Going to buy a new car, or negotiate resource allocations on the job? Should you focus on problem solving or creativity?
Most managers understand that generating creative solutions is usually far more successful than systematic problem solving in haggling and negotiating. So, reflecting the common wisdom that creativity is an innate talent that can’t be taught, they try to find or hire creative people who can generate new ideas in those settings. You know the conventional wisdom: creatives are born not grown.
That may be a missed opportunity. The April issue of Harvard's newsletter, Negotiation, reports on a new study by D.T. Ogilvie of Rutgers and Shalei Simms of Ramapo College who wanted to test traditional wisdom. The researchers randomly assigned MBA students into small groups.
Some of the groups received a 30-minute workshop on traditional decision-making techniques that stressed systematic problem solving, while the other group was given a 30-minute workshop on creative processing. The creativity focus included instructions such as “have fun,” “refrain from criticizing your ideas,” and “look for new possibilities.”
Then, with each member representing a hospital department, groups negotiated a cost-allocation problem. The conclusion? “Negotiators who had received creativity training performed better than did those who had received more traditional training. The results suggest that by exposing negotiators to creativity training and supporting their bright ideas, organizations may see improvements to their bottom lines.”
What does this say about career development and skill training? When stepping into a new situation, always ask the mindset question: What’s the best approach to this issue? How should I think about this problem and what mentality should I bring?
Here's my perspective. Performers always think about their audience and their content. Once they’ve decided on the best mindset, including their own emotional set, they psych themselves up for the performance.
Perhaps business people need to learn how to be artists!