HUM111 Week 4, Assignment 1

Creative Thinking

Tina Ann Scoggins

HUM/111

November 25, 2012

Kathleen Poole

Creative Thinking

         

         Andrew Taylor, author at Real Clear Politics, and Jim Kuhnhenn, White House and politics reporter in the Washington Bureau of the Associated Press, contributed to an article that focused on President Barack Obama’s obstacles in negotiating budget dealings with congressional leaders to formulate a plan that will fix America’s problems and issues with the nation’s economic deficit.

         I would use the “taking a novel approach” strategy ( Ruggerio, 2012) for applying creativity to the problems and issues with the President and congressional leaders finding a compromise to formulate a solution to resolve the nation’s economic frailty, by having each side list their ideas as to what the best plan is to diminish the country’s deficit. Once each conflicting party has incorporated their ideas, I would suggest the government set up a detailed plan to conduct an experiment by trying out each idea for six months to a year, and watching what how each idea both positively and negatively affects the economy of America. I would also suggest that each person involved clearly articulate their interests to each idea to include their concerns, their objectives, their fears, and personal gain or loss from each idea or concept brought to the table. Instead of throwing out a plan or ideal right from the get-go, perhaps breaking down each concept might uncover the underlying reason each party feels the way they do about each prospective approach.

         I would use a strategy to promote curiosity by having each party involved in the negotiation to formulate a plan to fix the American economy, by having the group collaborate and come up with a good and bad outcome for each idea. This will generate suspense and make each group member curious to find out if these outcomes would, in fact, make positive or negative impacts on the deficit. I would also ask questions to the group to make them aware of their knowledge gaps, such as “do you have proof as to when this plan was carried out to make a positive or negative change in the economy,” or “what evidence do you have that demonstrates the amount of money that this idea would improve or exacerbate the current deficit in America?” These strategies might be effective because they will make each party curious and encourage them to explore new ideas and seek further information thus resulting in a solution to improve the economy and make America legendary, the country that it once was.

         In order to present a factual and persuasive case while using the various methods for producing ideas to eliminate the bias from the original article, I would use the “stimulate your imagination” method. I would force uncommon responses, visualize the solution, construct pro and con arguments, and create relevant scenarios. I would make sure to keep in mind what the reality of each situation may be so that I stay in tune with the topic and what a realistic solution could be. I would eliminate and all vagueness or confusion, further investigate the topic and generate the factual information available on the subject. I would also make sure to keep the problem at hand, at the top of my priority list. No matter what my personal obligations are or how each idea would affect my finances or personal opinions either way, the problem is the debt that this great nation is facing and coming up with a solution to get out of debt and have a safer, wealthier America is the goal that absolutely must stay at the top of everyone’s priorities. That is what we all must compromise for, because we will all reap the benefits in the end!

References

    Ruggiero, V. R. (2012). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought (10th ed.). New York, NY: Longman.



    Taylor, A., & Kuhnhenn, J. (2012, November). Obama on Tricky Path in Budget Deal Negotiations. RealClearPolitics, (). Retrieved from http://from http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/11/16/obama_on_tricky_path_in_bud...