Columbia Southern University Problem Identification & Creative Thinking Essay You are a division vice-president of a major high-end clothing retail chain.

Columbia Southern University Problem Identification & Creative Thinking Essay You are a division vice-president of a major high-end clothing retail chain. The products in your stores are tailored specifically for each customer. Logic seems to point toward the fact that the individualized attention, personal measuring process, and personal tailoring would insulate your organization from online competition. However, some in the organization are beginning to sound alarms that technology is catching up, and that your organization needs to examine its strategy. The CEO has put you in charge of a committee charged with investigating the claims of the employees.Analyze this situation by addressing the following.Utilize critical thinking to identify the problem or issue.Determine whether the potential threat needs to be addressed utilizing creative thinking or if maintaining the status quo will suffice. Develop arguments in favor of your proposed solution. Utilize one source from the guide and at least one additional outside source for support. Please format your paper utilizing APA style. This paper should be a minimum of three pages in length not counting the title page or reference page. UNIT II STUDY GUIDE
Creative Thinking vs.
Status Quo Thinking
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Contrast creative thinking approaches with status quo thinking patterns.
3.1 In a given scenario, determine whether the potential threat needs to be addressed by utilizing
creative thinking or by maintaining the status quo.
3.2 In a given scenario, develop arguments in favor of your proposed solution.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
3.1
3.2
Learning Activity
Unit II Lesson
Chapter 6
Suggested Reading: Chapter 3
Unit II Case Study
Unit II Lesson
Chapter 6
Suggested Reading: Chapter 3
Unit II Case Study
Reading Assignment
Chapter 6: Recognizing, Analyzing, and Constructing Arguments
Unit Lesson
Creative thinking relies on critical thinking as its base. Critical and creative thinking processes are important
for solving problems and addressing issues. An issue may be considered a difficult topic that does not have a
specific, singular correct answer. In other words, informed, well-intentioned individuals might disagree about
the best way to handle an issue. A problem, on the other hand, is something about which any reasonable
individual would agree that there is a specific action to be taken or outcome to seek. The following discussion
begins with a brief explanation on the difference between creative thinking (helpful) and status quo thinking
(unhelpful), followed by a couple of models of proper creative thinking processes, finishing with a couple of
examples where critical and creative thinking could be employed.
Creative Thinking vs. Status Quo Thinking
Creative thinking is considered the ability to create new, original ideas through imagination. It is critical to
innovation and is central to accomplishing the task of rejecting current routines and behavioral norms while
moving organizations toward new behaviors (Savovic, 2017; Stone, 2017; Valgeirsdotter & Onarheim, 2017).
It seems intuitive, but important to state nonetheless, that innovation, imagination, originality, and breaking
free of outdated policies and behaviors are important to long-term organizational success. While examinations
of current processes are important to determine whether changes are necessary (change for the sake of
change is not necessarily a positive) and what form those changes should take exactly, remaining the same
for too long is a recipe for disaster.
Status quo is a Latin term, which means “the state in which” to keep things as they currently exist. Status quo
calls for no change to the current state, which leads to the obvious extrapolation that status quo thinking is
related to keeping things the same. If creative thinking is innovative and imaginative, status quo thinking
would be the opposite of that, utilizing only well-established thinking patterns with the result being
organizational stagnation and a failure to move forward. When approaching an issue or attempting to solve a
problem, status quo thinking can be not only unhelpful but can actually hinder the process. For example,
BSL 4080, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
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tradition is often used as an excuse not to change. Has anyone ever heard “that’s
way we GUIDE
have always
UNITthe
x STUDY
done it” or “I had to do it that way, and I turned out okay”? These are examples
of mindsets in which status
Title
quo thinking can be detrimental to creative thinking.
Status Quo Thinking
Status quo thinking, on an organizational level, is a
desire to maintain the current situation. Dobni, Klassen,
and Sands (2016) state that maintaining an
organization’s current share of the market is an example
of status quo thinking. This is a risky approach, citing
Blockbuster as an industry leader that continued to
operate under a specific paradigm. For those who do not
remember Blockbuster, it was a store that housed VHS
and DVD copies of movies that one would have to travel
in order to rent the physical movie delivery item (VHS or
DVD), take it home and watch it, and then return it to the
store. If it was returned after a certain period, usually
about two or three days, there was a late fee.
