CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (CPS) - Finding innovative solutions and turning problems into opportunities

Finding innovative solutions and turning problems into opportunities

By: Vadim Kotelnikov

Inventor, Author, and Founder, Ten3 Business e-Coach – Inspiration, Achievement, Innovation and Happiness unlimited!

and Fun4Biz.com – Entrepreneurial Creativity Paradise!

See the Big Picture

Problem Solving Strategies: 4 Levels

Turning Problems Into Opportunities

"Every problem has a gift for you in its hands." ~ Richard Bach >>>

10 Commandments of Innovation

Be Entrepreneurial. Be persistent, overcome obstacles, solve problems creatively... More

Reframing and Turning Your Problems To Opportunities

Your perception of any problem depends on the position from where you perceive it.

Step our of your shoes
Discover opportunities: don't focus on the problem;... More

Yin-Yang of Entrepreneurial Creativity

Asking Effective Questions

When something goes wrong, don't ask:

'How can I fix things and get them back to the way they were before?'

A better question, and one that would stimulate creative problem solving would be:

'How can I fix things and make them better than they were before?'

Now your subconscious mind will work on improving the situation... More

Murphy's Law in Project Management

Every solution breeds new problems... More

Creative Problem Solving (CPS): Asking Effective Questions

CPS: The Key Things to Keep in Mind

By Roger von Oech¹

The Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process has Six Steps... More

Create Greater Value for People Around You

To be able to help people achieve more and solve their problems in a caring value-added way, ask yourself these searching questions constantly:

How can I be a better problem solver and opportunity finder?... More

Creativity Quotes

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." ~ Albert Einstein

"When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." – Buckminster Fuller.. More

Case in Point An Inventive Clerk

Source: ASIT Newsletter

A clerk had to calculate the area of some complex shapes. Since he was not a master in Math, he faced two problems. Firstly, he couldn't "fetch" the data into polynomials and secondly, he hadn't mastered the art of Integral Calculus. But he was inventive. What he did was draw the data on calibrated 100 gram paper and then cut out the graph and... weighted it.

3 Pillars of Inspiration

How To Stop Snoring

This is a real story. I was desperate but an effective outside-the-box solution was found quite unexpectedly... More

The Power of Simplicity

One of the diamonds in creativity and creative problem solving is simplicity. All really great inventions have that property in common. Nature, in its elementary parts, is simple. What makes things complex is the fact that there are (sometimes) millions of factors influencing a certain phenomena, or worse: each other.⁶ (See case studies)

Brainstorming

The best-known and widely used team-based creative problem solving and creative thinking technique is brainstorming. One major reason why brainstorming is useful is that it helps to free us from 'fixed ideas'... More

Inspirational Business Plan: Successful Innovation

Risk Management Strategy: "One should never impose one's views on a problem; one should rather study it, and in time a solution will reveal itself." – Albert Einstein... More

Value Innovation

The Power of Prototyping

Prototyping can help you tackle problems when you don't have the answers. "When the project is especially complex, prototyping is a way of making progress when the challenges seem insurmountable. Focused prototyping helps resolve little critical problems one by one. Once you get in gear, you'll be surprised at how easily some of the solutions appear," writes Tom Kelly⁵ from IDEO.

The Jazz of Innovation: 11 Practice Tips

STRIDES Problem Solving Model

The STRIDES model was developed by the Quality Support Council of Fidelity Investments. This problem solving model provides employees in every part of the corporation with a common language and process for implementing Kaizen – a strategy of continuous improvement. As stated in Fidelity's Models for Quality Improvement, STRIDES is the approach to use "where the problem is more complex."... More