https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/creative-problem-solving.htm
Using different techniques to generate creative solutions will help to identify various options.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a way of generating ideas as an individual of with a group of people.
Rules for brainstorming:
- All ideas are welcomed
- Everyone is encouraged to suggest anything that comes to mind
- All ideas are recorded
- No evaluation of ideas takes place at the idea generation stage of the creative problem solving process
- Write down anything and everything that comes into your head as a potential solution. Allow your mind to roam freely – good solutions often come from unusual ideas.
- Go through the list and identify the strengths and weakness of each.
Brainstorm
- ALL ideas are welcome. Everyone suggests anything that comes to mind no matter how ridiculous.
- One person is the scribe & is not allowed to dismiss ideas.
- No evaluation of ideas takes place at the idea generation stage.
- Once you have a full list go through and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each idea.
Weaknesses:
- If a group is too big
- People not willing to compromise
- People editing as they go along
- People not contributing
Mind maps
Organised brain storming, by making a mind map of ideas around the problem to uncover solutions
A mind map is a tool to capture your thoughts, they can be used when learning, collecting information and plotting ideas around a central theme
For this mind map your central theme is the problem, and then you will make branches off for each solution, and each solution will have smaller branches for all of the associations you make to that solution. Mind maps are intended to provide visual representations, feel free to use colours and imagery in your mind maps.
Some love it and some hate it.
It’s great for collecting information and as long as you can be open and creative and not limit yourself they can be helpful in problem solving, use them more to capture information from training.
What would someone famous do?
This problem solving activity stimulates teams to think of new ideas.
Benefits: Instant problem solving
Every team pretends to be someone famous. While being the famous person you ask ‘What would they do?’
- What are the choices they would consider?
- How would they do this?
- It might help to ask ‘how would X make it work?’ for any ideas you have automatically discounted for being too far-fetched.
It helps to consider all the options you may not have initially thought of, or that you automatically discounted.
It may also help to ask ‘what would a five year old do?’
