Creative Problem Solving
Although I began my career as a college and university administrator, the most enjoyable times always occurred when I was called upon to go into the classroom. Whether it was teaching math to a group of high school students, which was more of a cooperative education requirement, or teaching time management to college students, the classroom always brought new and exciting opportunities, a feeling of accomplishment that one could rarely feel as an administrator. Nothing, however, could prepare me or any other classroom teacher, I'm quite certain, for the challenges faced when teaching a group of thirty or more police officers who had, for all intents and purposes, "been there, done that, and shot holes in the free t-shirt."
First and foremost, cops aren't big on sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day; they also like frequent breaks...very frequent breaks. In addition, it is very difficult for them to sit in a classroom and listen to someone not in their field tell them things that will help improve their job performance. "You aren't a cop; therefore, you don't know my job; therefore, why should I believe anything you say; therefore - with arms a crossed their chests - who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" All are very good points. They're closed-minded points, but they are good. The key to getting police officers to listen is to show them up front that you know what they go through. The only way I know of doing that is by talking to cops outside of the classroom environment. Perhaps it's why I spent so much time in a local, reasonably large police station, talking with officers, first-line supervisors, training officers, and even some captains and lieutenants. I didn't want to talk to chiefs. For the most part, chiefs were sending their 'underlings' to training to cover their own backsides; to be able to say when the questions were asked, "Why of course our people are trained; here are the records of the training we sent them to last year." It didn't really matter whether the training was any good. What mattered was that there were records that their police officers received 'training.' There is a final point to be made here; most police officers are type A personalities. They must be in control at all times. If they are openly not in control, some will try to take over from the instructor. They do this generally on the first day. They test the instructor, sometimes with biting humor or sarcasm, sometimes with open hostility. If the instructor plays their game, he or she has immediately lost the class.
I have heard from a variety of audiences, not just police, the following statement: "We are discouraged from being creative because it might disturb company policy and it can endanger our jobs." What a horrible way to go through life. If you have ideas that you think will make things better, it is your duty to speak about them. If they get you fired, so what? You weren't meant to be there in the first place.
When he was dying of lung cancer, my father and I had one of our very few serious father/son talks. Since he didn't particularly care to talk about what was killing him, he would ask more about my life. One day we were talking about my job. It had been a rough couple of weeks, and I told him so. He asked if I still enjoyed going to work everyday. "For the most part, yes," I told him, "Not because of the job itself, but because I feel that I'm making a contribution." He than gave me the best advice a father could ever give a son. "If the day ever comes when you get up in the morning and say to yourself, 'Oh, hell, I have to got there again today'...and you really, really mean it, that's the day you type out your letter of resignation. Put it in the bottom drawer. The next day, if you feel the same way, pass it in and quit. You see," he said, "life is too short to be doing something with which you're unhappy. I did something I hated for 34 years, and now that my time has run out, I want to kick myself for staying so long. I never graduated from high school, so my options were limited. You have two degrees; don't ever let yourself be unhappy with your work." I believe what my father had to say. Did I ever write such a letter? Yes, I wrote it once. I felt the same way the following day and handed it to my boss. It took them eight hours and some major changes in the way things were being done but we came to an agreement. They didn't even realize how unhappy I was, and I was a damned fool for keeping it all in.
Why am I telling you this? There are several reasons. First, it's critical that you understand the audience or class that you will be teaching, particularly if you are teaching something as abstract as 'creative problem solving.' Yes, there are a number of 'principles' that you will be teaching; however, understanding why a class is before you gives you a much greater chance of opening the minds of your students to the miracles of being creative and using the right side of their brain rather than continuing to be left-brain thinkers.
Conversely, if you are a student, wanting to learn more about being creative, particularly in problem-solving situations, you have to go into this workshop with an open mind. While the expression, "think outside the box" is terribly overused, this is a place where it actually makes sense.
What is creative problem solving (CPS)? According to Enhanced Learning Projects' Parent's Learning Handbook...Creative Problem Solving (CPS) - A model for solving problems through a step-by-step process which includes fact finding, problem finding, idea finding, solution finding and implementation. Brainstorming and other strategies for the production of creative ideas are an integral part of the process. Others have different definitions; however, all have a certain commonality. First, all agree that a process is involved, although not all agree on which is the correct process. All also agree that because creative problem solving is generally done as a team effort, there is broader variety of input, more ideas, and a greater chance of coming up with the one idea that is going to prove that the whole damned thing works.
Several years ago, our Army Reserve unit was called to active duty. We went to Washington, D.C. Our housing was at Fort Myer, South Post, a short walk from the Pentagon. Enlisted personnel - that meant yours truly at the time - were housed in barracks that had been built for World War II personnel. Let me put it another way; when you find that birds were building nests and actually living in the bathrooms, you recognize that the building may have a few problems - we had several families of birds. It was, of course a sound building, meaning that every sound from miles around filtered through the walls. All of the other barracks were more modern and made of brick, but what the hell, you go with what you're given. Each week, our barracks would be inspected and compared to all other barracks. Each week we would receive the 'toilet seat' award as the worst barracks on post.
When the old barracks sergeant was transferred, I was assigned that responsibility as the senior non-commissioned officer. Frankly, I didn't care for the 'toilet seat' award and, as it turned out, neither did some of the other people in the barracks. A small team was formed to suggest and implement improvements. We went to the company executive officer and requested paint, brushes, and a few other supplies. We also tossed our own money in the pot to buy things the XO wouldn't buy. We began to bring the place up to habitable standards. First, we evicted the birds. Then, during our off times, we began painting and polishing. We all recognized that it would be impossible to compete with the newer, more modern brick buildings; however, we wanted the officers who headed the company to recognize that we were at least trying. After a while, the building began to shape up. However, two things were missing: (1) the walls, which we could not paint, were drab and dingy, painted a WWII brown that was rather heinous; and (2) pride in the building.
Along with a couple of team members, we went to downtown Washington. We visited every travel agency in the District, begging posters from them. We also went to the National Gallery of Art and bought prints of famous paintings. Next, we stole - that's right, stole - poster board, acetate, and tape for making frames from the Pentagon's various office supply stores. We made frames for the travel posters and the art. Then we held a barracks meeting. "Who wants some of this for their room?" we asked. At first, it was slow going, but after a while, and after seeing what decorated rooms looked like, everyone wanted to get on board. The decorations were tasteful, so the Army didn't mind; occupants could cover existing holes in their walls, so they thought it was a pretty good idea; and our only request was that people keep their rooms neat. All-in-all, we had a win-win situation. One week after we completed everything...the painting, the artwork, and a bit of plastering in the latrine (that's bathroom to you civilian types), we went from being considered the worst barracks on post to being the best. No, we couldn't compete with newer buildings, but our creativity was rewarded. From March until August, when we were released from active duty, we did not give up our title of best barracks. The point is that you can be creative, even in an environment that often discourages creativity.
Several years later, I met that XO. We joked about the barracks and what we had accomplished. He told me that he never thought we could pull it off and that the people in that barracks had to be the craziest group of bastards he'd ever seen. It was a compliment of which I was quite proud. We agreed that everything depends on your attitude. Attitude is an interesting word. If you were to say that attitude is everything, you wouldn't be so far wrong. If you give the letters in the word their numerical equivalent of where they are in the alphabet, you might even say that ATTITUDE is 100% of everything we try to do.
A = 01
T = 20
T = 20
I = 09
T = 20
U = 21
D = 04
E = 05
ATTITUDE = 100%
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