Creativity and the Executing Process • 221
TABLE11.4
Executing Process and Groundwork for Individual Creativity
Action Example
Be competitive and
collaborate at the same
time
Encouraging individuals to speak their minds but still
embrace consensus, meaning they might not agree in total
with a decision but will support it nonetheless
Be courageous Having people who are willing to speak up against the status
quo despite it having a long tradition of acceptance by key
stakeholders
Be curious Encouraging individuals to tinker and experiment with new
techniques
Be destructive Encouraging individuals to challenge long-held assumptions
and beliefs
Be discontented with
the status quo
Having individuals challenging business-as-usual practices to
improve schedule performance
Be intuitive Encouraging individuals to tackle issues that sometimes have
very few facts and data and rely on one’s gut feeling to take
the right action
Be self-condent Giving individuals the psychological support needed to take
on complicated activities
Be spontaneous Encouraging individuals to be willing to share their thoughts,
such as in a brainstorming session, without fear of reprisal by
team members
Be theoretical and
experiential at the
same time
Having individuals draw a conceptual or logical model of a
deliverable before actually creating a physical one
Experience pleasure
when creating
Continuing to ask individuals whether they are getting burned
out, especially during times of sustained activity
Have an interest in the
novel
Encouraging individuals to look for new and better tools and
techniques to complete their activities
Have self-discipline Ensuring individuals have the self-control to know that
whatever they do on a project contributes to its overall
success
Have the ability to be
self-critical
Encouraging people to question their own assumptions, such
as when replanning
Have the capacity to
“break set”
Recognizing that people move from the beaten path to
complete their activities
Persevere Providing support to people who demonstrate an inclination
to challenge seemingly overwhelming resistance from key
stakeholders
Realize that sooner or
later creativity must be
implemented
Having people develop new ideas for improving a process or
technique to create an accompanying implementation plan
(Continued)
222 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
arise because of the dynamics of the environment, thereby necessitating
the application of good creative thinking tools and techniques. ese tools
and techniques center on dening the problem or issue; coming up with
a real solution (meaning xing the problem and not the symptoms); and
then implementing the solution while receiving feedback on its eective-
ness followed by corrective action, if necessary.
Some common creativity tools and techniques that project managers
can apply for this process are shown in Table11.6.
TRADITIONAL CREATIVITY LIFE CYCLE MODEL
Within the executing process, project managers can apply the ve phases
of the creativity life cycle model. Each phase plays an instrumental role in
clarifying and resolving an issue or problem.
Preparation Phase
e purpose of the preparation phase is to learn as much information as
possible about the topic and to compile any necessary information that
will prove useful in coming up with creative ideas. is phase focuses
largely on people and process.
For example, the project manager experiences an issue regarding buy-o
on a deliverable for the project. Key stakeholders, such as the customer or
sponsor, request a change in the requirements that was unanticipated dur-
ing the early phases of the project life cycle. e customer still insists that
schedule commitments must be met and no additional budget is available.
TABLE11.4 (Continued )
Executing Process and Groundwork for Individual Creativity
Action Example
See outside the box Encouraging people to take a dierent perspective in trying to
resolve an issue or problem
Take risks Encouraging people to try a new tool or technique during an
activity that could eventually improve the cost performance
of the project
Tolerate failure Encouraging people to accept responsibility for their failures
as well as their successes
Creativity and the Executing Process • 223
TABLE11.5
Executing Process and Groundwork for Team Creativity
Action Example
Act as if on a mission Keeping the vision, goals, and objectives at the forefront
of the team when making collaborative decisions
Allow for open discussion and
have a tolerance for ideas
Conducting frequent meetings to share knowledge and
experiences on common issues and problems experienced
Allow individual and group
to coexist
Giving everyone an opportunity to speak, share
thoughts, and contribute at meetings
Avoid noncontributory
activities
Sheltering the team from insignicant administrative
responsibilities so members can focus on their activities
Be collegial and hierarchical Encouraging team members to communicate informally
as well as formally, both laterally and vertically
Be curious Providing subteams with opportunities to experiment
with new tools and techniques to determine if schedule
performance can improve
Be emotional and logical Building esprit de corps and excitement among team
members while simultaneously encouraging people to
continue to comply with the schedule
Be small in size Keeping teams as small as possible and breaking into
subteams, if necessary
Be synergistic Encouraging everyone to work as harmoniously as
possible to capitalize on their combined strengths
Be true believers Reminding everyone constantly of the importance of the
team’s work in achieving the vision, goals, and
objectives of the project
Be unafraid to push
boundaries
Encouraging team members to “break set” when
executing their responsibilities
Emphasize relationship
building
Providing opportunities for team members to work
together, addressing problems or issues
Engender facilitative and
supportive leadership
Providing the necessary protection from bureaucratic
obstacles and interventions from stakeholders who are
not directly involved with the project
Have fun Holding celebrations aer delivering a major deliverable
or completing a major milestone
Know the priorities Reminding the team of the vision, goals, and objectives
when executing activities
Seek balance among creating,
planning, and implementing
Reminding the team that it must be not only creative, but
must also implement the ideas
Share tangible and intangible
assets
Enabling team members to share information, tools, and
knowledge among colleagues
View failure as a learning
experience
Reminding everyone on the team that groups, as well as
people, do not always succeed, at least as expected, and
should use failure as a learning experience
224 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
Disagreements exist over how to respond to this situation. During this
phase of the creativity life cycle, the project manager and team members
conduct research to determine how other projects may have successfully
dealt with the scenario in dealing with the same customer. ey conduct
a literature review to determine what possible approaches might exist.
