Decision Making and Creativity

• Decision Making is a conscious process of

making choices among one or more
alternatives with the intention of moving
toward some desired state of affairs.

• A decision represents a judgement; a final

resolution of a conflict of needs, means or
goals; a commitment to action made in
face of uncertainty and complexity.
 Features of Decision Making

• Decision making implies that there are various

alternatives and the more desirable alternatives
is chosen to solve the problem

• It may be completely rational but may be

judgemental and emotional.
 The “Rational” Decision Making Model

• 1. Identify problems or opportunity

• 2. Choose the best decision style
• 3. Develop alternative solutions
• 4. Choose the best solution
• 5. Implement the selected alternative
• 6. Evaluate decision outcomes
 Decision Style
• Programmed and Non Programmed Decision

• Programmed decision: routine decisions whereby

decision makers can follow standard operating
procedures to select the preferred solution without the
need to identify or evaluate alternative choices.

• Non Programmed Decision: are relevant for solving

unique and unusual problems in which various
alternatives cannot be decided in advance
Six Thinking Hats
 Six Thinking Hats

• There are six different imaginary hats that

you can put on or take off. Each hat is a
different colour and represents a different
style of thinking.
• When we change hats, we change our
thinking.
• Six colors of hats for six types of thinking
– Each hat identifies a type of thinking
– Hats are directions of thinking
• Hats help a group use parallel thinking
– You can “put on” and “take off” a hat
 Uses for Six Hats

• Problem solving
• Strategic planning
• Running meetings
• Much more
 Six colors…
• White: neutral, objective
• Red: emotional, angry
• Black: serious, somber
• Yellow: sunny, positive
• Green: growth, fertility
• Blue: cool, sky above
• Benefits of Six Thinking Hat
• allows you to say things without risk;
• generates understanding that there are multiple
perspectives on an issue;
• is a convenient mechanism for “switching gears”;
• focuses thinking;
• leads to more creative thinking;
• improves communication; and
• improves decision making.
 Creative Process Model

Verification

Insight

Incubation

Preparation
 Characteristics of Creative
People
• Above average intelligence
• Persistence
• Relevant knowledge and experience
• Inventive thinking
 Supporting Creativity
• Learning orientation
– Encourage experimentation
– Tolerate mistakes
• Intrinsically motivating work
– Task significance, autonomy, feedback
• Open communication and sufficient
resources
 Creative Activities
Redefine Associative Cross-
the Problem Play Pollination

• Review • Storytelling • Diverse teams

abandoned
projects • Artistic • Information
activities sessions
• Ask other
people • Morphological • Internal
analysis tradeshows
• Below are nine dots arranged in a set of
three rows. Your challenge is to draw
four straight lines which go through the
middle of all of the dots without taking
the marker off the pad
• Lessons to be learned from this puzzle
• Look beyond the current definition of the problem.
• Analyze the definition to find out what is allowed and what is not.
• Are there any real rules to the problem anyway? (especially valid in human-related
problems where there are only perceptions, not physical rules)
• Look for other definitions of problems.
• Do not accept other people's definitions of problems. They may be either wrong or
biased.
• If a problem definition is wrong, no number of solutions will solve the real problem.
• Investigate the boundaries
• What are the boundaries into which the solution must fit?
• Are the boundaries your own perceptions, or reality?
• What are the possibilities if you push the boundaries?
• What are the benefits of small boundary changes?
• Hard work is not the solution
• Repeating the same wrong process again and again with more vigour does not work.
• You can be very close to a solution while not getting any closer to it.
• Thought is the solution, physical hard work will not work.
• 1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colours.
2. In each house lives a person of different nationality
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke
different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.
THE QUESTION: WHO OWNS THE FISH?
HINTS
1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
• The German owns the fish.
 What are Teams?
• Groups of two or more people
• Exist to fulfill a purpose
• Interdependent -- interact and influence each
other
• Mutually accountable for achieving common
goals
• Perceive themselves as a social entity
 Groups versus Teams
• All teams are groups
• Some groups are just people
assembled together
• Teams have task interdependence
whereas some groups do not (e.g.,
group of employees enjoying lunch
together)
 Many Types of Teams
•Departmental teams •Skunkworks

