Creative problem-solving (CPS)
is the mental process of searching for an original and previously unknown solution to a problem. To qualify, the solution must be novel and reached independently.
The creative
problem-solving
Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
process was originally developed by
Alex Osborn and
Sid Parnes
Sidney J. Parnes (January 5, 1922 – August 19, 2013) was an American academic who was professor at Buffalo State College (located in Buffalo, New York) and the co-founder of the International Center for Studies in Creativity. The center is house ...
.
Creative solution types
The process of creative problem-solving usually begins with defining the problem. This may lead to finding a simple non-creative solution, a textbook solution, or discovering prior solutions developed by other individuals. If the discovered solution is sufficient, the process may then be abandoned.
[Definition of creative problem solving](_blank)
on Alex Osborn's (inventor of the term and process of brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.
In other words, brainstorming is a situation where a grou ...
) Creative Education Foundation website.
A creative solution will often have distinct characteristics that include using only existing components, or the problematic factor, as the basis for the solution. However, a change of perspective may in many cases be helpful.
Mike Vence about the 9 dots as a corporate promotion of creative thinking
at the Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
(Creative Thinking Association website) A solution may also be considered creative if readily available components can be used to solve the problem within a short time limit (factors typical to the solutions employed by the title character in the television series MacGyver
Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot.
In both po ...
).
If a creative solution has a broad application – that is, uses that go beyond the original intent –, it may be referred to as an innovative solution, or an innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
(some innovations may also be considered an invention
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...
).
Techniques and tools
Many techniques and tools employed for creating effective solutions to a problem are described in creativity techniques
Creativity techniques are methods that encourage creative actions, whether in the arts or sciences. They focus on a variety of aspects of creativity, including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking, methods of re-framing problems, ...
and problem-solving
Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
articles.
Creative problem-solving technique categories
* Mental state shift and cognitive re-framing: Changing one's focus away from active problem-solving and towards a creative solution set.
* Multiple idea facilitation: Increasing the quantity of fresh ideas based on the belief that a greater number of ideas will raise the chances that one of these is valuable. This may include randomly selecting an idea (such as choosing a word from a list) and thinking about its similarities to the situation. In turn, this random act may inspire a related idea that would lead to a solution.
* Inducing a change of perspective: Efficiently entering a fresh perspective may result in a solution that thereby becomes obvious. This is especially useful for solving particularly challenging problems. Many techniques to this end involve identifying independent dimensions that differentiate closely associated concepts. Differentiating concepts help overcome a tendency to use oversimplified associative thinking, in which two related concepts are so closely associated that their differences are overlooked.
Idea generation techniques
* Brainstorming: Brainstorming is an idea generation method invented by Alex Osborn and further developed by Charles Hutchison Clark, Brainstorming aims to encourage the generation of new and unusual ideas in a group of people, Alex Osborn based his development of brainstorming on the Indian technique Prai-Barshana, which has been around for about 400 years, he named brainstorming after the idea of this method, namely “using the brain to storm a problem”.
* Creative Thinking: Coming up with ideas, especially innovative ideas, needs creativity and can be supported by certain creativity techniques
Creativity techniques are methods that encourage creative actions, whether in the arts or sciences. They focus on a variety of aspects of creativity, including techniques for idea generation and divergent thinking, methods of re-framing problems, ...
. The creativity process is usually applied through a person, product, process, and place. Thus, creativity means that a creative person develops great ideas and novel products through a creative process in a creative environment.
Creativity processes use these influencing factors as they support the search for ideas, problem solving and evaluation, and selection of ideas via rules, a group of people, and a creative process. The workshops are therefore based on creative idea generation techniques that follow individual steps.
* Design thinking: Design thinking
Design thinking refers to the set of Cognition, cognitive, strategic and practical procedures used by designers in the process of Design, designing, and to the body of knowledge that has been developed about how people reason when engaging with des ...
is an approach to problem-solving and ideation process that works through four key elements.
# The user as the starting point
# Interdisciplinary team
# Iterative process
# Creative environment. In the design thinking process, the customer's needs'' are first determined through an iterative process and a question is defined, then creative solutions and ideas are generated through brainstorming and visualized via prototypes for user feedback.
* Complex Opportunity Recognition Techniques: Opportunity Recognition describes the identification of opportunities to generate growth for companies. The different idea generation techniques of opportunity recognition are based either on the market, the company, or the company's environment. In order for this approach to be suitable for young companies, it must fulfill the following attributes:
# Not too resource-intensive
# Suitable for workshops
# High growth potential
# Don't require existing structures or certain age of the company
See also
Related articles
* Creativity
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...
* Collective problem solving
Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
* Frugal innovation
Frugal innovation or frugal engineering is the process of reducing the complexity and cost of a good and its production. Usually this refers to removing nonessential features from a durable good, such as a car or telephone, in order to sell it in d ...
* Invention
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...
* Lateral thinking
Lateral thinking is a manner of solving problems using an indirect and creative approach via reasoning that is not immediately obvious. It involves ideas that may not be obtainable using only traditional step-by-step logic. The term was first ...
* Problem structuring methods
Problem structuring methods (PSMs) are a group of techniques used to model or to map the nature or structure of a situation or state of affairs that some people want to change. PSMs are usually used by a group of people in collaboration (rather th ...
* Systems thinking
Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective actio ...
* TRIZ
TRIZ (; russian: теория решения изобретательских задач, ', lit. "theory of inventive problem solving") is “the next evolutionary step in creating an organized and systematic approach to problem solving. The deve ...
Related lists
* List of thought processes
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to thought (thinking):
Thought (also called thinking) is the mental process in which beings form psychological associations and models of the world. Thinking is manipulating ...
* List of cognitive biases
Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from norm and/or rationality in judgment. They are often studied in psychology, sociology and behavioral economics.
Although the reality of most of these biases is confirmed by reproducible ...
* List of creative thought processes
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to thought (thinking):
Thought (also called thinking) is the mental process in which beings form psychological associations and models of the world. Thinking is manipulating ...
* List of decision-making processes
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to thought (thinking):
Thought (also called thinking) is the mental process in which beings form psychological associations and models of the world. Thinking is manipulating ...
* List of emotional intelligence topics
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to thought (thinking):
Thought (also called thinking) is the mental process in which beings form psychological associations and models of the world. Thinking is manipulating ...
* List of emerging technologies
This is a list of emerging technologies, in-development technical innovations with significant potential in their applications. The criteria for this list is that the technology must:
# Exist in some way; purely hypothetical technologies can ...
* List of counseling topics
Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes.
This is a list of co ...
References
Further reading
* Alex Osborn, ''Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem Solving'', Creative Education Foundation Press, 1953/2001,
* Edward de Bono, ''Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step'', Harper & Row, 1973, trade paperback, 300 pages,
* Altshuller, Henry. 1994. ''The Art of Inventing (And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared)''. Translated by Lev Shulyak. Worcester, Massachusetts: Technical Innovation Center.
External links
Problematic: the art and craft of Problem Dealing
ourseware on problem-finding and problem-solving
{{Design
Creativity
Creativity techniques
Design
Innovation
Problem solving methods