Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

(1978) and P.E. Vernon; Creativity (1970). Destruction and Creation actually includes the notionthat ‘creativity is related to induction, synthesis and integration’ 164 . According to Coon,creative thinking for solving problems involves what Boyd actually proposed: inductive,deductive, logical, illogical modes of thinking. In addition to that, Coon asserts that fluency(the total number of suggestions you are able to make), flexibility (the number of times youshift from one class of possible uses to another) and originality (how novel or unusual yoursuggestions are). Stages of creative thought include:orientation:preparation:incubation:illumination:verification:defining the problem and important dimensions);creative thinkers saturate themselves with as much informationpertaining to the problem as possible;setting aside the problem and allowing it to ‘cook’ in thebackground;the stage of incubation is often ended by a rapid insight or seriesof insights;the final step is to test and critically evaluate the solutionobtained during the stage of illumination. If the solution provesfaulty, the thinker reverts to the stage of incubation.An overview of characteristics of creative persons furthermore show not only what Boydpracticed in reality (and indeed describing his character rather accurately), but also hisnormative view concerning strategic thinking 165 .Thinking abilitiesUse metaphors in thinkingFlexible decision makerUses broad categoriesUses mental imagesCan cope with novelyCan break mental setsFinds order in chaosPersonality characteristicsWilling to take intellectual riskCuriosity and inquisitivenessOpenness to new experiencesTolerates ambiguityBroad range of interestsPlayful with ideasIntuitiveThinking stylesChallenges assumptionsLooks for novelty and gaps in knowledgeDraws new ideas out of existingknowledgeOrganizational learningFrom the 1960s onwards systems thinking became a popular concept also outside of thescientific community. In the 1950s and 1960s it had a strong influence on engineering andmanagement. System-oriented management became a catchword in the 1970s with wordssuch as “system-oriented management”, “system dynamics” and “management cybernetics”featuring in the titles. Boyd for instance studied several works on systems thinking such asF.E. Emery; Systems Thinking (1976), John Gall; Systemantics: How Systems Work and especiallyHow They Fail (1977), Marvin Kasner and Lewis Andrews; Biofeedback: Turning on the Power ofYour Mind (1973), C.T. Landes, Control and Dynamic Systems: Advances in Theory and Applications(1973). The cybernetic and systems view was applied in the reports to the Club of Rome 166 .164 Destruction and Creation, p.5.165 Coon, pp.386-389.166 And in international relations theory by the mid-1960s, in stead of the familiar billiard ball model, avery different image of the international system was being advanced, depicting international relationsin terms of cobwebs being constantly spun across the globe on many different levels, a metaphorsupported by a pluralist approach. See for instance Barry Buzan, Richard Little, International Systems in113