17 minute read
Unit 4: Creative solutions
Creative solutions
Are we all creative? People may think that creativity is something that only artists have; people like musicians, or painters, or grand inventors.
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But actually, we can all be creative. Some parts of creativity include being open, being curious, asking “why”?
Every time you solve a problem, or develop your ideas, you are using your creativity.
1 Everyday creativity
Also see: 50 Ways to Practice Everyday Creativity - TARA MOHR, https://www.taramohr. com/creativity/everyday-creativity/
Being creative simply means that you think playfully about things – that you look at it in many new ways. In other words, you CREATE some new ideas and solutions.
There are many theories to explain what creativity is, and they all include these three elements: z Expertise: Knowledge about a specific topic, or topics. z Creative thinking skills: The skills to see issues in many different ways, and to think of many different ways to solve problems. z Motivation: Someone’s ‘inner drive’ to create solutions to problems, or to achieve something.
Intrinsic motivation is coming from inside, for example, a strong sense of purpose or values, or from outside a person (‘extrinsic’, for example money or fame).
THE THREE COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY
Within every individual, creativity is a function of three components: expertise, creative-thinking skills, and motivation. Can managers influence these components? The answer is an emphatic yes – for better or for worse – through workplace practices and conditions.
Expertise is, in a word, knowledge – technical, procedural, and intellectual.
Expertise
Creativity Creativethinking skills Creative-thinking skills determine how flexibly and imaginatively people approach problems. Do their solutions upend the status quo? Do they persevere through dry spells?
Motivation
Not all motivation is created equal. An inner passion to solve the problem at hand leads to solutions far more creative than do external rewards, such as money. This component – called intrinsic motivation – is the one that can be most immediately influenced by the work enviroment.
ACTIVITY 4.1
z Do you know some very creative people? Who are they? What makes them creative?
Come up with between 6 and 10 names, and make sure that you include some people you know, local community, and anyone you have heard of?
TEACHING TIPS | Elon Musk’s guide to making your biggest creative projects
Based on an article written by Nic Kocher Oct 14, 2019
Who is he? Elon Musk may be the most significant South African born entrepreneur of all time. His work is in many areas from banking, underground boring, neural implants, and solar power, plus revolutionized two stagnant and challenging industries: cars and space exploration! Elon’s way of thinking boosts creativity and gets things done.
This framework, comes from Elon Musk’s approach to his work, can help us reach our goals with our own creative projects. Let’s get started.
1. Speed up the process.
“If the schedule is long it’s wrong, if it’s tight it’s right.” − Elon Musk
Musk tries to build things quickly. Anything that slows us down is shifted or changed to a faster process. The idea is you will learn more from quickly making something rather than endlessly planning. Don’t try to be perfect.
For example, Starship, Elon’s reusable mega-rocket, was going to be made from carbon fibre. This material was the best choice. But it was hard to make and needed special molds that would take years to make. Musk switched to stainless steel. Starship Mark 1 was built in six months, a lot quicker than NASA’s 15 year for carbon fibre.
Elon says good things should not take extra time. If anything slows you down, change it. Choose the ‘fastest’ way, and see what happens.
2. Get used to failure.
“There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their asscovering.” – Elon Musk
Elon’s company, Space X was trying to land the Falcon 9 rocket – something never done before. It crashed into the sea many times. With every new launch, they made adjustments. Finally, there was success. This approach goes against every fiber of NASA’s being where there is a strong mentality of “failure is not an option.” This fear of failure helps only when you are scared of loss, but failing quickly means getting to solutions quicker.
Trial and error is part of the creative process. What if you embraced certain failure? You can then rebuild quicker, knowing what not to do. Iteration means making changes.
“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” – Elon Musk
Tesla cars are loaded with new features overnight. When they go for a service, hardware and software can be updated. Continuous improvement is now normal – in the past, you bought a car that was frozen in time.
Open creative processes mean the process of building something and also improving it through repeated updates. The rule is to make it, improve it, and make it again.
3. Back to Basics
Elon thought about what people wanted most from a bank – not big buildings, physical cards, or complicated services.
They just wanted to quickly and safely transfer money. He went back to basics, with his innovation Zip2 later became
PayPal.
