6.8 Creative Problem Solving: The Higgin’s Technique

Not too many years ago, problem solving was defined largely as a ‘rational effort'. As scientists and management researchers tried to improve the problem‑solving process, they focused on analysis and quantitative factors. But in recent years we have come to realize that a strictly rational approach misses the whole point of problem solving. Creativity is vital to successful problem solving. The problem‑solving process therefore has come to be referred to as the creative Problem‑solving, process or CPS.

According to James M. Higgins, there are eight basic stages in the creative problem solving process: analyzing the environment, recognizing a problem, identifying the problem, making assumptions, generating alternatives, choosing among alternatives, implementing the chosen solution, and control.

These stages are shown in Figure 6.1. The middle four of these stages are shown in the more detailed diagram presented in. This figure provides more detail on these four stages primarily to show how the decision maker goes from problem identification and the selection of criteria to the actual choice of a decision. The following paragraphs briefly examine these stages from the practical viewpoint of problem solving within an organization. Personal, non-work‑related problem solving would follow the same stages. Both analytical and creative processes are applicable to all eight stages.

Figure 6.1: The creative problem-solving (CPS) Process.