptions. These new ways of thinking may provide better solutions.
- Combine and improve ideas: Good ideas may be combined to form a single better good idea, as suggested by the slogan “1+1=3”. It is believed to stimulate the building of ideas through association.
Pre-Work
Set the problem
Before a Group Critical Thinking Strategy session, it is critical to define the problem. The problem must be apparent, not too big, and captured in a specific question such as “What service for mobile phones is not available now but needed?”. If the problem is too big, the facilitator should break it into smaller components, each with its question.
Create a background memo
The background memo is the invitation and informational letter for the participants, containing the session name, problem, time, date, and place. The problem is described as a question, and some example ideas are given. The memo is sent to the participants well in advance so that they can think about the problem beforehand.
Select Participants
The facilitator composes the Group Critical Thinking Strategy panel, consisting of the participants and an idea collector. A group of 10 or fewer members is generally more productive. Many variations are possible but the following composition is suggested.
- Several core members of the project have proved themselves.
- Several guests from outside the project, with affinity to the problem.
- One idea collector who records the suggested ideas.
Create a list of lead questions
During the Group Critical Thinking Strategy session, creativity may decrease. At this moment, the facilitator should stimulate creativity by suggesting a lead question to answer, such as Can we combine these ideas? or How about looking from another perspective? Preparing a list of such leads before the session begins is best.
Session Conduct
The facilitator leads the Group Critical Thinking Strategy session and ensures ground rules are followed. The steps in a typical session are:
- A warm-up session to expose novice participants to a criticism-free environment. A simple problem is Group Critical Thinking Strategy for example, What should our next fundraising event be? or What can be improved in Microsoft programs?
- The facilitator presents the problem and gives a further explanation if needed.
- The facilitator asks the Group Critical Thinking Strategy group for their ideas.
- The facilitator suggests a lead to encourage creativity if no ideas are forthcoming.
- All participants present their ideas, and the idea collector records them.
- To ensure clarity, participants may elaborate on their ideas.
- When time is up, the facilitator organizes the ideas based on the topic goal and encourages discussion.
- Ideas are categorized.
- The whole list is reviewed to ensure that everyone understands the ideas.
- Duplicate ideas and infeasible solutions are removed.
- The facilitator thanks participants and gives each a token of appreciation.
The Process
- Participants who have ideas but cannot present them are encouraged to write down the ideas and present them later.
- The idea collector should number the ideas so that the chairperson can use the number to encourage an idea generation goal; for example, We have 44 ideas now; let’s get it to 50!
- The idea collector should repeat the idea in the words he or she has written verbatim to confirm that it expresses the meaning intended by the originator.
- When many participants have ideas, the one with the most associated idea should have priority. This is to encourage elaboration on previous ideas.
- During a Group Critical Thinking Strategy session, managers and other superiors may be discouraged from attending since it may inhibit and reduce the effect of the four basic rules, especially the generation of unusual ideas.
Evaluation
Group Critical Thinking Strategy is not just about generating ideas for others to evaluate and select. Usually, the group will evaluate the ideas in its final stage and select one as the solution to the proposed problem.
- The solution should not require resources or skills the group members do not have or cannot acquire.
- If acquiring additional resources or skills is necessary, that must be the solution’s first part.
- There must be a way to measure progress and success.
- The steps to carry out the solution must be clear to all and amenable to being assigned to the members so that each will have an important role.
- A shared decision-making process must enable a coordinated effort to proceed and reassign tasks as the project unfolds.
- There should be evaluations at milestones to decide whether the group is on track toward a final solution.
- There should be incentives for participants so that participants maintain their efforts.
Variations
While Group Critical Thinking Strategy, as described above, is a common creativity technique, there are many variations that groups may find helpful. In this section, we highlight six different bGroup Critical Thinking Strategy approaches, including (1) nominal group technique, (2) group passing technique, (3) team idea mapping method, (4) electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy, (5) directed Group Critical Thinking Strategy, and (6) Group Critical Thinking Strategy.