Finally, they talk to experts not associated with the project, who may be
external or internal to the parent organization. Particularly noteworthy is
that the project manager makes every eort during this phase to engage
all relevant parties to encourage buy-in of what the nal problem is—if not
through agreement, then by consensus.
TABLE11.6
Executing Process and Tools and Techniques
Tool and Technique Example
Anity
diagramming
Collecting a list of issues and arranging them in categories for
greater manageability and determining a pattern
Analogies,
metaphors, and
similes thinking
Comparing a technical problem to something unrelated to the
project to provide insight into a possible solution
Brainstorming Assembling team members together to develop potential
solutions to a technical problem
Brainwriting Having each person record ideas for dealing with an issue and
passing it on the next person for revision
Crawford slip
technique
Assembling a subteam or an entire team to address an issue listed
in the Issues Management Log by identifying the problem or
issue, generating ideas for dealing with the issue or problem, and
then categorizing them
Devil’s advocate Assigning someone on the team to question the prevailing
thinking when addressing a problem
Fishbone diagram Having the team do an analysis of a problem to determine the
root cause for its existence
Force eld analysis Requiring any suggestion for improvement to identify the forces
and counterforces aecting the change before being
implemented
Hypothetical
scenario
Identifying a potential challenge confronting a project and
identifying a contingency plan for dealing with it
Nominal group
technique
Generating ideas for solving a problem, developing criteria for
evaluating them, and then having team members vote on
eachone
PDCA cycle Having all improvements in processes progress through this cycle
Problem solving Requiring that any solution go through an evaluation predicated
on a solid denition of the problem in order for the solution to
be selected
Creativity and the Executing Process • 225
Concentration Phase
e purpose of the concentration phase is to focus on exactly dening
the problem or issue to address. Project managers need to distinguish
between what is and is not relevant, and just as importantly, what is and
is not signicant.
Continuing with the deliverable example, team members assemble to
address the issue. e results of the preparation phase are shared, and
disagreements quickly surface over the solutions proposed, even before
the problem has been fully dened. A small number of team members
disagree vehemently over what the problem is and every proposed solution.
e project manager, aer looking at the schedule, determines that some
time exists to let the issue rest to give people time to think about what the
problem and solutions are.
Incubation Phase
e purpose of the incubation phase is to allow the subconscious part of
the mind to work by suspending judgment and avoiding concentration on
a conscious level.
Continuing with the deliverable example, team members work on
the issue. It also aords them an additional opportunity to conduct
some more research on just what the problem is and what the possible
solutions are. Some stakeholders realize that the issue is not what they
thought it was, and a dierent approach from what anyone considered
is required.
Illumination Phase
e purpose of the illumination phase is to allow an idea to rise to the
conscious level of its creator. is phase involves coming up with solutions
to diculties identied earlier.
Continuing with the deliverables example, team members, including
representatives from the customer, assemble to share any additional infor-
mation and oer their thoughts on what the problem is and the possible
solutions for resolving it. e team decides to apply the nominal group
technique to achieve consensus over the denition of the problem, draw a
shbone diagram to identify its causes, generate potential solutions, and
eventually select the most suitable one.
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