How to improve your creative problem-solving skill? –  Tips and Tricks

As we saw last week (see here if you missed it), there are specific steps in order to come up with creative and innovative solutions. There are also ways that these steps can go horribly wrong and not get the results that are needed or wanted.

Things to watch out for in general:

First, each step must be balanced with the others. It is easy to get caught in an overthinking cycle at each of the steps. Additionally, since the last step involves action and that can feel scary or uncomfortable so, we avoid it. Fear of failure and fear of success can be involved. We can also sabotage the results because of these fears. Critique at the wrong step can stifle creativity instead of enhancing it.

Second, in line with the first point, it is important to defer judgment and critique to the proper steps, too early and it stifles or squelches creative thought (the actual term I read). Even if it is just a grunt or rolling of the eyes at someone else’s ideas (that is if you are doing the exercise in a group, but even if you are doing it alone, even your thoughts can be in critiquing mode instead of creative mode and you can stifle or squelch your own creativity). After reading I realised that it is probably why I never finished a story I had started. I went much to soon into critique mode, instead of having a first draft be only in creative mode. Critiquing a manuscript, even self-critique should come at the revision stage, not at the writing stage. This is how I interpret this concept. Does it work? Time will tell.

Third, it is important to frame problems, obstacles, challenges, or issues as questions to be able to continue the process.

Finally, focus on “Yes, and…” rather than “No, but…”. Negativity can stifle creativity as easily as critique. Denial discourages creative thought. Even if you use “Yes, but…” We tend to focus on the last part of what is said so the good things said first are pretty much negated by what comes after.

Specific points to keep in mind for each step of the creative problem-solving process:

Step 1: Clarify and identify the problem – Tips and tricks

As mentioned last week, this is the first step and one of the most important steps. Identifying what the actual problem is and not just what it seems to be on the surface.

A technique to help at this step is to ask yourself the five whys. The first why should be “why is this a problem?” or “why do I wish to set this goal?”. After answering, you ask yourself “why else?” four more times. This usually allows you to get at the root of the problem.

For example, your problem is your job.

First why: “Because I don’t like it.”

Second why: “Because it doesn’t pay enough.”

Third why: “Because it is boring”

Fourth why: “Because it is too stressful”

Fifth why: “Because I feel incompetent”

Identifying a problem in this fashion can help decide which “why” is more important. And as the example above shows, a solution to “because it doesn’t pay enough” would be rather different than if my biggest problem was “because I feel incompetent” or it could be the same solution, but the approach could be different. Each can be addressed in turn, if they all seem important, but try to determine which is the root cause for the problem you are facing. That way you can expend less creative energy in a direction that will only give you a small return. Some you may not even need to fix as they will fix themselves with the solution you find, or you will find them less important.

More questions you can ask yourself to clarify these problems or goals further are:

“What do I really want to accomplish here?”

“What is preventing me from solving this problem/achieving the goal?”

“How do I envision myself in (insert relevant time-frame) month/years once the problem has been resolved or the goal achieved?”

“Are friends dealing with this issue or a similar one? If yes, how do they cope?”

Step 1b: Tricks for setting criteria for judging the potential solution(s)

Ask yourself these questions to help you select the criteria needed for paring down your ideas and coming up with your shortlist of solutions that you can put into effect:

“What affects the feasibility of the idea? Budget limitations? Timeframe or other restrictions?”

“What is the accomplishment you want to reach with this goal?”

“What do you want to avoid when implementing ideas?”

After choosing your three to five criteria, it is really important to put the list aside. You will only need it again at step five. Keeping it in mind for step four will limit your creativity.

Step 2: Research the problem- Tips

Using search engines, advice from friends and families, libraries, and sites to ask questions (like LinkedIn and newsletters that offer to answer questions for you) are all great ways to find information on your problem or goal. Whether you go old school or Google the answer, the better you understand your problem, the better you may be able to find well-adapted solutions. The more varied and well-rounded your sources of information are, the more pertinent your solutions may be. Watch out for assumptions here that may skew your results in one direction or another and also limit your creativity.

The other problem that can pop-up at this step is getting stuck in the over-research trap. I get stuck at this phase and will fall down a rabbit whole and read one article on my topic that leads to three others that I find really interesting but have no link to my original purpose. Keeping focus, using the Pomodoro technique (periods of 25 minutes intense focus followed by five minutes of break) and giving myself deadlines and a time frame are all tips to avoid this pitfall. Also going ahead even if you don’t know everything, is actually a good idea, because unfortunately it is probably not possible to know everything before starting. Even though you may want to… I know I do. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and plunge ahead.

