LEAF 501 Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making as Methods of Organizational Research
Faculty: John Frederick
Date: October 30, 2013
Books: Six Thinking Hats, E. DeBono (1999)
Creativity Unbound: An Introduction to the Creative Process, B.J. Miller; J.R. Vehar; R.L. Firestein; S. Thurber; D. Nielsen
Facilitation: A Door to Creative Leadership, B.J. Miller; J.R. Vehar; R.L. Firestein; S. Thurber; D. Nielsen
Summary: Critical Thinking, Creative Problem Solving and Decision Making is where we really started to dig into the study and practice of leadership. Built on more than 30 years of study, and research in the disciplines of creativity, critical thinking, and decision-making, this course encourages giving and receiving feedback. One of the goals of LEAF 501 is to study and develop the systematic use of creative and critical thinking skills on challenges, goals and opportunities that people face in personal and professional roles.
Learning to Creative Problem Solve, also known as CPS, is a hands-on process. As part of our class discussion and our in-class facilitation we learned important steps of facilitation. We were advised that it is important to recognize the facilitator, meet the client, gather the data, and identify and agree on the challenge or problem to be solved.
We were provided several opportunities to practice the tools of critical and creative thinking both in and out of class. We were encouraged to utilize creative problem solving techniques on a real world challenge.
The Creative Problem Solving process is an innovative method for approaching a challenge or problem in a direct and creative way. It is a structured process that is easy to learn and when used correctly, it can be fun and flexible, while dramatically improving ideation and problem solving. The ongoing need to improve productivity and idea generation only reinforce its popularity and use.
So What, Now What: I have always been a creative thinker, but learning to problem solve in a group setting was valuable. Although I was uncomfortable with the facilitation training, I have used it countless times since in my work and personal life.
Untangling the Creative Process