Counterfactual Thinking
Solving current problems by considering what would have happened if the past had been slightly different. For example, considering a current career choice by thinking about your choices up to this point and the universe of paths not taken.
Creativity Of Constraints
An author can't think of an idea for a new book because she is thinking extremely broadly with no focus. She decides to impose a set of constraints on the story to stimulate ideas.
Brainstorming
A city wants to improve its quality of life by changing the design of neighborhoods to be safe, stimulating, healthy, resilient and clean. They begin by asking for as many ideas as possible from city residents and urban design experts with no constraints such as budget.
Preserving Ambiguity
A design team avoids making any assumptions in design concept meetings. For example, a team designing a bicycle avoids seemingly obvious assumptions such as two wheels.
Challenging Assumptions
A project team needs to find a new approach as their project is late and overbudget. They list out current project assumptions and challenge each one.
Hypothetical Question
Temporarily imposing assumptions or constraints to see how it would impact people's thinking. For example, a product designer asks his team "what if we needed this product to cost $1."
Thought Experiment
Converting a complex problem to a simpler analogy. For example, an algorithm designer working with complex financial models might use an analogy to people buying apples at a market.
Abstraction
Reducing a problem to its most general form. For example, a creative director at an advertising firm thinks in terms of the emotions that ads trigger in the customer.
Creative Intuition
A software developer solves coding problems 40x faster than average. In many cases, solutions just occur to her without any conscious thought. This typically occurs after extended experience solving similar problems.
Serendipity
Serendipity is a sudden realization that can occur after working on a problem for a long period of time. Einstein developed the Theory of Relativity by thinking about what would happen if a street car moved away from a clock tower at the speed of light. The time from the clock would never catch up to the street car. He described this realization as a "storm breaking loose" in this mind as he knew it had broad implications for physics.
5-whys
Ask why five times in succession to explore the problem, challenge assumptions and validate solutions.
First Principles
Using foundational rules with broad explanatory power. For example, a brilliant designer who relies on the principle of least astonishment to make products that are intuitive to the customer.
Reverse Thinking
Listing your assumptions and then reversing them. For example, a hotel that assumes customers need to check-in that temporarily reverses this to assume that customers do not need to check-in. What would break?
Borrowing Ideas
Looking at innovation in other industries and thinking how similar approaches might apply to your problem.
Role Adoption
Imagining yourself as a different person to approach the problem differently. For example, imagining that you are a person in the distant future or past.
Exaggeration
Look at rare, unusual and extreme situations and perspectives. For example, a restaurant planning to reduce food waste that considers how they would use all their food if the business were suddenly and unexpectedly shutdown for a month.
Embrace the Mess
Using pragmatism to look at solutions that aren’t controlled or simple but rather complex, uncertain and messy. For example, a shop that wants to improve customer satisfaction that drops policies and standard operating procedures to be more responsive to each customer in the moment.
Embrace Mistakes
Consider what would happen if you pursue options that you consider to be obvious mistakes. For example, a student who considers what would happen if they simply dropped out. This may trigger new ideas.
Beginner Mindset
Pretend that you know nothing about the problem space. For example, a pilot designing a safety system who pretends they know nothing about flying to craft an intuitive warning message.
Rule Breaking
List out the rules that apply to a situation and consider what would happen if you broke them. For example, a software designer that lists out best practices and considers what would happen if you did the opposite.
Appreciative Inquiry
Listing out things that are working well that might be scaled or transferred to solve the problem. For example, a cafe owner with declining sales who looks at what menu items are selling well.
Summary
The following are some of the key approaches to creative problem solving listed above. The thread linking these approaches is that they all try to shake your assumptions, generate new angles or nudge you out of static thinking by imposing constraints.
Overview
Creative problem solving is typically viewed as the pursuit of solutions that are beyond what you've considered or even imagined in the past. However, it is also possible for creative solutions to be things that you did consider in the past but dismissed as unacceptable or impossible at the time.
| Definition: Creative Problem Solving | ||
Type | ||
Definition (1) | Overcoming static, predictable, repetitive and obvious approaches to problem solving with techniques designed to stimulate novel ideas. | |
Definition (2) | The pursuit of nonobvious strategies and solutions of great value. | |
Related Concepts | ||