In your project, think about what your work is trying to say. Can you say it simply, clearly or in a better way? Often, things change and the way you do things becomes irrelevant. Get back to basics and solve the problems of the world
4. Let go of whatever is not working.
“Don’t pretend something’s working when it’s not, or you’re gonna get stuck on a bad solution.” – Elon Musk
Elon Musk likes the comic book series, Tintin. He loves the look of the 1950s rocket in Tintin. He wanted his own rocket to have the tail fins that work as the legs – a simple and elegant design. It took years of research and millions of dollars. In the end, the engineers couldn’t make it work. Mr Musk let it go.
Even if you have spent years working on a project, if it’s not working, it’s time to try something else. “Future you” will thank you for letting go.
5. The right question is often more important than the answer.
Many people in the past were trying to make the best rocket. But the question
Elon Musk asked was not what is the best rocket, but how is the best way to you get to Mars and back? The atmosphere on
Mars is mostly carbon dioxide: if you mix this with water and some solar power, you can create methane. That’s the fuel that
Mr Musk chose to power his rocket so it could return with a full tank. It is a world’s first, because he asked the right question.
Your project may have a lot of good answers for how and why you make this product or service. But are you asking the right questions?
6. Don’t make it complicated.
“The best part is no part. The best process is no process.” – Elon Musk
Cars that drive themselves are a dream for many car manufacturers. Many makers of cars tried LIDAR technology – a dome that sits on top of the car. It beams out lasers and measures distance with pinpoint accuracy.
However, Musk has opted for a simple camera-only system for his Tesla cars. He says that the world’s road system was developed with human eyes (not lasers), and that LIDAR is expensive technology that needs complex Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. Many people think he is wrong. We don’t know what will work best until we have tried it. It is common for Elon Musk to remove anything that is not needed or is too complicated.
Examine your own work. What is unnecessary? Are your processes long or complicated? Some people make their work look more complicated because they think it sounds better if it’s difficult to understand, but it is always better to remove and simplify.
7. Question the limits
“Question your limitations – they are probably wrong.” – Elon Musk
Mr Musk asks all his teams to question the limitations that everyone assumes. Senior scientist, Dan Rasky, wanted to use a specific glue to apply heat shield tiles to the Dragon crewed capsule. But another department informed him that it ‘turned to butter’ at high temperatures.
Instead of taking it at face value, he placed a sample into a custom-built furnace and discovered the glue properties far exceed the specifications. He not only had the perfect glue, but he also learned more about it. If others (or you) think something can’t be done or must be used – question them all. These limits may be misplaced, or no longer true.
8. Keep going. Persist.
“When you start, there is optimism… and then you encounter all sorts of issues and you will go through a whole world of hurt.” – Elon Musk
Tesla’s manufacturing was not going well. The new Model 3 production line had stalled, and investors were panicking. Musk needed to fix the problem. He set up a mattress next to the production line and spent days and nights considering the issues. It turned out every time a custom change was needed to one car, everything would stop. His solution was to build a giant tent next to the factory and move all the “problem” cars there. The main production line was now flowing, and production speeds were faster.
Things go wrong. Projects have problems, and things break. Don’t give up.
9. Believe in yourself and take a risk.
“The chances of me going into the rocket business, without knowing anything about rockets, not having ever built anything, I mean, I would have to be insane if I thought the odds were in my favor.” – Elon Musk
Musk’s money he earned from the sale of Paypal was $180 million. He put $100m in Space X, $70m in Tesla, and $10m in Solar City. He had nothing left – and for a while, he slept on friend’s couches. He took a big risk, but he believed in himself. He used his own money, and if his companies failed, then he would go down with them. That is an example of taking a risk.
Take a risk for your projects. It could be your time, your money or your reputation. Use deadlines to put pressure on yourself, or tell someone what you are doing, to give you added social pressure.
Make failure painful and make the rewards big.
10. Find synergies.
“If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.” – Elon Musk
Synergies are everywhere in Musk’s work. He borrows and combines previous work to enhance new projects.
You might have lots of skills. Think about what you can use in your projects. It might be a particular skill, a piece of work, or a contact. 11. Find your greatest passion and shoot for the stars.
“There have to be reasons that get you up in the morning and make you want to live.
Why do you want to live? What’s the point?
What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.” – Elon Musk
What is his purpose? Mr Musk has a deep desire to make life better. It is the basis for all he does. Having big and meaningful goals is contagious. You will find supporters.
If your work can bring joy to someone, if it brings about positive change, or new ways of doing things, – keep reminding yourself of this. Your purpose will help you when times are tough and boost you even higher when you succeed.
Source: https:// entrepreneurshandbook.co/useelon-musks-12-principles-to-knockout-your-biggest-creative-projects9c4ccf851996
Read the article about Elon Musk.
