Source: Creativity and Innovation

Johnson, S. (2010). Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. New York: Riverhead Books.

Watson, J. D. (1968). The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. Atheneum.

Surowiecki, J. (2004). The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations. New York: Doubleday.

Questions:

1. According to the unconscious thinking account, incubation effects occur because

a_____ we tend to forget the wrong approach to the problem and approach it later with a "fresh look"

b_____ unconscious thought processes are actively working on a solution to the problem

c_____ of "set shift"

d_____ All of the above

2. At Pixar, directors who are having problems can meet with the "brain trust" (a group of senior directors not working on the movie) in order to get feedback and suggestions. The brain trust, however, has no authority. That is, the director does not need to heed the advice given by the brain trust. Why?

a_____ Directors are more likely to go to the brain trust for input.

b_____ Directors retain their autonomy with respect to the movie.

c_____ The brain trust can give more honest feedback.

d_____ All of the above.

3) In "12 Angry Men"

a._____ Cohesion increased intrinsic motivation

b._____ Hidden profiles took a while to be revealed

c._____ Brainstorming resulted in process loss

d._____ Team building exercises increased creativity

4. A concern with decentralization is that the resulting autonomy might not be used in the firm's best interests. What role might a strong culture play in making the most of decentralization?

a._____ Employees will have internalized the firm's values and goals.

b._____ Increased compliance by the employees.

c._____ Increased homogeneity among the employees.

d._____ All of the above.

5. Group members tend to talk about information

a_____ they have in common, which helps performance.

b_____ they have in common, which hurts performance.

c_____ that is unique to each member, which helps performance.

d_____ that is unique to each member, which hurts performance.

6. A reason to brainstorm individually AND as a group is that

a_____ Group brainstorming allows other ideas to stimulate new ideas

b_____ Individual brainstorming is not vulnerable to process loss

c_____ All of the above

d_____ None of the above

7. What can keep a company from "exploring"?

_____ Current success.

_____ Short-term thinking.

_____ Low failure tolerance.

_____ All of the above.

8. When people estimate a number, they are influenced by others' estimates. This is a

a_____ bad thing when averaging estimates, because independence is crucial

b_____ good thing when averaging estimates, because you get more information from each estimate

c_____ good thing when averaging estimates, because each estimate incorporates others' knowledge

d_____More than one of the above

9. When groups reach quick decisions

a_____ Their decisions are just as good as when they take longer

b_____ They often think they made a better decision than they really did

c_____ They think their decision is a bad one

d_____ They usually start the decision making process over to make sure they reach a good decision

10. A quote from William McKnight, who ran 3M for decades, is the following: "The best and hardest work is done in the spirit of adventure and challenge." Assume he's right. What might lead to such work?

a_____ Autonomy

b_____ Intrinsic motivation

c_____ Decentralization

d_____ All of the above