How Art Workshops Support Companies develop Creative Problem Solving?

Why Creative Problem-Solving?

In a changing world, businesses have had to come up with new solutions to new challenges. Covid has taught us that one has to think out of the box in order to survive in this fluid climate. Therefore, companies have to give workers plenty of opportunities to explore creative problem solving.

Research suggests that the most effective way to uncover the best solution is to allow as many ideas as possible to be thrown into the hat with no judgment attached to them. This is called brainstorming! The key is to experiment with as many different ideas as possible. Each experiment opens the door for a new idea. Think of it as a pathway being lit as you go. It’s dark before an idea bursts forth and that spark ignites the next one.

The Value of Non-Judgmental Brainstorming

Alex Osborn, founder of the Creative Education Foundation, first developed creative problem solving in the 1940s, along with the term "brainstorming”.

The mindtools.com website defines this well:

“Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem solving with lateral thinking. It encourages people to come up with thoughts and ideas that can, at first, seem a bit crazy. Some of these ideas can be crafted into original, creative solutions to a problem, while others can spark even more ideas. This helps to get people unstuck by "jolting" them out of their normal ways of thinking.”

Eventually we evaluate all of the ideas and start narrowing down possible best solutions.

How Can The Art Process Support your Team with Creative Tools?

In my recent creative art workshop with Google employees, I asked them to create an abstract composition using the letters of their name. They were asked to draw as many ideas as possible. Then narrow down their choices until they came up with the best solution. You can see in the video below how they came up with some really cool designs. The added bonus, is that they were completely relaxed and non judgmental about their designs. When there is a relaxed, open environment of exploration the ideas just seem to flow so much more freely. As Alex Osborn learned from his work on brainstorming, judging solutions early on tends to shut down idea generation.

If you would like to book a creative art workshop with us, please contact us at theartprocess@yahoo.com