Many challenges in today’s world full of change and ambiguity are complex and despite our best efforts and intentions, not much usually changes. Many challenges are complex and despite our best efforts and intentions, not much usually changes. One reason is that we misjudge the situation many problems can be addressed with adjustments to basic routines, but complex problems require us to question and often change our own deeply held beliefs and assumptions.
When organizations want to innovate, they face an underlying tension. In a stable environment, efficiency is achieved by driving variation out of the organization. But in an unstable world, variation becomes the organization’s friend because it opens new avenues to success. But who can blame leaders, when they must meet quarterly targets, for putting double bets on efficiency, rationality and centralized control?
To make all the tradeoffs, organizations need a social technology that addresses both these behavioral obstacles and people’s counterproductive biases. CPS fits that bill.
In our population (and organizations and teams) we find two groups of preferences for solving problems: a group that prefers to look for the solutions within the known structures (the developers) and those who prefer to look for solutions outside the known structures (the explorers). Both groups represent 50% within our population. Both are equally creative!!! As a small anecdote, Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and with 1093 patents to his name was someone who preferred to find solutions within existing structures. It’s hard not to call him creative!
CPS offers a form of structured freedom
Our roots in complex problem solving and innovation go back to the 1950s and Alex Osborn – the prestigious researcher, manager and creator of Brainstorming and the Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS). We are proud to bring his vision to the 21st century!
Scouts often complain that CPS is too structured and linear. And for them, that’s certainly true. But managers on so-called innovation teams are generally not used to co-creating with employees from different corners of the organization. Structure and linearity help managers adapt to this new behavior.
As Kaaren Hanson, formerly design product director at Facebook and now Chief Design Officer Chief JP Morgan Chase Bank, explained, “When you’re trying to change people’s behavior, you have to start with a lot of structure, so they don’t have to think. A lot of what we do is habit, and it’s hard to change those habits, but clear guidelines can help us.”
Organized processes keep employees on track and curb the tendency to overextend a problem or impatiently anticipate it. They also inspire confidence. Most people are driven by fear of mistakes, so they focus more on preventing mistakes than taking advantage of opportunities. They choose to do nothing rather than take action when a choice threatens to fail. But there is no innovation without action, so psychological safety is essential.
Creative Problem Solving’s physical and detailed tools, thinking frameworks and guidebook provide that sense of security and help CPS process facilitators discover client needs with greater certainty, plan the process and lead the session in a productive manner.