Nominal group technique
The nominal group technique is a Group Critical Thinking Strategy that encourages all participants to have an equal say in the process. It is also used to generate a ranked list of ideas.
Participants are asked first to write down their ideas. Then they share their ideas orally or the moderator collects them, and the group votes on each. The vote can be as simple as a show of hands in favor of a given idea. This process is called distillation.
After distillation, the top-ranked ideas may be sent back to the group or subgroups for further Group Critical Thinking Strategy. For example, one group may work on the color required in a product. Another group may work on the size and so forth. Each group will return to the whole group to rank the listed ideas. Sometimes ideas that were previously dropped may be brought forward again once the group has re-evaluated the ideas.
The facilitator must be trained in this process before attempting to facilitate this technique. The group should be primed and encouraged to embrace the process. Like all team efforts, training the team in the method may take a few practice sessions before tackling the important ideas.
A variation of the nominal technique called the affinity technique involves using Post-it notes to generate ideas and then working together to categorize the Post-it notes.
Group passing technique
In the group passing technique, each person in a circular group writes down one idea and then passes the piece of paper to the next person in a clockwise direction, who adds some thoughts. This continues until everybody gets his or her original piece of paper back. The group will likely have extensively elaborated on each idea by this time.
The group may also create an “Idea Book” and post a distribution list or routing slip to the front of the book. On the first page is a description of the problem. The first person to receive the book lists his or her ideas and then routes the book to the next person on the distribution list. The second person can log new ideas or add to the ideas of the previous person. This continues until the distribution list is exhausted. A follow-up “read out” meeting is held to discuss the ideas in the book. This technique takes longer, but it allows individuals time to think deeply about the problem.
Team idea mapping method
The idea mapping method of the Group Critical Thinking Strategy works by association. It may improve collaboration and increase the number of ideas and is designed so that all attendees participate and no ideas are rejected.
The process begins with a well-defined topic. Each participant Group Critical Thinking Strategy individually, then all the ideas are merged onto one large idea map. During this consolidation phase, participants may discover a common understanding of the issues as they share the meanings behind their ideas. During this sharing, new ideas may arise from the association, which are also added to the map. Once all the ideas are captured, the group can prioritize and/or take action.
Electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy
Electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy is a version of the manual Group Critical Thinking Strategy technique that relies on digital tools like video conference calls, collaborative documents, chat tools, or even email. Participants share a list of ideas, which are entered independently. In synchronous electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy, contributions become immediately visible to all and are typically anonymized to encourage openness and reduce personal prejudice. Some digital tools may allow for asynchronous Group Critical Thinking Strategy sessions over extended periods and typical follow-up activities in the creative problem-solving process, such as categorizing ideas, eliminating duplicates, assessing, and discussing prioritized or controversial ideas.
Electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy eliminates many of the problems of standard Group Critical Thinking Strategy, such as production blocking and evaluation apprehension. An additional advantage of this method is that all ideas can be archived electronically in their original form and then retrieved later for further thought and discussion. Electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy also enables much more prominent groups to Group Critical Thinking Strategy on a topic than would generally be productive in a traditional Group Critical Thinking Strategy session (Gallupe et al., 1992).
Some web-based Group Critical Thinking Strategy techniques allow contributors to post their comments anonymously. This technique also allows users to log on over an extended time, typically one or two weeks, to allow participants some “soak time” before posting their ideas and feedback.
Directed Group Critical Thinking Strategy
Directed Group Critical Thinking Strategy is a variation of the electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy (described above). It can be done manually or with computers. Directed Group Critical Thinking Strategy works when the solution space (the criteria for evaluating a good idea) is known before the session. If known, that criteria can be used to constrain the ideation process intentionally.
