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: CRAFT SOLUTIONS

Creative Problem Solving Model

ABOUT THIS STAGE

After Generating Ideas in the previous stage, you will have one or more ideas that you wish to pursue. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but ideas are cheap. Ideas are not creativity. Creativity is the production of something novel and useful, not the idea of something that might be novel and useful. In this stage, you will turn your ideas into something truly valuable: an implementable solution. You will do this by strengthening your ideas, making them better - combining, discarding, changing, whatever it takes - to get to a solution.

Here, more than in any other stage, you will find yourself moving back and forth between divergent thinking and convergent thinking. For instance, crafting solutions might look something like this:

  • Use a convergent thinking tool such as POINt to evaluate the ideas.
  • Use a divergent thinking tool to overcome the problems you have identified with your ideas.
  • Use a convergent thinking tools to select the best new ideas.
  • Use a divergent thinking tools t strengthen the solutions.
  • Use a convergent thinking tool to select the solution that will be implemented.

A good way to complete this step is to create a solution statement, an extended description of what you plan to do, that begins with: "What I see myself (us) doing is...." This leads you to the next stage, in which you will Explore Acceptance of your solution. If you can't find a good solution, you may need to go back and generate more ideas, or even further back, to make sure you are answering the right question in the first place.

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 Explore Acceptance.

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.