Businesses depend on meetings to make decisions, solve problems and share information, but getting the right people in the room is only the beginning of being able to work together effectively. If you find yourself wasting valuable time in seemingly pointless meetings or find that the intelligent and experienced people you have brought together do not deliver the results you expected, then it is worth considering a different approach.
Cocreative problem solving is a facilitated approach to complex problem solving that guides and supports participants through the process of integrating facts, opinions, values, hypotheses and questions into a collectively inspired solution. We are taught to solve problems by breaking them down into smaller components and concensus is highly prized. But does this deliver the best solution and what happens to the original objective along the way. This lacks creativity and is rarely satisfactory or successful in providing sustainable solutions to complex or difficult problems. Can you really deliver on expectations with a lowest common denominator approach to problem-solving?
Cocreative problem solving facilitates the emergence of solutions that are not obtainable through logical/cognitive thinking alone, by bringing into the process insights, intuition and knowledge that is usually only accessible in other contexts. Trust and a shift in perspective are critical to a cocreative problem solving process. It is always assumed that the participants have all the necessary skills and knowledge and all good ideas and approaches are considered. The role of the facilitator is to create a mutually supportive environment in which ideas can be generated and challenged through deepening levels of questioning and reflection.
Cocreated solutions are just as efficient, productive and profitable as reductive solutions, but will have the advantage of motivating participants and incorporating meaning and values. Cocreative problem-solving is the result of decades of study into the behaviours and attributes of knowledge-building communities. It is a whole system process, rather than the left-brained (logical and analytical) processes we favour and allows for the inclusion of feelings and ideas, as well as hard-nosed facts.
Cocreative problem solving can be used in any situation in which a group of people are willing to work together and can achieve rapid results from new and functionally diverse teams. It can be exciting, fun, challenging and altogether more satisfying than the usual process. However, if there are significant trust issues within the group we would advise that these are addressed first.
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