Overcoming Fixation

Fixation characterizes many people’s problem-solving efforts. We become stuck on a particular solution or solution set, and we fail to consider a wider range of alternatives. A new study by Jackson Lu, Modupe Akinola, and Malia Masonexamines whether switching tasks can help overcome the fixation problem, and thereby enhance creative problem-solving efforts.

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Note that the study does not justify rampant multi-tasking on the part of employees. Creative problem-solving still involves a willingness to focus on a particular problem intensely for a period of time. However, the ability to step away from time to time can be very effective. Note, though, that the task switching worked best when it wasn’t left to the discretion of the research subjects. That’s an interesting finding. It means that team leaders may want to take responsibility for thinking carefully about to either schedule some task switching into creative work, or intervening when they feel appropriate to give people a break from their focus on a particular problem.

Source: http://michael-roberto.blogspot.com/2017/12/creative-problem-solving-overcoming.html