Solve a Problem Phl458

Solve a Problem

PHL 458

Charles L Byrd Jr.

10/14/2013

Leon Hallingquest

The creative process is consists of four different components. These four components are searching for challenges, expressing the problem or issue, investigating the problem, and producing ideas. These four components are all equally essential to the creative process.

The first stage of the creative process is searching for challenges. Creativity is producing effective solutions to issues or problems with originality and imagination. Each day we all face challenges or problems that we address as part of our normal routine. An example of a problem or issue faced is the proper hardening of 4130 steel AK-74 receivers. All custom gunsmiths will be faced with the issue of metal hardness almost daily in their careers, but for simplicity this paper will focus on the receiver of the AK-74.

The second stage of the creative process is expressing the problem. Accurate expression of the issue enables creative solutions to the issue. For example, a gunsmith is faced with the issue that the 4130 steel used in the AK-74 receiver is too soft to withstand the forces of recoil associated with the weapon. Accurate representation of this issue starts the creative process towards a solution.

Investigating the problem is the third stage of the creative process. In this stage, data is gathered and analyzed as an information base to work toward a solution. For example, the gunsmith researches and finds that a Rockwell hardness of 48 is required to withstand the forces of violence the receiver will be subjected to. The gunsmith also learns that in addition to hardening, the steel must be tempered.

The last stage of the creative process is producing ideas. There are two obstacles that are common in the last stage. According to Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, The Art of Thinking, A guide to Critical and Creative Though Ninth Addition (2009), the first obstacle is “the often unconscious tendency to limit...