Blockbuster continued to invest in more and more stores
and movie inventories, not seeing the changes in the
market. Meanwhile, Netflix and Redbox were embracing
technology and changing the market itself.
Remote control
(Gryntysz, 2017)
There are no “models” of status quo thinking, as it is rather self-explanatory. However, aversion to risk-taking,
low self-image, lack of imagination, or inability to contextualize a unique idea would all contribute to one
employing status quo thinking.
The final takeaway from the distinction between creative thinking and status quo thinking is that when faced
with an issue or problem, status quo thinking will do little to move forward with resolving the issue or solving
the problem. However, assuming that critical and creative thinking are implemented properly and the issue or
problem are properly identified and quantified, the next step is to attempt to decide how to move forward. This
is where argument formation and critical and creative discussions come in.
Creative Thinking
Before creative thinking can be discussed in depth, a few concepts will need to be clarified. First, the
evolution of creative thinking began in the 1950s with researchers proposing that creativity be defined as
originality of thought (Kilgour, 2006). However, Kilgour continues, stating that more recent research has
included the concept of appropriateness to the idea of creative thinking. In other words, an idea may be
original, but if it does not apply to the specific problem or issue, then it is not necessarily creative. For
example, if a manufacturing facility is having difficulty achieving production targets, a creative concept to
improve marketing and thereby increasing sales would not be helpful and might not be considered “creative”
given this conceptualization. In other words, the problem is with production, and marketing does not directly
address the problem. As creativity research has continued to mature, ideas, such as divergent thinking, bring
unusual ideas together in unique ways. Current creativity research acknowledges the two elements of
originality and appropriateness and also emphasizes the role of integrating different thoughts and approaches
(Kilgour, 2006).
This conceptualization of creative thinking brings up the importance of critical thinking as the basis of creative
thinking. Critical thinking will serve as the process of clearly identifying the issue or problem so that the
evaluation of the appropriateness of proposed solutions can be accurately assessed, and decisions
implemented. In addition to clearly identifying the problem or issue, relevant data pertaining to ideas, such as
the desired outcome and potential paths to that outcome, can be explored through critical thinking. When
setting the context of the problem or issue, arguments can be formed as to the importance of different
elements and the desirability of different outcomes, and root causes can be identified. Once these points are
clarified and articulated, the gathered data can be analyzed, and creativity can begin. Returning to the
manufacturing facility that is not hitting production targets, a possible solution might be to increase inventory
to “cover” for the lower production rates. However, a critical analysis of that proposed solution might reveal
that the costs associated with carrying additional inventory (such as warehouse costs, slowed return on
BSL 4080, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
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investment, etc.) might be higher than the cost of missing the target. A clear, comprehensive,
and critical
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
evaluation of all factors involved is an important foundation for creative thinking.
Title
Models of Creative Thinking
What does the creativity look like? According to Blomberg, Kallio, and Pohjanpää (2017), individual creativity
requires self-management, motivation, mood and affect, and knowledge. Self-management is said to include
concepts, such as self-efficacy, self-esteem, and self-identity. Each of these three elements of selfmanagement makes sense, as self-efficacy is the confidence that one is capable of successfully
accomplishing a specific task, while self-esteem and self-identity speak to one’s knowledge of oneself, as well
as the worth one brings to the organization. Communication and argument formation are important parts of
creative thinking, but without confidence in one’s ability, even creative ideas might not be effectively conveyed
(Boss, 2017).
Motivation is the second element of creativity (Blomberg, Kallio, & Pohjanpää, 2017). Motivation is accepted
to consist of two types: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from inside an individual and is made
up of ideas, such as achievement and personal satisfaction for a job well done. Meanwhile, extrinsic
motivation comes from external rewards, such as pay or recognition. It is widely accepted that high levels of
intrinsic motivation are a key driver of creativity, while literature splits on whether extrinsic rewards is a driver
or barrier to creative thinking. High intrinsic motivation as a driver certainly makes sense, being that creativity
and the underlying reason for its need to come up with novel and appropriate approaches or solutions initially
requires one to have concern over the issue or problem, which is internal. Providing an extrinsic reward, such
as a bonus, would interest some but not all, which might explain the reason for the split in the literature
regarding extrinsic motivation and creativity.