Step 3: Formulate one or more creative challenge – Tips and tricks

I mentioned this last week, but it is really important to have only one challenge per question. For example, if the problem is learning a new skill to get a job in another company. Then one question could be “How do I learn x skill?” And the other would be “How do I get a job in x company?” Different solutions could be involved though a coordinated and logical way to do both may arise, or not … By separating them, it gives you the freedom to come up with two different answers, if necessary.

An additional important point to keep in mind at this step: the question should not include selection criteria (those that I mentioned you should decide and forget at step one). Adding these in, may just stifle your creativity as it is too specific and can add additional pressure. For example, “What is a good and effective slogan for my website?” may increase pressure and stifle creative energy, because “good” can be intimidating. Instead, you could use “What are possible slogans?”

Step 4: Generate ideas – Tips and tricks

This is the idea generation phase. There are many methods at this phase (brainstorming, mind- mapping, and writing them down on paper or computer), but the method is less important than documenting what your ideas are. Unfortunately, if they stay in your head, you might think you will remember it but, memory being what it is, it’s better not to take a chance. The next important point to remember is that you must be open to every idea that comes out, even if your inner critic is saying that doesn’t make sense. Write it all down.

If you are doing this in a group, make sure that critiques don’t come out at this stage. As mentioned last week, not even a grunt or rolling of eyes or it may stifle the sharing of ideas.

Alone, set yourself a target (like 50 or more) ideas and in a group set a time limit (15 or 20 minutes). This helps not to get bogged down at this step. Though keep in mind if you try this in a group, it may be harder for the deep thinkers to come up with ideas in a short time frame, where the quick thinkers usually excel. Doing this in two parts, over a couple of days, if time allows. It should help everyone contribute no matter their style of thought.

If you are drawing a blank, try to get some inspiration: go for a walk, stop at a café, or take a trip. Inspiration can occur anywhere. Alternatively, you can pick a random word from the dictionary and somehow incorporate it in your idea. Pretend you are someone else and answer the question how you think they would answer.

If you have time, then you can even wait till the next day to come up with half the ideas. Your brain may come up with more ideas while you sleep.

Step 5: Combine and evaluate ideas – Tips and tricks

Taking a break between this step and the previous one can be extremely beneficial. Coming from an idea generation phase into a decision, and critical-thinking phase is hard to do without this distance. This step is where you take out the criteria list. It is important at this stage to focus on all the ideas that largely meet the criteria. We are not at the “best” idea stage yet. Only at the first choice. If you only focus on those ideas, you might think are the best, then you may skip out on combinations of ideas that could be just as good or even better. They can be more creative or innovative. Our “best” may not be as creative as we think as we tend to be attracted to ideas that stay in our comfort zone. Though there it’s not always wrong; usually, the most creative or innovative ideas push outside our comfort zones.

Step 6 and 7: Draw up an action plan and act- Tips and tricks

Drawing up an action plan and acting on it can be a difficult stage. Once you obtain an idea you think is feasible and that you can implement at step five, then you need to come up with a plan to get there. It helps to put this plan on a timeline so that you can check off the milestones once reached. It is also very satisfying to check something off a list.

Acting on it can also be very difficult, if you let fear and self-doubt block you at this stage. If something feels too difficult, it is important to break it down into smaller steps. As small a step as you can get yourself to act on if needed.

Conclusion

It seems to be a relatively simple process, but as with any tool, practice makes perfect. It is not the only technique that helps you solve problems. Understanding the problems you can fall into at each step and applying some of these tips and tricks can make the whole endeavor more successful and get an overall better experience. You can then reach your goal or solve your problem in the most creative way possible.

Next week I will look at other techniques that can be used to creatively solve problems and reach goals.

What do you do when you can’t figure out a way past blocks? Are some steps easier for you than others? Why do you think that is? Please leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading!

“Problems are not stop signs – they’re guidelines”

– Robert H Schuller

Resources

HTTPS://ONLINE.HBS.EDU/BLOG/POST/WHAT-IS-CREATIVE-PROBLEM-SOLVING

The Basics of Creative Problem Solving – CPS

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/creative-problem-solving.htm