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Organizational Communication and Creative Problem SolvingSubmitted by Carolyn SucaetSiena Heights UniversityLDR630Dr. Elizabeth Asfaw, Ph.D.March 12, 2013Organizational Communication and Creative Problem SolvingIn this fast paced and ever changing business environment, organizations must be skilled in the ability to effectively problem solve in order for the organization to prosper. Whetton and Cameron (2002) present four major conceptual blocks that prohibit problem solving. This paper will present and discuss these blocks as well as provide examples from the healthcare setting including strategies to address these block issues. Additionally, ideas will be presented regarding how leaders can promote communication strategies to facilitate problem solving in organizational settings.“Conceptual blocks are mental obstacles that constrain the way problems are defined and limit the number of alternative solutions thought to be relevant” states Adams (as cited in CITATION Whe04 \p 164 \l 1033 (Whetton & Cameron, 2002, p. 164). Most people are unaware of these blocks and recognize their existence only after presented with an unsolvable problem. In everyday life, we are bombarded with multitudes of data and information and in our attempts to cope with this information overload, people develop mental filters. These filters become part of our unconscious thought process and ultimately limited certain problem solving skills CITATION Whe04 \l 1033 (Whetton & Cameron, 2002).The four types of conceptual blocks that inhibit the creative process are constancy, commitment, compression, and complacency CITATION Whe04 \p 167 \l 1033 (Whetton & Cameron, 2002, p. 167). Constancy refers to defining a problem one way without consideration of alternate views. Viewing current problems as variations of past problems or the tendency to stereotype a problem based on the previous history of the problem defines the conceptual block of commitment. Compression is used to describe the placement of artificial constraints on an issue or defining the boundaries of the issue too narrowly. Complacency is defined as non-thinking or not asking questions regarding the issue CITATION Whe04 \l 1033 (Whetton & Cameron, 2002).An example from the rehabilitation area which demonstrates both the blocks of constancy and complacency would be facilitating the appointment making process for patients seeking outpatient therapy. This block occurred because of the way scheduling had always been done in the rehab departments, the constancy, and change to this process was opposed by the therapist’s desire to maintain control of their daily work schedule or the complacency. The questions were never asked as the therapists assumed they were always the sole owners of their schedules. When reviewing the process of how a new patient is placed on the schedule, the conceptual block of commitment is evident. The former method of scheduling new patients consisted of the front office staff waiting for the referral calls to come into the department. Patients were placed in queue and when the therapist determined they had a schedule opening, the front office staff then proceeded to slot the new patient in. Both the therapists and the front office staff were conditioned and committed to this process. This also demonstrates the block of compression as the therapists had placed constraints on the process. These types of conceptual blocks occur in organizations because “experience in a job often lends to ‘proper’ ways of doing things, specialized knowledge, and rigid expectation of appropriate actions. Individuals lose the ability to experiment, improvise, or take mental detours” CITATION Whe04 \p 164 \l 1033 (Whetton & Cameron, 2002, p. 164). This principal is especially relevant in organizations dealing with technical and scientific practices such as healthcare. Regardless of one’s role in the hospital, with almost every patient interaction or treatment a specific protocol is indicated. These become ingrained processes for healthcare workers and reinforce linear thinking. In most healthcare related processes, deviations from accepted care standards could result in harm to patients. The development of an action plan to address conceptual blocks and solutions would include improving the problem definition. This is accomplished by “making the strange familiar and the familiar strange, elaborating and reversing definitions” CITATION Whe04 \p 187 \l 1033 (Whetton & Cameron, 2002, p. 187). Secondly, the action plan would work to improve the generation of alternative solutions, Whetton and Cameron (2002) state “defer judgment, expand current alternatives and combine unrelated attributes” (p. 187). “Leaders can facilitate the creative process simply through the instructions they give to their subordinates” (Reiter-Palmon & Illies, 2004, p. 71). This begins as the problem is defined. Like Whetton and Cameron (2002), the authors suggest even simple instructions from the leader such as instructing the team to construct the problem in multiple ways is enough to improve creative problem solving. Fluency and flexibility of thought are other ways to generate creative problem solving ideas: “While most problem solvers consider a few homogenous alternatives, creative problem solvers consider many heterogeneous alternatives” CITATION Whe04 \p 182 \l 1033 (Whetton & Cameron, 2002, p. 182). Leaders can also facilitate the group to combine unrelated attributes in attempts to develop alternate solutions that would not be initially obvious to the group. Whetton and Cameron (2002) go on to state that recognition and reward will encourage teams to think outside the box and generate creative solutions.Using the example of facilitating the appointment making process for patients seeking outpatient therapy, the leader instructs the team to begin by constructing the problem in multiple ways. The team may format questions such as: How can physicians directly refer patients to the department? How can a patient schedule an appointment with us? How can a therapist seeing a patient in home care facilitate the transition to the outpatient rehab? Can the front office staff recognize an available opening on a therapist’s schedule and correctly schedule a new patient in the slot? Leaders can further facilitate creative problem solving by providing a variety of assignments to individuals in attempts to increase the diversity of experiences for each person involved in the process. To facilitate the creative process, Whetton and Cameron (2002) state managers can “pull people apart (e.g. giving them a bullpen) as well as [put] people together (e.g. putting them on a team)” (p.189). Leaders should promote open discussion around the various definitions of the problem so that team members can develop an understanding of the different concepts and how all are plausible, appropriate, and stem from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.There are several approaches a leader can take to facilitate communication in order to overcome conceptual blocks. Inquiry and advocacy are two communication approaches which leaders can utilize. Inquiry is defined as questioning. Advocacy is defined as supporting or recommending. A leader can utilize both advocacy and inquiry to address conceptual blocks by questioning the associate in attempts to draw out their reasoning. The leader should ask non provoking and inspiring questions such as what would the future look like? What would an ideal state look like? Continue the inquiry process with follow up questions such as “What is the significance of that?” or “Where does your reasoning go