Creativity at Work

Cognitive Processes

Michael Mumford and his colleagues have identified several core cognitive processes that contribute to creative problem solving. Problem construction, or problem identification, is the first step in the creative problem-solving effort. Because problems that allow for creative solutions are ill defined, the problem-construction step is particularly important. Ill-defined problems, which are common in organizational settings, are those in which multiple goals and means of solving the problem are possible and multiple solutions exist that are possible and acceptable. This ambiguity facilitates creativity but also necessitates problem construction. The problem solver must first identify the important goals and information required to solve the problem, as well as any restrictions on the solution. Research on problem construction suggests that it is an effortful and time-consuming process and that engaging more actively in the problem-construction process results in more creative solutions.

After the problem has been defined, the problem solver must search for the information needed to solve the problem. This information may already be available to the problem solver, or it may need to be obtained from external sources. Once obtained, the problem solver must combine this information in new ways before a creative solution results. Research findings again indicate that the cognitive processes required for this step necessitate a large commitment of time and effort. In addition, the quantity and diversity of information available to the problem solver from this step may facilitate creativity, up to a point. Too much information, especially irrelevant information, will hinder creative performance.

A third core process that is necessary for creativity—and one of the most-researched cognitive [Page 127]processes—is idea generation, which is typically measured using divergent-thinking tests. In organizations, idea generation is often called brainstorming. Much of the empirical work on divergent thinking and brainstorming has focused on fluency, or the number of ideas, as the main way to evaluate idea generation. However, it is clear that just having a large quantity of ideas is not necessarily related to having good or creative ideas. Research has shown that providing instructions on the goals of the idea generation focuses the attention of the problem solver on that goal, resulting in different outcomes based on the instructions. Instructions to be creative, flexible, or original increase the creativity, flexibility, and originality of the ideas generated, respectively. Instructions to focus on one goal at a time lead to more solutions but ones that only solve for that goal, whereas instructions to solve for two conflicting goals result in fewer solutions but more complex ones that attempt to solve both issues presented. Instructions seem to provide a way to evaluate ideas and therefore determine whether the ideas generated match what is needed. However, very little research has explored the idea-evaluation process specifically.

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