Talk:Creative problem solving

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[edit] Dubious

I'm dubious of this topic, especially capitalized like it is. I don't think there's anything close to an objective definition of "Creative Problem Solving"; it looks like this article just gets into particular authors' definitions. This sounds NPOV, for example: "[creative solutions] need to be encouraged." Why? Who says? (I don't disagree, but it seems nonencyclopedic. —Ben FrantzDale 22:10, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Major rewrite

I agree that "creative problem solving" should not be capitalized. I don't know how to do such a "cross-namespace move", so someone else please do it. Thanks!

I've done a major rewrite, and the remaining creativity-oriented content that previously comprised most of the article is isolated in a separate section to give anyone an opportunity to either move it to the creativity article or rewrite it to make it relevant to creative problem solving.

The following long description of TRIZ was replaced with a shortened version because such detail belongs in the TRIZ article:

Genrich Altshuller et al. believed that creative solutions may be examined by scientific methods. After over 200,000 patents analysed, he developed a Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TIPS, more commonly known as TRIZ). Besides a strong Laws of Technical Systems Evolution he has developed an Algorithm of Inventive Problem Solving, which had become a practical outcome of the theory. The algorithm (known as ARIZ) is a set of steps for problem solving. The ARIZ text includes multiple rules, notes and examples, it is supported by information funds -- Table of contradictions and inventive principles; Set of Standard solutions; Effects (physics, chemistry, geometry, etc.) databases. Special operators help to overcome psychological inertia on the way to solution.

There is still room for improvement, but please do not include content that instead should be in the creativity, creativity techniques, and problem solving articles.

VoteFair 06:53, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Here is a copy of the above-referenced creativity-oriented text in case someone wants to move it into the creativity page where it might fit. It does not define creative problem solving, and it is POV, so it doesn't belong here. The referenced publication remains in the article.

Creative problem solving begins when knowledge and simply thinking about a problem fails. Creative breakthroughs often follow extensive, even exhaustive efforts, to solve the problem resulting in frustration.[1] Insight often occurs when one turns away from the problem, anecdotal evidence often recounting instances where inspiration arrived in a dream or other altered state when the problem was not the focus of attention.[2]
One of the most famous anecdotes is of the chemist Friedrich Kekulé discovering the structure of the benzene ring while relaxing and gazing into his fireplace.
Creative solutions are often quite tentative at first; they need to be encouraged, evaluated and tested. Whether they will be depending much on the ambient environment the problem solver is operating in. Established, large, rule-bound organizations do not favor innovation, in fact, may punish it. Creativity is more likely to thrive in smaller, startups that encourage innovation.[3]

VoteFair 21:25, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] dubious as well

'creativity always involves creative problem solving' sounds like tautology. perhaps the author could try again. best, M.

  • Where does this statement appear? The article states: "Creative problem solving always involves creativity. However, creativity often does not involve creative problem solving, ...."
I'm up for deleting this page. Anyone else? —Ben FrantzDale (talk) 23:38, 25 March 2008 (UTC)
The first section above titled "dubious" refers to a version of this article that is long gone. That version was, indeed, awful. The suggestion to remove the article referred to that long-gone version, not the current version.
My recent edit removes the remaining half of about the only sentence that I didn't remove or rewrite from the awful version. I've made contributions to greatly improve this article, yet of course others are welcome to make further improvements. Deleting it is not an option because it is a well-established term that deserves to be defined. VoteFair (talk) 01:51, 26 March 2008 (UTC)