“Although I suppose that only God truly creates, people sure do discover
some wonderfully new combinations!”

A leader soon learns that the ability to think creatively proves indispensable to maintaining a consistent problem solving ability.  This post examines a process of encouraging creativity entitled Creative Wheeling™.  Through it’s use, the hope is that the reader will better understand the dynamics of creativity from possibly even a mechanical level.

Picasso took the existing tools of colors, brushes and canvas — creating new
combinations that continue to amaze and inspire. Mozart took a relatively limited
number of musical notes and combined them in ways that had never been heard by the
human ear. Great fashion designers present to us new blendings of the already present
fabrics and colors. Even such great inventions as the light bulb and telephone
consisted of finding new ways to relate already existing components.

The process of Creative Wheeling expands upon such an understanding of creativity.

The Tools
When you go to http://davearch.com/creativewheeling, you’ll be able to download an eBook that contains a template that looks like a vault door with three wheels (see the poster above).

The labeling below the wheels assumes that you’ll be using these worksheets primarily within a problem solving application. However, later you will learn how to modify the labeling to also accommodate differient applications including new product
design or program development.

You’ll also find a template of wheels in your download  that resemble dials on a combination lock. You will cut out three of these – including the dotted line slot in each wheel.

Although the process of Creative Wheeling can be used both individually and in groups,
these instructions will explain how to use them in both large and small groups (i.e.
committees and focus groups). Whether used individually or in a group, the process
itself consists of three distinct stages: The Brainstorm, The Observations, and The
Evaluations.

Stage One: The Brainstorm
After introducing the topic of focus for the problem solving session, distribute the basic
vault door worksheets so that each person has one. Give each individual time to
personally brainstorm on the question “What problems do they see contributing to
the overall problem under discussion?” Each person lists some of the different
problems they see in one or two word synopses between the spokes within The
Problems wheel. One contributing problem is placed within each space. After a
limited amount of time, have them brainstorm in small groups and then finally you as the
facilitator receives feedback from the large group.

As with all productive brainstorming, all contributions are received without comment or
evaluation.

Then the same process (i.e. individual brainstorming, small group, large group) is used
on the wheel labelled The Results. The question now asked is “What will this
situation look like when effective solutions have been applied?” This is the
visualization stage in which the desired results are defined and written between the
spokes of that wheel.

Finally, the wheel labelled The Solutions is filled in with the same brainstorming
process as proposed solutions are suggested by the participants. Once again no
comment is made about any of the solutions and no evaluation offered. This
brainstorming of solutions prevents participants from looking for “the right answer” and
rather provides a vehicle for recording all possible solutions.

Stage Two: The Observations
Then the perforated dials are distributed so that each person receives three. They are
asked to remove the perforation so that each now dial has an open slot in it.

Individually they place those dials on top of their worksheet wheels so that only one of
the spoke spaces shows through each dial’s slot. They are then to ask themselves
“Will the exposed solution contribute to the remedying of the exposed problem
bringing about the exposed desired result?”  Each person should keep a written record of their own observations.

They should then turn the dial to expose yet another problem, solution, and result —
making notes on observations they might make about the three components now
exposed.

Following a time in which each person has several opportunities to rotate the dials and
make note of their own observations, small group interaction should occur in which
people have opportunity to share their observations with one or two others. Even if the
entire group has only four to six people, it has still been found that this stage is
important to use if even dividing into small groups of only two people.
At the conclusion of this stage, the entire group is ready for. . .

Stage Three: The Evaluations
The process of Creative Wheeling has been designed so that by this stage suggested
solutions will have become separated from the ego of their contributors. Now the
participants are prepared for an open and spirited discussion of the options previously
written between the spokes of the centremost wheel (The Solutions). Each will have a
series of observations ready to contribute both from their own personal observations as
well as the smaller group interaction.

The process as presented above has used the small group interaction as a means of
making the observations anonymous so that as observations are contributed in this
section of the Creative Wheeling process, no one is sure whether the observation is
the product of one person or the result of small group synthesis. Once again the
potentially stifling effect of ego involvement has been neutralized.

The Applications
Once this process of Creative Wheeling is understood in the problem solving model,
transfer to the following applications are easy to make:

• New Program Development would have wheels labeled: The Needs, The Programs, The Results

By using the above labels with the wheels, you can follow the same process with new
program ideas being the result of the creative process! “What needs do we see?”
“What results are desired?” “What programs might help us create those desired
results?”

• New Product/Structure Design would have wheels labeled: The Needs, The Products, The Results

Now the questions “What needs are we attempting to meet?” “What results do we hope
to see?” and “What products might create those desired results?” guide the Creative
Wheeling process.

May this process show you physically what can oftentimes be an etherally process so that as a leader you can visualize the process required for you to become more creative.

Categories: Creativeness

Tags: creativeness