Which of the principles surprised you most? What is different from what you have been told at school? Discuss with others.
For your own project, product or service: which of these principles do you plan you use in your future business? Give specific plans.
My project product or service What I can use Specific details
Also see: What makes creative solutions people like Elon Musk successful? https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business-day-am/key-traits-that-make-creative-geniuses-like-elon-muskwho-they-are~1325358 https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-generate-ideas-like-elon-musk-31c234f8b073 https://businessgraduatesassociation.com/how-to-become-a-creative-problem-solver-like-elon-musk/ https://whatscreativeluc.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-creative-mind-of-elon-musk_14.html
Watch these videos: 7 Tips on how to become a creative entrepreneur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aleYfVyuZYA
Entrepreneurial ideas for the new reality: List of top 75 small business ideas in South Africa that you should try https://briefly.co.za/23841-small-business-ideas-south-africa-work-2021.html
Think about it!
How can you add more creativity in your life and project?
Here are 8 ways to become more creative:
GO NATURAL Even pictures of nature inspire people’s minds to be more creative. Better still, get out in the wild.
MOVE MORE Research shows people come up with more ideas after even minimal activity.
USE YOUR HANDS Working with materials and models will help you create more ideas.
LOSE YOUR PRIDE If you’re not worried who gets the credit for creativity, then you’ll love building new ideas with other creatives. WARM UP Take an every day object and see how many different uses you can think of for it in 2 minutes.
SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE Get a list of all the times in the past when you’ve come up with creative solutions to things.
ASK WHAT IF I WAS A KID? Children aren’t constrained in their thinking as we are, so if you can, think like a kid, or better still, ask one some questions.
HANG OUT WITH CREATIVE PEOPLE Who are your most creative friends? Go and spend time with them and pick their brain about what helps them be creative.
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8 WAYS TO BOOST YOUR CREATIVITY
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See: Creativity in Everyday Life − Creativity Workshop, https://creativityworkshop.com/articles/ creativity-in-everyday-life-3
Also see: How To Free Your Creative Thinking − Faulhaber Communications, https:// faulhabercommunications.com/how-to-free-your-creative-thinking/
Remember the garbology exercise you did? Well, you can also use that same bag of garbage you collected in other CREATIVE ways.
Recycled materials can offer a business opportunity in itself – scrap metal, cans paper, cardboard can be collected and sold to manufacturers who use them to make new products.
Some people get creative and make craft items to sell with recycled materials. For example, shopping plastic bags are re-used to make mats, glass bottles can be made into drinking glasses and flower vases.
Think of your own idea for a product that you can make from waste (things thrown away).
z Give a short description of the product.
z List the ingredients (waste) and tools you will need.
z Describe how (the process to make the product).
z Explain how you will sell the product, to which customers?
Also see: https://zerowastememoirs.com/10-amazing-products-made-using-recycled-materials/ https://masschallenge.org/article/recycling-startups https://www.instructables.com/Cute-DIY-Lampshade-Made-Using-Plastic-Bottle/ https://craftsbyamanda.com/recycled-plastic-lid-windchime/
Improving creativity in a group More and better ideas come from a group of people than alone. If you want more creative ideas, invite more people to think together. This is called brainstorming. When people work together, they need to feel free to offer many ideas – good ideas and “bad ideas’’ too: you need to make this possible in a free space where all ideas are welcomed, without criticism. You can have a rule, where the group cannot say no to any idea, they need to say “yes, and”, and build on all ideas, not to judge, but to make space for all ideas.
Brainstorming is best done in a group, but you can try this individually too.
How to Brainstorm New Business Ideas in 6 Steps - 2021 - MasterClass, https://www. masterclass.com/articles/how-to-brainstorm-new-business-ideas
How to Brainstorm and generate creative ideas for your business, https://www.wpoven.com/ blog/creative-ideas-for-your-business/
Best Exercises to Spark Creativity in Ideation, https://innovationlab.net/blog/9-best-exercises-tospark-creativity-in-ideation/
Creativity Exercises To Improve Creative Thinking and Problem-Solving at Work, https://www. indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/creativity-exercise
There are many creative ways to come up with new ideas by brainstorming. These include for example starbursting, forced connection, six hats, brainwriting, and speedboating.
See Creative Activity Guide for Idea Generation, https://www.meetcortex.com/blog/creativeactivity-guide-for-idea-generation
Brainwriting The first thing when starting to brain-write is to say what the problem is, very clearly.