next?” Asking the associate to describe an example or explain how an action would affect the group are examples of additional inquiry questions. The literature from Thompson (1993) describes advocacy as falling short in today’s organizations. He proposes a higher communication order which he describes as “searching, asking, assessing, comparing, sorting and designing” (p. 99). He states these inventive skills go beyond the well phrased and though out actions of advocacy and work to draw out people’s creativity helping to pull out people’s best ideas. As leaders learn and focus their intent on these inventive skills, leaders can assist associates in the presentation of their best creative ideas.Creative and linear problem solving methodologies are additional tools available to the leader attempting to dissolve conceptual blocks. Creative problem solving can be defined in four stages: preparation or defining the problem; incubation or the unconscious thought which combines unrelated thoughts into solutions; illumination defined as recognizing insight and formatting solutions; verification or the process of evaluating the solution to some standard of acceptability. In linear or analytic problem solving, the process follows the path of defining the problem, generating alternates solutions, evaluating and selecting the alternative, and implementation and follow up of the solution (Whetton & Cameron, 2002). An important aspect of the action plan is to measure if the intended results were obtained. “Many people assume the problem solving ends with the solution but it ends when you have implemented the solution and made a valuable change in process or procedure” (Basadur, 1994). Continuing along with the example of improving the patient scheduling process, the success measurements were taken from the monthly patient satisfaction surveys where patients respond to a question specifically targeting the scheduling process. Patients are asked to rate their satisfaction with the speed in which they received their appointment. The department demonstrated significant increases in this score, hence demonstrating the value of this creative problem solving process. Similarly, the therapists rated their satisfaction with the front desk management of this task. In the end, the vast majority of therapists was delighted to turn the scheduling task over to the front desk staff and was pleased that they were no longer responsible for the management of this task in their daily schedules.A summary of the Leadership (LDR) 630 class responses regarding the topic of creative problem solving included involving the group in the problem solving discussions, removing roadblocks, gathering all the necessary and relevant information, and looking for root causes of problems. The class offered several examples of problem solving teams within the organization. These included the practice of shared governance which allows nursing staff time to meet and creatively think about processes and suggestions for improvement, the organization’s use of the Six Sigma methodologies, and the use of department Safety Huddles for talking out safety issues as they occur and interacting with multiple departments to ensure the problem is addressed for all areas impacted by the issue.Additional posts from the LDR 630 class discussed examples of organizational communication used for creative problem solving and learning. These included many examples of storytelling throughout the organization which the group concluded was an embedded practice within our organization. “Storytelling is a powerful way for people to learn through hearing the experiences of others” (Barker & Gowen, 2010, p. 307). Many class members shared the experience of the Healing without Harm initiative in the health system, a mandatory course where all associates heard the compelling story regarding the loss of an infant life as the result of hospital error. This emotional story told from the father’s perspective opened up a significant dialogue on the importance of speaking up, being accountable, and reporting errors without fear of retribution. In addition to being inspiring and memorable, this initiative as relayed through the practice of storytelling serves as a constant reminder of the trust and responsibility placed on healthcare workers by the families of our patients. Groysberg and Slind (2012) state that there are four elements of organizational conversation; intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality. Classmates noted how the Ten Principles of Personal Leadership utilized throughout our organization spoke to these attributes. Many of our routine processes such as safety huddle and town hall meetings are intentionally held for all associates to share and learn. The town hall meetings are scheduled with the hospital president and all associates are encouraged to attend. The forum encourages any and all questions which associates may have for the president. For many associates, this forum is the only opportunity for them to intimately interact with their leader. The purpose is intentional so that the organization continues to act transparently and associates are provided with an opportunity to ask questions and receive a direct response from the president. The daily safety huddle includes representatives from several areas to share and offer suggestions on daily patient issues that arise. The intimacy and interactivity of these huddles serve to move the organization forward through the communication and sharing which occurs.“Creative problem solving is increasingly a prerequisite for success” (Whetton & Cameron, 2002, p. 190). Creative problem solving can often be characterized by the presence of four conceptual blocks; constancy, commitment, compression, and complacency. Keys to creative problem solving include defining the problem, combining unrelated thoughts or incubation, illumination or formatting solutions, and verification or evaluation of the solution. Skills which leaders may employ to stimulate the creative problem solving process include inquiry and advocacy as well as fluency and flexibility. Recognition and reward can also be utilized to encourage the generation of creative solutions. Organizations employ communication methods to identify problems and the LDR 630 class discussed the practice of storytelling as a powerful communication tool to identify and share information as well as creatively problem solve for the betterment of the organization. Understanding the value of these tools as well as the implementation of a variety of approaches can be utilized to assist the leader in the creative problem solving process with the goal of moving the organization forward.References BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Barker, R. T., & Gower, K. (2010). Strategic application of storytelling in organizations. Toward effective communication in a diverse world. Journal of Business Communication, 47(3), 295-312.Basadur. (1994). Simplex. Buffalo, New York: The Creative Education Foundation.Groysberg, B., & Slind, M. (2012). Leadership is a conversation. Harvard Business Review, 77-84.Reiter-Palmon, R., & Illies, J. J. (2004). Leadership and creativity: Understanding leadership from a creative problem-solving perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 55-77.Thompson, M. P. (1993). The skills of inquiry and advocacy why managers need both. Management Communication Quarterly, 7(1), 95-106.Whetton, D. A., & Cameron, K. M. (2002). Solving problems analytically and creatively. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc, (Prentice-Hall). ................
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