ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries February 1988 / 83 INNOVATIONS Don’t be a creativity killer! How to enhance your own and others’ creativity By Trish R id gew ay Reference Librarian University of Pennsylvania —W e’ve tried that! —It won’t work here. —I’ll look silly. —Sounds interesting, b u t... Killer phrases. They stifle creativity and innova­ tion. All of us have a few pet killers th a t we use to assassinate the ideas of those who work for us; and even more frequently, we use killer phrases to a t­ tack our own inventive urgings. W hat do you say when confronted w ith novel ideas—“let’s appoint a committee to study this,” “be sensible,” “we can’t afford it,” “be realistic,” “we’ve already got enough to do,” “are you crazy?” Being aw are of your own killer phrases is a good first step towards creativity. Creating an atm o­ sphere th a t welcomes creativity and frequently practicing creativity techniques are two additional steps th at will move you closer to being a practicing innovator. I t’s h ard to change old habits and learn new techniques. W hy bother to be creative? Creativity helps us to deal w ith problems th at have no easy an­ swer, to cope w ith rapid changes th at occur in the workplace and in society, and to examine custom­ ary ideas and methods from a fresh perspective. Additionally, w ithin an organization creativity techniques involve everyone in problem-solving, resulting in better communication, understanding, and morale. Fostering a creative atmosphere A manager who wants to promote innovation should allow risk-taking. To get dazzling success, a manager must be able to live w ith some failures and must protect staff members from the resulting flak. A m anager should expect creativity and give staff enough information, responsibility and re­ sources to perform the assigned task. Creativity thrives in a climate th a t is unstructured, that en­ courages hum or, fun, and fantasy. A completely unstructured workplace is impos­ sible in most organizations, b u t m anagers can make sure th a t workers engaged in a creative en­ deavor have time away from the daily routine, and have a location where they can work w ithout inter­ ruption. All levels of staff should be involved in the generation, evaluation, and im plem entation of ideas. People who regularly work together will be­ come less and less creative as a team after a few years unless some outside stimulation is provided. W ithin the library cross-fertilization of ideas can come from job rotation or exchange, from the use of staff from outside the job unit on problem ­ solving committees, and from the liberal use of all continuing education opportunities. Bringing in resource people from other libraries, from the com­ m unity, or from other professions can also lead to innovative insights.1 To enhance your own creativity, it is necessary to follow some of the same guidelines—set aside time from normal tasks to muse, ponder, or dream. You can shelter your own creativity by not being afraid to refuse to accept the problem as given, to seem inconsistent or intuitive, or to listen for the bi­ zarre. D raw ing sketches th at represent problems or solutions can provide outside stimulation of your creative processes by involving the non-verbal right side of your brain. An idea box into which you toss interesting thoughts, clippings, cartoons, and so on 1 or additional information on fostering creativ­ ity in the workplace, see Carl H. Losse and Arlyle Mansfield Losse, “Creative Thinking in Decision M aking: A B ib lio g ra p h y ,” C & R L 48 (July 1987): 297-301. 84 / C & RL New s can yield inspiration w hen you’re in th e m iddle of p ro b lem -so lv in g . W h e n w o rk in g in te n tly on a problem , take tim e-outs for exercise or leisure ac­ tivities to let your subconscious w ork on th e p ro b ­ lem for a w hile. Practicing creativity techniques L earn in g about creativity techniques and fre­ quently p racticing them is th e best w ay you and your staff can m a in tain an innovative edge. E very­ one has p a rtic ip a te d in some m eeting or w orkshop in w hich th e group “b rain sto rm ed .” But b ra in ­ storm ing is just one com ponent of creative problem solving, and m any people w ho brainstorm d o n ’t know th e rig h t w ay to do it. Alex O sborn coined the term b rainstorm ing an d developed its basic rules: 1) No criticism of ideas is allowed. 2) T he w ilder or m ore unusual th e idea th e b et­ ter. 3) Q u an tity of ideas is stressed. 