Chapter 10 Question #3

This week I liked learning about guidelines for creative problem solving on page 164. The text states that these guidelines include keeping an open mind; withholding premature judgements; looking at problems in new ways as opportunities, rather than obstacles; accepting different opinions; avoiding too heavy reliance on logic; allowing for ambiguity; being willing to break the rules; and asking “what if?”. I found these very fascinating and useful to anyone who wants to be a successful problem solver (everyone!). I find that a lot of times, people are stuck in their ways and refuse to change their method of thinking and so they are not as successful as they could be. For instance, my father has had his own construction business for over 20 years. Yet, at times he finds it hard to maintain business and increase his profit. My dad is very “old school” and is not open to change even though my siblings and I try to convince him he will be much more successful if he changes his practices a bit. For instance, my brother, who has a degree in finance, constantly tries to get my dad to revise his bookkeeping/accounting strategies to increase his profits. However, my dad thinks that because he has been in the business for so long, he knows what is best, and my brother who has zero knowledge about construction does not know how to run the business. What I gained from this reading is that although you may think you know what is best and how things work, there is always room for improvement if you just switch up your creativity every once in awhile.