C H A P T E R

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Decision Making and Creativity
2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Decision Making at NASA

The loss of the space shuttle Columbia (shown here lifting off for its final flight) and its crew was caused by more than foam hitting the left wing; it was also due to NASAs flawed decision making.
AP Photo/Chris OMeara

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Decision Making Defined

Conscious process of making choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs.
AP Photo/Chris OMeara

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rational Decision Making Model

1. Identify problem 6. Evaluate decision

2. Choose decision style

5. Implement solution 4. Choose best solution

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3. Develop alternatives

2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Problem Identification Process

Problems and opportunities are not announced or pre-defined

 need to interpret ambiguous information

Involves both rational and emotional brain centers

 probably need to pay attention to both in problem

identification

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Famous Missed Opportunities

A Knights Tale was a box office success, yet most Hollywood studios rejected Brian Helgelands proposal. They failed to see the appeal of a film about a lowly squire in 14th century England who aspires to be a knight, set to 1970s rock music and reflecting contemporary themes of youth, freedom, and equality.
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Photofest

2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Problem Identification Challenges

Perceptual bias:

 Selective attention

mechanisms  Influence from others  Mental models

Diagnostic skills:

 Defining problems in terms

of solutions
Photofest

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Identifying Problems Effectively

Be aware of perceptual and diagnostic limitations Understand mental models Discussing the situation with colleagues -- see different perspectives
Photofest

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views

Goals
Rational: Clear, compatible, agreed upon OB: Ambiguous, conflicting, lack agreement

Processing Information

Rational: People can process all information OB: People process only limited information

Evaluation Timing

Rational: Choices evaluated simultaneously OB: Choices evaluated sequentially

more

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Making Choices: Rational vs OB (cont)

Standards
Rational: Evaluate against absolute standards OB: Evaluate against implicit favorite

Info Quality

Rational: People rely on factual information OB: Rely on perceptually distorted information

Decision Objective

Rational: Maximization -- the optimal choice OB: Satisficing -- a good enough choice

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Intuitive Decision Making

Ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and select the best course of action without conscious reasoning Conduit for tacit knowledge Use intuition to complete rational process

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Choosing Solutions Effectively

Systematically evaluate alternatives Balance emotions and rational influences Scenario planning

Corel Corp. With permission

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Escalation of Commitment
Escalation of commitment occurred when the British government continued funding the Concorde supersonic jet long after its lack of commercial viability was apparent. Some scholars refer to escalation of commitment as the Concorde fallacy.
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Corel Corp. With permission

13

2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Escalation of Commitment Causes

Self-justification Gamblers fallacy Perceptual blinders Closing costs
Corel Corp. With permission

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Employee Involvement Defined

The degree to which employees influence how their work is organized and carried out

 Level of control over decision making  Different levels and forms of

involvement

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Levels of Employee Involvement

High High involvement

Employees have complete decision making power (e.g.. SDWTs)

Full consultation Medium

Employees offer recommendations (e.g.. gain sharing)

Selective consultation


Low
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Employees give information, but dont know the problem

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Employee Involvement Model

Potential Involvement Outcomes

Employee Involvement

Better problem identification More/better solutions generated

Contingencies of Involvement

Best choice more likely Higher decision commitment

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contingencies of Involvement
More employee involvement is better when:
Decision Structure Knowledge Source Decision Commitment Risk of Conflict Problem is new & complex (i.e nonprogrammed decision) Employees have relevant knowledge beyond leader Employees would lack commitment unless involved Norms support firms goals Employee agreement likely

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creative Process Model

Verification

Insight

Incubation

Preparation

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of Creative People

Above average intelligence Persistence Relevant knowledge and experience Inventive thinking

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creative Work Environments

Learning orientation

 Encourage experimentation  Tolerate mistakes

Intrinsically motivating work

 Task significance, autonomy, feedback

Open communication and sufficient resources Team trust and project commitment

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creative Activities at EDS

These employees at the EDS eSpace innovation center near Detroit play with toys to generate new ideas. Were all about collaboration and creativity and inspiration, and the toys are props to stimulate the thought process, says an employee at the computer service firm.

M. Richardson II/The Detroit News

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creative Activities
Redefine the Problem Review abandoned projects Explore issue with other people Associative Play Storytelling Artistic activities Morphological analysis CrossCrossPollination Diverse teams Information sessions Internal tradeshows

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

C H A P T E R

8
Decision Making and Creativity
2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

C H A P T E R

8
Solutions to Creativity Brainbusters
2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Double Circle Problem

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nine Dot Problem

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nine Dot Problem Revisited

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Word Search

FCIRVEEALTETITVEERS

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Burning Ropes

After first rope burned i.e. 30 min.

One Hour to Burn Completely

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2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.