WHAT IS CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING?

Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is a structured process for solving problems or finding opportunities. Use it when you want to go beyond conventional thinking and arrive at creative (novel and useful) solutions.

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Creativity is novelty that is useful. It is disruption with a purpose. It is the first stage of any innovation and change initiative: creativity is generating something novel and useful, and innovation is putting that something to work.

You can, of course, choose to solve problems in conventional ways. Indeed, most problems are solved using known solutions. Creativity is solving problems in new and better ways. Creativity is how your organization becomes truly innovative, and how it and uncovers new, different, and market-making opportunities.

IS CPS A CREATIVE WAY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS?

The word "creative" in the title refers to the results you seek: novel and useful solutions, not just tried and true and traditional ones. But is CPS itself creative? It is not new - it has been is use since the 1950s - but it remains novel when compared to other problem-solving models. CPS uses both divergent and convergent thinking at every stage of the process. Most other processes reserve the divergent thinking for the generating ideas stage, but use it nowhere else. CPS multiplies the power of divergent thinking by making it part of the entire process.

Using CPS also has an interesting side effect: it makes you re-think the way you thiink, and not just when you are solving problems

CPS STAGE: IMAGINE THE FUTURE

Creative Problem Solving Model

ABOUT THIS STAGE

The CPS process often begins, as it were, at the beginning: identifying what you want to achieve. Think of the imagined future - which is by definition some distance from the current situation - as something you want: a goal, wish, challenge, or opportunity.

When imagining the future state, use these guidelines:

  • Use divergent thinking tools to generate many possible future states (that is, goals, wishes, challenges, opportunities).
  • Begin the future statements with "I wish...," "I want...," "I will...," or "It would be great if...."
  • Make the statements affirmative; that is, something you want, not something you do not want.
  • Use convergent thinking tools to select the ideal desired future state. Make the final statement broad, brief, and beneficial. That is, it should be sufficiently broad as to allow a number of different problem statements (see Find the Questions); it should be concise, without dependent clauses, conditions, or rationales; and it should be something that is worth doing.
  • Ask yourself three questions: 1) Do you own this situation? 2) Are you motivated to do something about it? 3) Are you interested in creative solutions? If you answer "yes" to all three, the situation is a good candidate for CPS.

This stage is closely related to the next, Find the Questions. Together, these steps represent the process of knowing what specific problem you are trying to solve.

NOW WHAT

Here are some choices:

  • Click any part of the model above to examine that stage in more detail.
  • Continue the tour in a linear way by moving on to Find the Questions.

CONTACT US WHEN YOU ARE READY

When you're ready to talk to us about teaching you this process or facilitating a problem-solving session, just holler.