On Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:59:47 +0100, Mark Rand
wrote:

On Fri, 5 Sep 2008 00:24:26 -0400, "Tom Gardner" wrote:

Is there a method or exercises to develop creative thinking? Cutting metal
and drilling holes is the easy part, how do you completely forget an idea in
order to "see" a new idea? This may come easily for an intelligent person
but I struggle with my mental limitations.

The only way I suspect that works is to arrange a contract on all of my senior
management. I'm almost as tired of telling them "I told you so" as they are of
hearing it!

Mark Rand
RTFM
=============
This is a typical problem in large "mature" organizations.

It is correctly observed that you manage "things," but lead
"people."

Almost by definition, management is the preservation of the
status quo, and to this end policy and procedures manuals are
written, forms designed, committees created, etc. It is not
reasonable [or even rational] to expect people selected for,
trained for, and tasked with and maintaining the status quo [i.e.
managers] to exhibit creativity and innovation, spontaneously or
otherwise.

In most organizations, in spite of extensive lip service, there
are no incentives for creativity and innovation at any level,
worker or managerial, but draconian penalties for "mistakes," and
any exceptions are like winning the lottery.

As several people have mentioned, the professional seminars on
creativity/innovation do not seem to have any demonstrable
long-term organizational effect, and indeed why should they?

== A word of warning == -- don't read the books and then run
into work and attempt to put into practice what you just read,
except at the most private and personal levels. Just posing
these types of questions shows you want "to change things" and
identifies you are a latent "trouble maker." Any attempt at
overt creativity/innovation implementation [i.e. change aka
"rocking the boat"], particularly if it involves other employees,
simply proves management's case.

some places you might start:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...llowyourdreams
http://www.amazon.com/Thinkertoys-Ha...ref=pd_sim_b_3
http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Creat...ref=pd_sim_b_4

As a very wise man once told me "*NEVER* try to teach a pig how
to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig."