The Tax Reform Act of 1986 came into being in a way that was different from most legislation. Committee members had struggled mightily to reach a compromise. Everyone knew that tax loopholes were immense, yet attempts to change them met with strong resistance from special interests. President Reagan had initiated the attempt at tax reform, but when the House committee was done with it, even he said he wouldn’t sign it. The Senate Finance Committee then met and through long and arduous discussions the bill deteriorated further as special interests added additional provisions. It looked as though it would die.

At this point Senator Packwood, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, did something different. He called a special, closed-door breakfast meeting. At the end of this meeting the Senators emerged with a unanimous new perspective that was far more revolutionary than anything anyone had imagined to be possible. It was a breakthrough, which felt risky to participants. They pledged to one another that they would stay unanimous and would live or die as a block. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to maintain these pledges but substantial change resulted in the end.

This example is not intended to make a point about taxes or government. It is an illustration of the limits of normal meeting and thinking approaches. For breakthroughs to happen, like what happened at breakfast, something different is required. The stalemate in thinking was not overcome through compromise or power struggle, but it was a leap beyond partisan considerations, a change in the mode of thinking.

Normal meetings proceed dialectically. Ideas are presented and discussed one at a time. In the face of emotional tension, they seek a dispassionate, ordered process leading to compromise. More often, however they lead to a power struggle where one side swallows the bitter pill of defeat. To discuss abortion in a normal meeting, for example almost guarantees a battle between two opposite views: pro-life and pro-choice. The more polarized the discussion, the less creative it is.

Creativity requires an entirely different thinking style, one that is not about going back and forth between known options but about seeking out new, unknown options. To accommodate these new discoveries the thinking process must remain unpredictable and be able to change directions suddenly.

Creative breakthroughs are difficult to imagine in the white heat of a tough issue, however. When faced with constraints, physical limits, or federal laws, people naturally assume that creativity isn't appropriate and often say, "there are only two possibilities" or "nothing can be done about that".

What they should recognize is that within the current frame of mind, only two possibilities are apparent or nothing can be done. There is always the step that Senator Packwood took: To shift modes of thinking. Apparently, the breakfast meeting did that.

In my facilitation work, I have determined four forms of creative thinking and four corresponding types of breakthrough. Two forms are “head creativity,” playing with ideas and concepts in a way that is divorced from feelings, and two are “heart creativity,” where a person openheartedly examines issues. When heart creativity is combined with “head creativity” an exceptional quality of thinking results, referred to as “choice-creating.”

The four components of choice-creating are considered below, each with an example. All the examples describe a group facing a seemingly impossible problem. In each case, with a slight adjustment to the style of thinking, the issue was solved because a new choice was created.

The relationship of these four modes of thinking is shown in the diagram on the next page. The asterisk-like figure represents creative energy or passion for the issue. The horizontal axis is the HEAD axis, stretching from perception-building to innovation-building, two modes that seek a change of mind. These modes require a certain degree of detachment from feelings and emotions. They often result in a different way of seeing things that reveals new options.

The vertical axis is the HEART axis ranging between Trust-building and Mission-building. These both work with people's energy seeking new choices via a change of heart.






Four Examples

#1 TRUST-BUILDING:
This mode of creative thinking happens when people share their current perspective fully, when they let go of it, and when they become both open-minded and open-hearted to other perspectives. It's a first step to addressing high-care issues. When people engage in this process, their frustration or anger is often transformed in a way that the presenting problem miraculously disappears.
Example: In their efforts to help clients, caseworkers in a state agency occasionally bent minor rules. Management sought to correct the problem through stronger rules and increased direction to the staff. They hired a new supervisor and directed her to shape up the department. The caseworkers responded to these moves with outrage, especially at the new supervisor. They filed labor grievances, undermined progress by strictly adhering to the rules, held uncooperative attitudes, etc. Both sides pointed with exasperation at the extent to which the other betrayed trust and acted without scruples. In the minds of all the only possible solution was for the other party to change, and neither was going to do that.

Creative Choice: The group met in a series of meetings with a dynamic facilitator. In the process group members articulated their perspectives and were able to hear one another completely. As people listened to the feelings and perspectives of others, the emotional tone of the group changed from outrage, to quiet honesty, to enthusiasm for their shared mission. As trust developed, people saw themselves and their colleagues in a new light. Before the meetings the group thought that the supervisor was the problem. After the meetings, it was agreed that she had become a vital asset to the department. Beforehand, the supervisor’s goal for the intervention was to have the group respect her authority. After the meetings they were respecting her, instead of her authority. In the final session the group energetically and innovatively tackled the task of “how to become the best department in the state!” They worked on some new ideas, and all felt empowered to take them to management.

Observation: Repressed feelings restrict one’s power and sense of what is possible. This impossible-seeming problem was resolved by just addressing the problem in a thoughtful, creative, heartfelt way. Key in the process was where each person fully expressed his or her frustration and sense of what needed to happen. In this case each side wanted the other to accept blame and to change. But just articulating these extreme viewpoints, where they were fully heard and considered ultimately built a new level of trust and led to new feelings.

This “trust-building” mode of thinking is a form of "heart creativity” that can often solve the problem entirely. Other times, there is a need to shift gears to another form of creative thinking "perception-building".

#2: PERCEPTION-BUILDING:
This mode of creative thinking often follows Trust-building. The focus is no longer on the energy or feelings of participants but on the data or details of the situation. In this "head" mode of creativity, we are like puzzle-solvers, seeking to understand what is going on so we can see what is needed.

The master auto mechanic, for example, uses this mode of thinking when creatively working on a difficult problem. Each bit of new information or each new measurement sparks thoughts and new awareness’s.

Example: A group of employees in a sawmill met to work on the problem of “cleanup at the log barkers.” Bark debris from logs caused numerous problems and they had made it known to management that there was a pressing need for more cleanup people but management had refused. They felt there was nothing more they could do.

Creative Choice: Meeting in a creative format with a dynamic facilitator the group examined the list of cleanup issues and specified one as most critical. It was “cleanup around the bucking saw.” When that area wasn’t cleaned properly, sawdust and bark worked into the equipment in such a way that a particular mechanism to lift logs didn’t slide back down. This meant that big logs had to be jockeyed back and forth until they could be positioned to ride past the stuck lift. Besides wasting time, jockeying the log damaged the equipment.

After identifying this problem as most severe, members of the group climbed below the lift area to examine how sawdust and bark hung up the equipment. Although they had been there many times before, this time they looked at the equipment with the knowledge that this was a difficult problem and with curiosity as to how it happens. They were able to determine that the bark accumulated on a ledge and quickly determined that the ledge served no structural purpose. With a welding torch and about 20 minutes they eliminated the ledge and the most pressing problem they faced, one that had seemed impossible.

Observation: This problem had plagued the men for years and yet the solution was quite simple once they looked into it with a creative attitude. Key was the attitude of curiosity. In this case this attitudes was triggered in the men by listing data and observations about the situation. Once questions arose that they realized they couldn’t answer, they took some time away from their normal work to find out more.

This form of “perception-building” creativity may not solve all problems either. If a breakthrough doesn't happen the next natural phase of creativity is often to “mission-building."

#3: MISSION-BUILDING:
This kind of creative thinking often follows perception-building. People ask, "What are we really after here?" It's a heart question because you must seek inside instead of outside for answers. When you get your answer, it is often a breakthrough. Old solutions and concerns can seem irrelevant and even be forgotten once the "real problem" is discovered. As in Trust-building, feelings play a crucial role. Often the issue gets redefined as something much bigger than it once was, yet people feel more empowered to solve it.

Example: The Chamber of Commerce for a small town beyond the edge of suburbia met for a retreat to determine its mission. Many of the members were shopkeepers on the edge of economic survival. Some had raised their children in the area and wished to ensure that there were local job opportunities so their children could find ways to stay. Others chose to move to the area precisely to avoid the urban and suburban development that accompanies more jobs.

The room was split between those who were more focused on economic development and those who were more concerned about quality of life issues. Unanimity seemed impossible.

Creative Choice: The group began talking about what they wanted. What type of industry would be best? What would be the best location for these new businesses? Where would additional people be located? What would be the best configuration of businesses? It was a heartfelt conversation with each person being creative, trying to find what he or she really wanted.

This exploratory form of conversation brought the group together. Everyone in the room strongly valued the special features of the area. All were unanimous that these must not be threatened. And all wanted some to support the kind of commercial growth that would contribute to the area. It was a moment of clarity and consensus.

The group developed a list of the special features they wanted to preserve, created a mission statement that worked for everyone, and made new choices about old programs. It was a level of consensus that seemed impossible to achieve beforehand.

Observation: A creative moment often happens when people think creatively from their heart and they are fully heard and respected. A meeting of minds and hearts was one outcome of this meeting. Plus, other unanimous decisions were reached.

#4 INNOVATION-BUILDING:
Innovation-building is what most people think of when they hear the term "creative thinking." It's a process like brainstorming, forced analogies, or guided imagery, where people make new connections. This is "head creativity" because, to engage in it, one must dissociate from his or her feelings. It only works on issues that are like puzzles, divorced from feelings.

Example: The manager of a reforestation project proposed a problem he'd been struggling with. After planting seedlings each year the plastic tubes in which the tiny trees had been contained were brought back from the woods. Hundreds of thousands of these tubes needed to be sorted into racks to feed a machine that deposited soil, fertilizer and seed for next year. Getting the tubes into the racks was done manually. Design engineers had estimated that hundreds of thousands of dollars would be required to mechanize this. He asked a group of people “can you think of a way to do this more cheaply.”

Creative Choice: The group started by considering how the tubes might sort themselves. They discussed how elements from nature sort themselves. They thought about how bees fill hexagon racks in their hives with eggs, how birds migrate to specific locations, and how salmon return to their spawning ground after years at sea. Thinking about salmon in more detail they imagined themselves as salmon returning through river currents by smell and instinct. Forcing this image together with the tube problem, the group thought of ways to use water to sort the tubes. If the tubes floated straight up and down when put into water, they could be guided by currents to squeeze together at the end of a tub. A rack situated under the tubes, when lifted, could then catch one tube per hole. This idea would cost only a few dollars and could be set up for testing in a few hours. It was an exciting line of thought with a savings potential that was incredible to the engineers.

Observation: Innovation-thinking promotes non-linear thinking approaches in order to provoke new lines of thought. For this kind of thinking there is value in irrelevant material like the habits of salmon and in non-expert participants. But normal meetings squelch this kind of thinking, where only relevant ideas are tolerated, and only people who are familiar with the issue are invited to attend.

Summary

In each of the examples above, it appeared that the problem was not solvable. But in each situation, through different modes of creative thinking, old patterns of thought and feelings were left behind. Ready answers and logic became less ordered and a door to new possibilities was opened. Unforeseeable breakthroughs resulted.

In the Perception-building example, the group physically looked into a situation in a way they hadn’t before. A breakthrough idea, cutting out the ledge, appeared to them. In the Innovation-building example the group used an unrelated idea of salmon running upstream, to spark new ideas. They achieved a perceptual shift which gave them a simple, cheap, new alternative. Since both of these thinking modes are detached from feelings, they are examples of head creativity and work especially well on physical problems. Issues with emotional content require a heart dimension.

In the Trust-building example a breakthrough was achieved because feelings were addressed and given credibility. A new quality of relationship between supervisor and group became possible. Using Mission-building each person in the Chamber of Commerce retreat looked beyond his or her fears to discover their desires. This step allowed them to look past people's differences to what they held in common. These heart modes, Trust-building and Mission-building, are powerful for difficult issues because they turn problems into exciting challenges.

These four brief examples, plus the tax reform story, illustrate ways that seemingly impossible-to-solve problems can be transformed. Creativity is not a usually applied when people identify difficult issues, however. More natural is to avoid creative thinking, to squander our creativity in defending against change or avoiding the problem. But the creative possibility is always present and can be called upon. This is especially true in the presence of a skilled dynamic facilitator oriented to creative processes of thinking.