•Production/service/ •Task force (project)

leadership teams teams

•Self-directed teams •Virtual teams

•Advisory teams •Communities of

practice
 Why Rely on Teams
• Compared with individuals working alone,
teams tend to:
– Make better decisions
– Make better products and services due to
more knowledge and expertise
– Increase employee engagement
 Why Informal Groups Exist
1. Innate drive to bond
2. Social identity
– We define ourselves by group memberships
3. Goal accomplishment
4. Emotional support
 Team Effectiveness
• Fulfills objectives assigned to the team
• Fulfills satisfaction and well-being of team
members
• Maintains team’s survival
 Team Effectiveness Model
Organizational and Team
Team Design
Team Environment Effectiveness

•Task characteristics
• Reward systems
•Team size • Achieve
• Communication
•Team composition organizational
systems
goals
• Physical space
• Satisfy member
• Organizational needs
Team Processes
environment
• Maintain team
• Organizational
•Team development survival
structure
•Team norms
• Organizational
•Team roles
leadership
•Team cohesiveness
 Team’s Task and Size
• Task characteristics
– Better when tasks are clear, easy to
implement
– Share common inputs, processes, or
outcomes
– Task interdependence
• Team size
– Smaller teams are better
– But large enough to accomplish task
Levels of Task Interdependence
High A
Reciprocal
B C

A B C
Sequential

Resource
Pooled
Low A B C
 Team Composition
1. Motivation
– To perform task
– To work cooperatively the team
2. Competencies
– Skills and knowledge to perform the task
– Ability to work effectively with each other
3. Homogeneous or heterogeneous, depending
on task requirements
Homogeneous Teams Heterogeneous
Teams
• Less conflict • More conflict

• Faster team • Longer team

development development

• Performs better on • Performs better on

cooperative tasks complex problems

• Better coordination • More creative

• High satisfaction of • Better representation

team members outside the team
Stages of Team Development
Performing

Norming

Storming

Existing teams
Forming might regress Adjourning
back to an
earlier stage of
development
 Team Norms
• Informal rules and expectations team
establishes to regulate member behaviors

• Norms develop through:

– Initial team experiences
– Critical events in team’s history
– Experience/values members bring to the team
 Changing Team Norms
• Introduce norms when forming teams

• Select members with preferred norms

• Discuss counter-productive norms

• Reward behaviors representing desired

norms
• Disband teams with dysfunctional norms
 Team Roles
• Role -- set of behaviors people are expected to
perform in certain positions
– Formally assigned or informally acquired based on
personality preferences
• Belbin’s Team Role Model
– Nine team roles -- all needed for optimal team
performance
– People choose preferred role based on their
personality
– Some roles more important at particular stages
 Team Cohesiveness
• The degree of attraction people feel
toward the team and their motivation to
remain members
• Calculative -- members believe the team
will fulfill goals and needs
• Emotional -- team is part of person’s social
identity
 Influences on Team
Cohesiveness
Member
Similarity

External Team
Challenges Size
Increasing
Team
Team Cohesiveness Member
Success Interaction

Somewhat
Difficult Entry
Team Cohesiveness Outcomes
1. Want to remain members
2. Willing to share information
3. Strong interpersonal bonds
4. Resolve conflict effectively
5. Better interpersonal relationships
 The Trouble With Teams
• Individuals better/faster on some tasks
• Process losses - cost of developing and
maintaining teams
• Companies don’t support best work
environment for team dynamics
• Social loafing
How to Minimize Social Loafing
• Make individual performance more visible
– Form smaller teams
– Specialize tasks
– Measure individual performance

• Increase employee motivation

– Increase job enrichment
– Select motivated employees