4) M odification an d com bination of ideas is en­ couraged.2 Allowing criticism d u rin g idea generation is like trying to drive a car w ith th e brakes on. W ild ideas, creative analogies, and th e com bination of dispar­ ate thoughts can help overcom e those p erceptual, em otional and cu ltu ral blocks th a t keep th e group from going b e y o n d th e h a b i t u a l .3 An effective group leader gives th e group th e problem in a d ­ vance of th e session to provide tim e for th e in cu b a­ tion of ideas, strictly enforces th e rules of b ra in ­ s to rm in g , a n d p u sh e s th e g ro u p s b e y o n d th e obvious by req u irin g m ore solutions after th e group feels it has gone dry. O th er useful idea-generating techniques include individual brainstorm ing, b rain w ritin g , an d ex­ cursion or synectics m ethods. B rainstorm ing on an individual basis w ill lack the synergistic vitality th a t group w ork provides, and as an individual you m ust exercise care not to criticize yourself. C heck­ lists such as O sborn’s th a t ask questions such as, “C an I p u t to oth er uses, ad ap t, m odify, m inify, substitute, rearran g e, reverse, or com bine?” can help spur individual as well as group creativ ity .4 In b ra in w ritin g each person in a group w rites three ideas on a sheet of p ap er th a t has been d i­ vided into tw enty-one boxes and th e n places the sheet in th e center of th e tab le and takes another. As in brainstorm ing, th e w ilder th e idea th e b etter, and p articip an ts build upon th e ideas of others. A le x a n d e r F. O sborn, A p p lie d Im a g in a tio n : Principles and Procedures o f C reative Problem- Solving, 3d ed. rev. (New York: Scribner, 1963), 156. 3An enjoyable yet thought-provoking exam ina­ tion of th e blocks to creative th o u g h t is by Jam es L. Adams, C onceptual Blockbusting, a G uide to B et­ ter Ideas, 2d ed. (New York: N orton, 1980). 4O sborn, 175-76. John H aefel, C reativity and Innovation (New York: Reinhold, 1962), 167-68, sum m arizes several oth er checklists, as does Ad­ ams, 112-18. B rain w ritin g can also be used by groups th a t are spread out geographically or th a t have difficulty m eeting regularly. B rain w ritin g does not usually yield results th a t are as creative as b rainstorm ing b u t is a good m ethod to get m ore reticent group m em bers to p a rtic ip a te .5 T he m ost creative ideas em erge from those tech ­ niques th a t req u ire p articip an ts to take an “excur­ sion” in a direction th a t has no relationship to th e problem being considered. T he synectics m ethod developed by George M. Prince and W illiam J.J. G ordon uses m etap h o r, fantasy and wishfulness to prom ote a free association of ideas th a t will eventu­ ally lead to useful analogies to th e problem under consideration.6 Synectics also places th e g en eratio n of ideas w ith in a step-by-step fram ew ork. Unless b ra in ­ sto rm in g tech n iq u es are in te g ra te d into such a fram ew ork, th e ideas they yield have little chance of being fully accepted an d im plem ented. Sidney Parnes, a leader in creativity train in g , lists five steps in creative problem solving: 1) D iscovering all th e facts ab o u t a problem . 2) C learly defining th e problem . 3) Seeking solutions. 4) E v alu atin g solutions. 5) D esigning a p la n of im plem entation. W ith in each of these steps th e creative process is possible. F or exam ple, a group or an individual can b rainstorm on w h a t is th e real problem , on solu­ tions to th e problem , on benefits and draw backs to th e proposed solution, on how to im plem ent th e so­ lution, on how to evaluate th e success of th e solu­ tion, an d so on. ‘ L earn in g about creativity an d p racticin g crea­ tivity techniques both at hom e an d at w ork can bring about a change in a ttitu d e th a t will help change killer phrases to “encouraging phrases.” Exam ples of encouraging phrases are, “Interesting, tell m e m ore” or “L et’s follow this up an d see w here it leads.” You can encourage and still express reser­ vations: “ Good idea, although I see a problem w ith th e last p a rt. L e t’s brainstorm on the best w ay to im plem ent it .” If you find those old killer phrases creeping back, tu rn them aro u n d to encourage cre­ ativity: “T h a t’s a w eird id e a !...B u t, you know , it just m ight w ork!” E d ito r’s Note: This article was taken fr o m a w o rk ­ shop, “C rea tivity a n d In n o v a tio n in B eference M anagem ent, ” presented b y the author and pub- 5F or a discussion of b rain w ritin g an d o th er id ea­ generating techniques, see H orst Geschka, “P er­ spective on Using V arious C reativity T echniques,” in Stanley S. G ryskiew icz, et a l., e d ., Selected Beadings in C reativity, vol.2 (G reensboro, N .C .: C en ter for C reative L eadership, [1983]). 