Creativity: Concept and Process
- Concept of Creativity
- Definition: Creativity is the ability to generate new, original, and useful ideas or solutions to problems.
- Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.” – Albert Einstein
- Types of Creativity
Type | Description |
Deliberate Creativity | Intentional, logical (e.g., planning a new project) |
Spontaneous Creativity | Sudden insight (e.g., eureka moments) |
Artistic Creativity | Related to art, design, expression |
Scientific/Technical Creativity | Related to innovation, invention, problem-solving |
3. The Creative Process (5 Stages)
📚 Popular model by Graham Wallas (1926)
Stage | Description |
1. Preparation | Gathering information, identifying the problem |
2. Incubation | Subconscious processing; idea rests in the mind |
3. Illumination | Sudden insight or “Aha!” moment |
4. Evaluation | Critically analyzing and testing the idea |
5. Implementation | Applying or executing the creative idea in real life |
- Techniques to Enhance Creativity
Technique | Description/Use |
Brainstorming | Generating multiple ideas without judgment |
Mind Mapping | Visualizing ideas and their connections |
Lateral Thinking | Thinking differently; coined by Edward de Bono |
SCAMPER Technique | Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Rearrange |
Role Playing | Looking at problems from different perspectives |
Six Thinking Hats | Creative problem-solving by wearing different ‘thinking’ roles (Edward de Bono) |
Organizational Development (OD) Interventions
Organizational Development (OD) is a planned, long-term effort led by top management to improve an organization’s effectiveness and health through changes in strategies, structures, and processes using behavioral science knowledge.
- Interpersonal Interventions
Focus on improving communication, relationships, and interpersonal skills between individuals.
Key Techniques:
Technique | Description |
T-Groups (Training Groups) | Small unstructured groups that increase self-awareness and sensitivity to others. |
Process Consultation | External expert helps individuals understand and improve interpersonal processes. |
Feedback (360°) | Receiving feedback from peers, subordinates, and supervisors to identify strengths/weaknesses. |
Counseling/Coaching | One-on-one support to address individual performance or behavioral issues. |
- Team Interventions
Focus on improving the functioning of teams or workgroups.
🔷 Key Techniques:
Technique | Description |
Team Building | Activities that build trust, communication, and cooperation. |
Role Analysis Technique (RAT) | Clarifies roles and responsibilities within a team. |
Appreciative Inquiry | Focuses on identifying and building upon team strengths. |
Conflict Resolution | Intervening to resolve interpersonal/team conflicts constructively. |
- Structural Interventions
Target the design of the organization: hierarchy, roles, workflows, and policies.
🔷 Key Techniques:
Technique | Description |
Job Redesign/Enrichment | Altering tasks to make them more meaningful and motivating. |
Decentralization | Shifting decision-making to lower levels of the hierarchy. |
Work Design | Aligning jobs with organizational needs and employee skills. |
Total Quality Management (TQM) | Quality-driven structural improvement across departments. |
- Comprehensive Interventions
Address the organization as a whole; large-scale changes involving structure, process, and people.
🔷 Key Techniques:
Technique | Description |
Survey Feedback | Organization-wide data collection to diagnose and develop action plans. |
Strategic Management Interventions | Aligning strategy, structure, and systems. |
Organizational Transformation | Large-scale cultural and structural changes. |
Learning Organization Development | Creating systems that promote learning and adaptability. |
Summary Table:
Type of OD Intervention | Focus Area | Key Methods/Tools |
Interpersonal | Individual relationships | T-groups, feedback, coaching |
Team | Group dynamics | Team building, role analysis |
Structural | Organizational design | Job redesign, decentralization |
Comprehensive | Whole organization | Survey feedback, strategic planning |
🎯 Quick MCQ-style Facts:
- T-group is an example of ➤ Interpersonal intervention
- Job enrichment belongs to ➤ Structural intervention
- Survey feedback method is used in ➤ Comprehensive OD interventions
- Team building is a ➤ Team intervention
