How can you be more curious and open-minded in creative problem solving?

1 Why curiosity matters

Curiosity is the desire to learn new things and seek new experiences, which is essential for CPS since it encourages you to search for information, come up with ideas, and verify hypotheses. It also helps you overcome fear of failure and accept uncertainty. To foster your curiosity, you could ask open-ended questions that begin with what, why, how, or what if. Additionally, you can get feedback from others and use their insights and perspectives. You can challenge yourself to learn something new daily, such as a skill, a fact, or a hobby. Finally, exposing yourself to diverse sources of inspiration like books, podcasts, art, or nature can also help.

2 Why open-mindedness matters

Open-mindedness is the willingness to consider different opinions, beliefs, and possibilities, which is essential for CPS to avoid jumping to conclusions, acknowledge biases, and revise views based on evidence. Additionally, open-mindedness can help you collaborate with others and appreciate their contributions. To increase open-mindedness, try adopting a growth mindset that views challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. Additionally, seek out opposing views and arguments to understand their logic and evidence. Furthermore, practice empathy and perspective-taking by putting yourself in someone else's shoes and imagining how they feel and think. Lastly, experiment with different approaches and solutions and evaluate their outcomes objectively.

3 How to overcome confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms your existing beliefs and expectations. This can limit creativity by making you ignore or dismiss alternative ideas and evidence. To counteract this, you should be mindful of your assumptions and hypotheses and test them against reality. Additionally, seek out disconfirming evidence and information that challenges your views and assumptions. Furthermore, ask for constructive criticism and feedback from others with different backgrounds and perspectives. You can also use tools such as brainstorming, mind mapping, or SCAMPER to generate diverse and divergent ideas.

4 How to overcome availability bias

Availability bias is the tendency to rely on the most easily accessible or memorable information when making decisions or judgments, which can lead to overestimating the likelihood or importance of certain events or outcomes. To counter this, you should seek out relevant and reliable data and statistics that support or refute your ideas and assumptions. Additionally, using tools and techniques such as SWOT analysis, decision matrix, or pros and cons list can help you evaluate your options and criteria objectively. It's also important to avoid making hasty decisions based on emotions or intuitions, take time to reflect and analyze your choices, and review past experiences to learn from successes and failures.

5 How to overcome anchoring bias

Anchoring bias is the tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information or impression that you encounter when making decisions or judgments. This can limit your creativity by making you stick to the initial idea or solution and miss out on better alternatives. To overcome anchoring bias, it's important to be aware of the sources and influences that shape your initial ideas and impressions, and question their validity and relevance. Generate multiple ideas and solutions, compare them based on their merits and drawbacks, seek out different perspectives from others, and consider their suggestions and feedback. Additionally, using tools such as lateral thinking, reverse brainstorming, or six thinking hats can help challenge and expand your thinking.

6 How to apply curiosity and open-mindedness in CPS

Curiosity and open-mindedness are not only attitudes, but also skills that you can practice and improve. To apply them in CPS, you can follow a four-step process. Firstly, use curiosity to explore the problem from different angles and ask questions that clarify its scope, causes, and effects. Secondly, use open-mindedness to brainstorm as many ideas as possible without judging or rejecting them prematurely. Thirdly, seek feedback and evidence that support or challenge your ideas and weigh their pros and cons objectively. Finally, use curiosity to experiment with your ideas and learn from their outcomes, while using open-mindedness to adapt and improve them based on the results.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?