This is not the fashion of the month. The basic process was started over 50 years ago by Alex Osborn who studied people in his advertising agency, BBD&O, to see why some people were more creative than others. Sid Parnes, a psychology professor, joined with Osborn and brought the academic dimension to the model. The Osborn-Parnes model for the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process has been modified and refined by innovators in industry, government, and not-for-profit organizations around the world. Almost all of the persons who practice or research in CPS can trace their roots back to this model. Unfortunately it is rare to find creativity in a business school curriculum where the emphasis is on deductive analysis around a given problem. CPS is a six-step process in which problem definition is the third step, not the first. At each of these steps it uses divergent methods to find new approaches and convergent methods to reduce them to actionable plans. Brainstorming, also invented by Osborn, does not converge to an action plan.

Innovation is the spark that makes good companies great. It's not just invention but a style of corporate behavior comfortable with new ideas and risk...Companies that know how to innovate don't necessarily throw money into R&D. Instead they cultivate a new style of corporate behavior that's comfortable with new ideas, change, risk, and even failure. "America's most admired companies," Fortune, March 3, 1997.

Proof of Results

"The creative problem solving session that you conducted for our company in June has altered the way that we think about the Tarrance Group. Your techniques to bring out creativity and innovation in the company and the individual employees have really made a difference in how we function."

-- Ed Goeas, President/CEO, The Tarrance Group, Research for Decisions in Politics and Public Affairs

    Some of the measurable results from those who have used CPS are as follows:
  • Federal Express achieved a 200% ROI.
  • United Technology achieved a 600% ROI.
  • A Canadian chemical manufacturer increased production from 28 tons per hour to 40 tons per hour, which increased revenue $3,600 per hour.
  • Meade Fine Papers increased the brightness of its paper to 98, surpassing its competitors' 95, which gave it a competitive advantage with greeting card manufacturers.
  • A small hand tool manufacturer was facing cheaper competitive products. Two teams focused on costs and two focused on innovative product ideas. The outcome was a 52% cut in costs and new tools with values over a million dollars.

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