Everyone’s a creative problem-solver!

If you’ve ever done a management course, read an article about the qualities of a good leader, or visited pretty much any job listings website, you’ve probably come across the phrase “creative problem solving”. 

Creative problem solving is also something that companies and consultants are often keen to teach you about, through buzzwordy frameworks like “the Six Thinking Hats” and “TRIZ” and even “CPS” (which stands for … Creative Problem Solving).

But creative problem solving doesn’t require special training, or strict adherence to complex frameworks. It's not something that only a few exceptional managers or leaders can do. And you don’t even need to be (or think of yourself as) a creative person to do it well.

Because, at their core, most creative problem-solving frameworks share a few simple strategies. And – big reveal – most of those strategies are things you already do subconsciously. You’re already much better at solving problems than you think you are.

Don’t believe me? 

Let’s think about cooking. Unless you have a private chef to make all your meals, you probably know how to cook a meal for yourself — even if that meal is just beans on toast. And that means that, at some point, you’ve probably also found yourself standing in the kitchen, realising that you’re missing a key ingredient for your planned dinner – whether it’s the beans or the toast (or the tin opener).

When that happens, what do you do? Throw your hands in the air and say "This is impossible, I’m terrible at solving problems, I’ll just go hungry tonight!"? Or do you realise that you have some stale burger buns you could sub for toast, or some leftovers in the freezer that you can have instead of beans, and still have something edible. Nothing brings out a person’s creative problem solving strategies like an empty stomach.

So, what exactly are those strategies, and how can you start to apply them more consciously?

1. Be clear about what problem you’re trying to solve

It sounds a bit silly, but whether you’re missing the beans, the toast, or the tin opener will make a big difference to how you solve your problem. Because getting a new tin opener won’t help if you don’t have any beans to open.

Likewise, if you’re tackling a problem at work, you need to understand exactly what it is you’re trying to do. 

For example, how do you solve the problem of a show not selling? Well, if not selling really means “too many empty seats” – because it’s Press night, and you need a full house – maybe your solution is to give away some tickets for free. But if tickets not selling means you’re missing financial targets, giving them away free is not the solution.

So, before you do anything else, take the time to dig-into, understand, and clearly define the problem you’re trying to solve.

2. Remember, there are no bad ideas!

One of the core tenets of all creative problem solving frameworks is that you don’t dismiss any ideas — not at first anyway.

If you’re out of beans, literally any other food in the kitchen is a potential alternative. (You might find something else to put on your toast. Or you might decide to make pasta instead.) Similarly, if you're trying to solve a problem at work, you shouldn’t take anything off the table initially.

It’s true that “Replace the lead actor with Tom Cruise” is probably not going to be a practical solution if you’re not selling enough tickets. But it does you no harm to have it as an idea at the beginning. Later on you might realise that replacing the lead actor is actually the best of all your available options. And even if Tom isn’t available, you might never have even considered it if you hadn't allowed yourself time for those initial 'anything goes!' ideas.

3. Turn problems into open-ended questions

It's all well and good saying “there are no bad ideas”. But what if you can’t come up with any ideas at all? Zip. Nada.

In that case, another useful strategy that's common to most creative problem solving frameworks is to ask open-ended questions. 

Rather than being helpful, telling yourself "Tickets aren't selling!" might well just make you feel despair. Or panic. Or both. 

But reframing it as a question – “Why are tickets not selling?” – gives you something to work from. Is the artwork a bit meh? Or too similar to something else? Has the price been pitched too high? Maybe it's the time of year?

Once you have a clear idea about what the problem really is, it’s much easier to think of potential solutions. If the pricing is wrong, change it. If the lead actor is wrong, call Tom Cruise. (Or Tom Cruise's people. Tom doesn't always pick up.)

Don’t be afraid to do this multiple times, either. If the artwork isn't working for your audiences, what’s wrong with it? Is it too obscure? Too dark? Too childish? Too boring? Each question you ask will get you closer to defining the precise problem you need to tackle.

4. Evaluate your ideas based on what actually needs to happen

Once you’ve got all of those ideas, it’s time to start ruling some of them out. To rule out ideas effectively, though, you'll need some criteria. 

So, remind yourself of the clear problem you set at the start. And with that in mind, you can start working out which of your solutions is realistic. 

If your tickets aren't selling, tweaking the artwork and launching a new paid advertising campaign might be a great solution if there's a bit of time to go before opening night. But if your show opens tomorrow, or you’ve already spent your marketing budget, obviously that won’t work.

Instead, you might have to try something else, like giving away free tickets. If there's not time or budget to create new artwork across the board, maybe you could try using some different but related visuals across your social accounts? If you can’t do a paid campaign, maybe you could find some accounts with large followings who'll share your content for free?

And if Tom Cruise isn’t available for the lead, maybe there’s a local celebrity who can do a cameo. And – back to the food – if you're all out of beans, there's always pasta (great with black pepper and a bit of cheese). 

5. Use data

Just because we’re talking about “creative” problem solving, that doesn’t mean you can’t also go about things in a more scientific way. In fact, using data is one of the best ways to evaluate potential ideas.

Perhaps one of your options is a flash sale with a third-party ticket seller. So, look at how similar flash sales have worked before. How long did it take to set up the deal? How many sales did it result in? Did those sales come all at once in the first hour, or was there a long-tail over a day or two?

All these questions matter if your show is tomorrow. So whatever data you can get your hands on, looking at it carefully will help you decide which ideas are worth pursuing for your specific problem.

6. Make a plan, then follow it

Even the best idea in the world is useless unless you act on it. 

To give yourself the best chance of success, map-out all the practical steps for implementing your idea. What exactly needs to happen? Who’s going to lead on it? Who else needs to be involved? How long will it take? What's your measure of success? 

Make sure you have answers to all these questions — and make sure everyone else who needs those answers has them as well!

The quick recap

1. Be clear about what problem you’re trying to solve
2. Remember, there are no bad ideas!
3. Turn problems into open-ended questions
4. Evaluate your ideas based on what actually needs to happen
5. Use data
6. Make a plan, then follow it

Now, try it yourself

Remember, most of these strategies are things you already do every day in other areas of your life, even if you don’t realise it. 

This is especially true if you do creative work, like writing or photography or performing. But even if you feel like you don’t have a creative bone in your body, you're creatively solving problems – when you’re cooking, when you’re making plans for a rainy weekend, when you’re finding a new way home if your train is cancelled. It's just subconscious.

But now, I want to invite you to start doing it on purpose. 

Any and every time you run into a problem, consciously run through those steps. The more you practice, the better you’ll get — until it's second nature for everything. And not just when you’ve run out of baked beans.

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