A decision maker needs creativity: the ability to produce novel and useful ideas. These ideas are different from what’s been done before but are also appropriate to the problem or opportunity presented. Why is creativity important to decision making? It allows the decision maker to appraise and understand the problem more fully, including “seeing” problems others can’t see. However, creativity’s most obvious value is in helping the decision maker identify all viable alternatives.

Most people have creative potential that they can use when confronted with a decision-making problem. But to unleash that potential, they have to get out of the psychological ruts most of us get into and learn how to think about a problem in divergent ways.

We can start with the obvious. People differ in their inherent creativity. Einstein, Edison, Dali, and Mozart were individuals of exceptional creativity. Not surprisingly, exceptional creativity is scarce.

These findings suggest that most of us have some creative potential, if we can learn to unleash it.

Given that most people have the capacity to be at least moderately creative, what can individuals and organizations do to stimulate employee creativity? The best answer to this question lies in a three-component model of creativity based on an extensive body of research.48 This model proposes that individual creativity essentially requires 1 expertise, 2 creative-thinking skills, and 3 intrinsic task motivation. Studies confirm that the higher the level of each of these three components, the higher the creativity.

Expertise is the foundation of all creative work. Dali’s understanding of art and Einstein’s knowledge of physics were necessary conditions for them to be able to make creative contributions to their fields. And you wouldn’t expect someone with a minimal knowledge of programming to be highly creative as a software engineer. The potential for creativity is enhanced when individuals have abilities, knowledge, proficiencies, and similar expertise in their fields of endeavor.

The second component is creative-thinking skills. It encompasses personality characteristics associated with creativity, the ability to use analogies, as well as the talent to see the familiar in a different light. For instance, the following individual traits have been found to be associated with the development of creative ideas: intelligence, independence, self-confidence, risk taking, internal locus of control, tolerance for ambiguity, and perseverance in the face of frustration. The effective use of analogies allows decision makers to apply an idea from one context to another. One of the most famous examples in which analogy resulted in a creative breakthrough was Alexander Graham Bell’s observation that it might be possible to take concepts that operate in the ear and apply them to his “talking box.” He noticed that the bones in the ear are operated by a delicate, thin membrane. He wondered why, then, a thicker and stronger piece of membrane shouldn’t be able to move a piece of steel. Out of that analogy the telephone was conceived. Of course, some people have developed their skill at being able to see problems in a new way. They’re able to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange. For instance, most of us think of hens laying eggs. But how many of us have considered that a hen is only an egg’s way of making another egg?

The final component is intrinsic task motivation—the desire to work on something because it’s interesting, involving, exciting, satisfying, or personally challenging. This motivational component is what turns creative potential into actual creative ideas. It determines the extent to which individuals fully engage their expertise and creative skills. So creative people often love their work, to the point of seeming obsessed. Importantly, an individual’s work environment and the organization’s culture (which we discussed in Chapter 2) can have a significant effect on intrinsic motivation.

Knowing what can enhance creativity is important, but you also need to recognize what can block it. Recognizing these stumbling blocks to creativity can be the first step in removing them!

The way managers approach decision making—using a rational and analytical mindset in identifying problems, coming up with alternatives, evaluating alternatives, and choosing one of those alternatives—may not be the best and certainly not the only choice in today’s environment. That’s where design thinking comes in. Design thinking has been described as “approaching management problems as designers approach design problems.”49 More organizations are beginning to recognize how design thinking can benefit them.50 For instance, Apple has long been celebrated for its design thinking. The company’s lead designer, Jonathan “Jony” Ive (who was behind some of Apple’s most successful products including the iPod and iPhone) had this to say about Apple’s design approach, “We try to develop products that seem somehow inevitable. That leave you with the sense that that’s the only possible solution that makes sense.”51

While many managers don’t deal specifically with product or process design decisions, they still make decisions about work issues that arise, and design thinking can help them be better decision makers. What can the design thinking approach teach managers about making better decisions? Well, it begins with (1) the first step in the decision-making process of identifying problems. Design thinking says that managers should look at problem identification collaboratively and integratively with the goal of gaining a deep understanding of the situation. They should look not only at the rational aspects, but also at the emotional elements. Then invariably, of course, design thinking would (2) influence how managers identify and evaluate alternatives—steps 2 through 5 in the decision-making process. A traditional manager (educated in a business school, of course) would look at the alternatives, rationally evaluate them, and select the one with the highest payoff. However, using design thinking, a manager would say, “What is something completely new that would be lovely if it existed but doesn’t now?”52 Design thinking means opening up your perspective and gaining insights by using observation and inquiry skills, and not relying simply on rational analysis. We’re not saying that rational analysis isn’t needed; we are saying that there’s more needed in making effective decisions, especially in today’s world.