In directing the Group Critical Thinking Strategy, each participant is given one sheet of paper (or electronic form) and told the Group Critical Thinking Strategy question. They are asked to produce one response and stop, then all of the papers (or forms) are randomly swapped among the participants. The participants are asked to look at the idea they received and to create a new idea that improves on that idea based on the initial criteria. The forms are then swapped again, respondents are asked to improve their ideas, and the process is repeated for three or more rounds. In the laboratory, the directed Group Critical Thinking Strategy has been found almost to triple the productivity of groups over the electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy (Santanen et al., 2004).
Question Group Critical Thinking Strategy
Question Group Critical Thinking Strategy involves generating questions rather than trying to come up with immediate answers and short-term solutions. This technique stimulates creativity and promotes everyone’s participation because no one has to come up with answers. The answers to the questions form the framework for constructing future action plans. Once the list of questions is set, it may be necessary to prioritize them to reach the best solution in an orderly way (Ludy, 2000). Another problem for Group Critical Thinking Strategy can be finding the best evaluation methods for a problem. Group Critical Thinking Strategy all the questions has also been called questorming (Roland, 1985).
Conclusion
Creativity is generating innovative ideas and manifesting them from thought into reality. The process involves original thinking and then producing. Many techniques can be used to enhance creativity in groups. Group Critical Thinking Strategy is a popular group interaction method in educational and business settings. Electronic Group Critical Thinking Strategy effectively overcomes barriers inherent in group work, like production blocking, mainly through anonymization and parallelization of contributions (McFadzean, 1997). Other variations of the Group Critical Thinking Strategy that do not require an electronic system may also prove superior to the original technique. How well these methods work and whether or not they should be classified as Group Critical Thinking Strategies are questions that require further research.
References
- Amabile, T.M., R. Conti, H. Coon, et al. (1996). “Assessing the work environment for creativity”. Academy of Management Review 39 (5): 1154–1184. https://doi.org/10.2307/256995.
- Dennis, A. R., & Valacich, J. S. (1993). Computer brainstorms: More heads are better than one. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(4), 531–537.
- Diehl, M., & Stroebe, W. (1991). Productivity loss in idea-generating groups: tracking down the blocking effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 392–403.
- Fobes, R. (1993). The creative problem solver’s toolbox: A complete course in the art of creating solutions to problems of any kind (1st ed.). Universities Press.
- Gallupe, R. B., Dennis, A. R., Cooper, W. H., Valacich, J. S., Bastianutti, L. M., & Nunamaker, J. F. (1992). Electronic brainstorming and group size. Academy of Management Journal, 35(2), 350–369.
- Ludy, P. J. (2000). Profit Building: Cutting costs without cutting people. Berret-Koehler, Inc.
- McFadzean, E. S. (1997). Improving group productivity with group support systems and creative problem-solving Techniques. Creativity and Innovation Management, 6(4), 218–225.
- Mullen, B., Johnson, C., & Salas, E. (1991). Productivity loss in brainstorming groups: a meta-analytic integration. Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 12, 3–23.
- Nijstad, B. A., Stroebe, W. Lodewijkx, H. F. M. (2003). Production blocking and idea generation: Does blocking interfere with cognitive processes? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 531–548.
- Nunamaker, J., Dennis, A. R., Valacich, J. S., Vogel, D. R., & George, J. F. (1991). Electronic meeting systems to support group work. Communications of the ACM, 34(7), 40–61.
- Osborn, A. F. (1963) Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem solving (3rd ed.). Charles Scribner’s Son.
- Rickards, T., (1999) Brainstorming. In M. Runco & S, Pritzker (Eds), Encyclopedia of creativity (Vol. 1, pp. 219–228). Academic Press.
- Santanen, E., Briggs, R. O., & de Vreede, G-J. (2004). Causal relationships in creative problem solving: Comparing facilitation interventions for ideation. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20(4), 167–198.
- Toubia, O. (2006). Idea generation, creativity, and incentives. Marketing Science, 25(5), 411–425. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1050.0166
Authors & Attribution
The content in this chapter is adapted and remixed from Creativity – An Overview. The content is available under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC BY-SA 3.0).