6George M . Prince, The Practice o f C reativity: A M a n u a l f o r D y n a m ic G ro u p P ro b le m -S o lv in g (New York: Collier, 1970). 7Sidney J. Parnes, “C reative Problem Solving,” in Gryskiewicz, et a l., vol. 2, 148-53. February 1988 / 85 lished in Improving Reference Management, pa­ pers based upon a workshop fo r public services and reference managers, May 10-12, 1984, Atlanta, Ga. (Chicago: R A SD /A LA , 1986), 55-70. A new approach to reference statistics By John M. M axstadt Assistant Reference Librarian Louisiana State University Libraries Many reference librarians consider collecting reference desk statistics a waste of time. All too of­ ten they are right, in two ways. Time-consuming statistical procedures perform ed every hour of every day by reference professionals “waste” time by taking it away from patron service; and statis­ tics systems designed without a sound scientific ba­ sis are a waste of anyone’s time. Before July 1986, the method of collecting refer­ ence desk statistics at Louisiana State University Libraries suffered from both of these common fail­ ings. Librarians and paraprofessionals assigned to the reference desk were expected to record every patron question with a tally mark on a statistics sheet which classified questions by hour of day and by type (information, reference, research, or card catalog). This system was a distraction at best, and positively hindered reference service during hours of peak usage. At such times, the desk staff found it practically impossible to record every single ques­ tion; some left many questions unrecorded, while others set down large numbers of marks at random, simply to reflect how “busy” the shift had been. To make matters worse, there was considerable variety in staff interpretations of the basic question categories (information, reference, research, card catalog). Also, the library administration wanted statistics kept on the types of patrons (faculty, stu­ dents, etc.) served at the reference desk, which would have made statistics taking hopelessly cum­ bersome under the system in use at that time. Tow ard the end of fiscal year 1985/86, senti­ ments were strongly in favor of a new approach to reference desk statistics. The ideal system would collect statistics by both question type and patron type in a more scientific and statistically sound m anner while freeing the desk staff to concentrate on the information needs of patrons. T he n e w approach Reference Services Division head Jane P. Kleiner became interested in sampling reference desk sta­ tistics when she served as ACRL liaison to the Pub­ lic L ib ra ry D ev elo p m en t Task F orce. A fter Douglas L. Zweizig (author of O utput Measures fo r Public Libraries) spoke to the LSU Libraries staff about output measures and the successes other college and university libraries have had w ith sta­ tistical sampling, it was decided that the LSU Li­ braries Reference Services Division should try a similar approach. Rather than attem pt to record every question asked during approximately 4,000 hours of service throughout the year, a small num ­ ber of selected hours would be designated as statis­ tics sessions, and statistics would be recorded only during those hours. The exact number and distri- Recruitment open for editor of Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianship ACRL’s newest journal, Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianship, will require a new editor to serve on a volunteer basis when Ann Gwyn completes her term of ser­ vice. The incoming editor will assume full editorship in July 1988. Besides ACRL membership, candidates should have a background of service in aca­ demic or research librarianship, as well as experience and expertise in special collec­ tions librarianship; experience in research, editing, and bibliographical activities; a concern with publication as a means of pro­ fessional communication; and an ability to analyze manuscripts for content, research methods, form, structure, or style. Together with the editorial board, the editor is charged with encouraging research and w riting th a t may be appropriate for the jo u rn al, soliciting topics and suggesting them to appropriate authors, and editing and refereeing manuscripts. Persons wishing to be considered for the editorship should communicate their inter­ est, accompanied by a statement of qualifi­ cations and names of references, By April 1, 1988, to Ruth J. Person, Dean, College of Library Science, Clarion University, C lar­ ion, PA 16214; (814) 226-2271.