In psychological vernacular, affect refers to one’s emotional state or level of appreciation for an event or
situation. Blomberg, Kallio, and Pohjanpää (2017) state that mood, or affect, is the third major driver of
creative thinking. A person’s mood influences his or her thought process in that the better he or she feels,
generally and about a specific situation, the more skilled he or she is at recalling information. This leads to the
fourth and final element described by Blomberg, Kallio, and Pohjanpää, which is knowledge. It seems intuitive
that the more one knows, or the better he or she is at gaining knowledge, the more creative he or she will be.
The Blomberg, Kallio, and Pohjanpää (2017) model is just one of many models of creative thinking. Some
include varying understandings of the same elements, while some have different understandings, but few
actually contradict each other. Additional models include the following list:
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the elements of help seeking;
help giving;
reflective refraining;
reinforcement;
manager behavior;
work design;
allocation of time for creativity;
acceptance of risk;
positive tension;
positive conflict management;
collaboration within and between teams;
dispersed decision-making;
effective creativity management processes;
positive social relationships;
creativity of individual team members;
team composition/diversity, cohesion, structure, reflexivity;
perspective taking; and
empowering and transformational leadership (Hargadon & Bechky, 2006; Jain, Jain, & Jain, 2015;
Stanley, Matthews, & Davidson, 2016).
BSL 4080, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
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The phrase “two heads are better than one” might be a cliché, but there is a great
of truthGUIDE
in it. It supports
UNITdeal
x STUDY
the idea of working together with others (helping each other) to brainstorm (allotting
Title time, dispersing decisionmaking) creative ideas to difficult problems and creating buy-in for those who will need to implement the
agreed upon solution.
References
Blomberg, A., Kallio, T., & Pohjanpää, H. (2017). Antecedents of organizational creativity: Drivers, barriers or
both? Journal of Innovation Management, 5(1), 78–104. Retrieved from https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1957727175?accountid=33337
Boss, J. A. (2017). THiNK: Critical thinking and logic skills for everyday life (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGrawHill Education.
Dobni, C. B., Klassen, M., & Sands, D. (2016). Getting to clarity: New ways to think about strategy. The
Journal of Business Strategy, 37(5), 12–21. Retrieved from https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1826447036?accountid=33337
Gryntysz, J. [jgryntysz]. (2017). Netflix-remote-control-electronic [Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://pixabay.com/en/netflix-remote-control-electronic-2705725/
Hargadon, A. B., & Bechky, B. A. (2006). When collections of creatives become creative collectives: A field
study of problem solving at work. Organization Science, 17(4), 484–500. Retrieved from
https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/213831764?accountid=33337
Jain, R., Jain, C., & Jain, P. (2015). Team creativity at work: A conceptual framework. South Asian Journal of
Management, 22(1), 50–72. Retrieved from https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1690205094?accountid=33337
Kilgour, M. (2006). Improving the creative process: Analysis of the effects of divergent thinking techniques
and domain specific knowledge on creativity. International Journal of Business and Society, 7(2), 79–
107. Retrieved from https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/274965607?accountid=33337
Savovic, S. (2017). The impact of the dimensions of transformational leadership on the post-acquisition
performance of the acquired company. Economic Horizons, 19(2), 97–109. Retrieved from
https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1946266849?accountid=33337
Stanley, T., Matthews, J., & Davidson, P. (2016). Insights from stimulating creative behaviours in a projectbased organization team. Technology Innovation Management Review, 6(4), 26–33. Retrieved from
https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1961751382?accountid=33337
Stone, A. J. (2017). Critical thinking skills in USAF developmental education. Air & Space Power Journal,
31(2), 52–67. Retrieved from https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1910739067?accountid=33337
Valgeirsdottir, D., & Onarheim, B. (2017). Realistic creativity training for innovation practitioners: The Know–
Recognize–React model. Technology Innovation Management Review, 7(6), 5–15. Retrieved from
https://search-proquestcom.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1963138149?accountid=33337
BSL 4080, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
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Suggested Reading
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
The following chapter from the textbook covers information about communication, which you may have
covered in other courses, but may be a good refresher at this point in the course.
Chapter 3: Language and Communication
BSL 4080, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
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