Once the problem is identified, write it down on the top of an empty sheet of paper. Then pass the sheet around to each person in the group. While the paper is being passed around the group members are writing down their thoughts and ideas relating to the problem.
Speedboating To start this activity someone draws a speedboat on a whiteboard or a piece of paper. Then the group starts to draw anchors attached to the boat with problems on it that will slow down the speedboat. The problems will show what will slow down your speedboat (product or idea). Since you are identifying your problems before implementing your idea or product to the market you are able to plan for those problems in advance.
ACTIVITY 4.4
When food is thrown away, and not eaten by the hungry people who need it (food waste) is a big problem in the world.
Read this article
Teaching Resource
STORY
What Is Food Waste? Food waste or food loss is edible food that is discarded or lost uneaten.
It’s not just the food itself that goes to waste; it’s all the time, money and cost that were used in making the food - all the resources from the water to land and labour. An example of this is that 70% of all the water used in the world is used in agriculture. One third of the world’s food is lost or wasted.
What does this do to the world? It has effects on: The Environment: When food is thrown away it ends up in landfill where it decomposes and releases methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas that affects our environment. In fact, 8% of the global greenhouse gas emissions comes from food waste. This means that if food loss
and waste were its own country it would be the third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions (after the US and China).
Economy: Every year, the cost of food waste to the world’s economy is about $1.2 trillion.
Society: Throwing away food is even worse because the food could feed hungry people: there are 870 million people around the world who are living in hunger. There are more hungry people than two- and-a-half times the population of the United States of America.
In some countries more than 40 % of the food produced is lost or wasted somewhere along the food supply chain. This is a solvable problem, but people don’t know enough about food waste. If this gets worse, there will be 2.1 billion tons of food that is not eaten, the value of this food is $1.5 trillion by the year 2030.
Food Waste Chain There is food lost or wasted all along the food supply chain from where it comes from, the farm where it grows to the table of those who eat it. What if food doesn’t look “perfect?” When people demand fruit and vegetables to look a certain way, this means producers get rid of up to 32% of imperfect or irregular shaped fruit and vegetables.
When food is stored, transported, the quality of the food can be changed. What it looks like can also cause issues, because food must match the manufacturer’s standards so that it can be sold. If the food gets the wrong label or if there is damage to the packaged food, those products will no longer be acceptable for sale.
When food is transported to the supermarkets and shops and sold from there to consumers. Here waste happens because food has a limited shelf life. The lifespan is dictated by the date labelling on the products, which can be inconsistent and confusing. Some food can be thrown away even if it is still good to eat.
Source: https://toogoodtogo.org/en/ movement/education/food-waste-aglobal-problem
Teaching Resource
Additional info & exercise about food waste: https://toogoodtogo.org/en/movement/education/age-14-16 https://toogoodtogo.org/en/movement/education/age-10-13
Video: https://issuu.com/dgmurraytrust_issuu/docs/social_enterprises_aimed_at_waste_ reduction_and_wa
Case study solving food waste: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/700/216173.html https://ventureburn.com/2021/05/food-waste-innovation-challenge-launches-in-sa/
In a small group, come up with all the ideas, good and bad, to help find creative solutions to this problem of food waste by using either the speedboat or brainwriting technique.
FINDING GOOD IDEAS: INDIVIDUAL BRAINSTORMING Brainstorming does not always have to be done in groups. In fact, individual brainstorming can sometimes be more effective than group brainstorming, especially if you already have a fairly clear idea of the outcome you want, and if you just want to develop your existing idea a bit further.
One interesting technique for individual brainstorming is the spider-web. By using a spider-web, one idea will make many other related ideas. 1. Write down the topic or the problem in a circle in the middle of a page. 2. Draw lines out from the main circle, and connect it to smaller circles for subtopics. 3. Draw lines out from the subtopics circles and write down ideas – any ideas – related to these subtopics.
Label these “sub-ideas”.
Continue to create more layers of circles. Do not try to create a perfect spider-web but write freely and follow any train of thought without “editing” yourself at this stage.
https://gordianplot.fandom.com/wiki/Individual_brainstorming
Subidea
Subidea
Subtopic
Main Topic
Subidea
Subtopic
Subidea
Subidea
Subtopic
Subidea Subidea
(https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/weaving-ideas-with-spider-diagrams)
4 Planning to win
Take your business idea and use the spiderweb technique to develop it further.
