CREATIVE PROBLEM

SOLVING
Dr. Elizabeth Anthony
Faculty of Science, Arts & Heritage

Identify the Goal, Wish or Challenge

Gather Data
Clarify the Problem

Generate Ideas

Select & Strengthen Solutions

Plan for Action

Explore the
Challenge

Generate
Ideas

Prepare
for
Action

DIVERGING & CONVERGING

Whatever idea comes to mind,

go with it.
Do not evaluate ideas while you
are generating them.
The ideas can be evaluated
later.
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The more ideas you have, the

greater chances of getting a
good one.
Lay out all the usual
approaches to the problem,
then push to consider new
ideas.

Freewheel - the wilder the ideas the

better.
It is easier to tame a wild idea than
to invigorate a weak one. (Osborn)
Stretch your thinking to create
some wild ideas.
If at the first the idea is not absurd, there is no hope for it
Albert Einstein
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Let one idea spur other ideas.

Build, combine and improve
ideas.

Explore the
Challenge
Identify the Goal, Wish or Challenge
State a variety of goals, wishes or
challenges.
Choose a goal, wish or challenge
where you have ownership,
motivation and a need for
imagination
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Explore the
Challenge
Gather Data
Explore all data around the goal,
wish or challenge.
Identify all the relevant data
Use Journalists questions 5Ws &
2Hs
Who? What? When?
Where? Why? How? How
much?

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Explore the
Challenge
Clarify the Problem
State the problem in as many
ways as possible.
Choose a problem statement to
work on.

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Generate Ideas
Think up a wide variety of ideas to
solve the problem.
Choose the most promising ideas.

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Prepare for Action

Select & Strengthen Solutions
Evaluate and refine the ideas you selected.
Select the most promising solution (s).
Many similar ideas Restate & PPCO
One idea PPCO
Diverse Ideas Evaluation Matrix
Many ideas of equal worth Card Sort

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Prepare for Action

Plan for Action
List a series of possible actions for
implementation.
Form a specific plan for action.
Select key actions to implement.
Create a plan that details who does
what, by when, reporting completion to
whom.

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Prepare for Action

Goals

Actio
n

By
Whom

By
When

Reporting
completion to
whom

Immediate
Short
Medium
Long Term

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Brainstorming
Brain writing
Forced Connections
Visual Connections
SCAMPER
Ladder of Abstraction
Word Dance
Random Word
Excursions
Focus
Alternatives
Challenge
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Highlighting
Praise First (PPCO)
Card Sort
Evaluation Matrix

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Highlighting

3 steps of highlighting
Hits

Look for ideas that are interesting,

promising, compelling, intriguing,
innovative or on target.
Mark or hit those ideas with a check,
star or colored dot.

Cluster

From the hits, see if any share a theme or

reiterate the same idea.
Group or cluster of those related ideas.

Restate

For each cluster, try to synthesize the

different ideas into a single statement.
Try to capture the essence and paraphrase
the ideas into one concise phrase.

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Praise First (PPCO)

Pluses
What do you like about the persons idea, work,

proposal, or performance right now?

Be direct, honest and specific.

Potentials
What opportunities might this idea open up?
It might

Concerns
Express your concerns as open ended questions that

offer a possible future direction.

How to

Overcome Concerns
Review your list of concerns.
Brainstorm to generate ways to overcome each

concern.

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Card Sort

Helps to compare, rank and

prioritize promising ideas.
It can be used to rank ideas,
solutions, problem
statements or criteria.

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1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

Card Sort directions

Write each idea on a separate card (3 x
5) and arrange the cards in a row.
Count how many cards (ideas) you have.
Identify the option you like the least.
Write the number that equals the total
number of cards you have. Put the card
off to the side.
Of the cards remaining, identify the
option you like the best and write 1 on
it. Put it off to the side.

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Evaluation Matrix

A systematic way to analyze ideas.

Directions:
Generate Criteria
Select Criteria
Create a rating scale
Set up the matrix
Fill in the blank boxes
Compare their strengths & weaknesses
Overcome low criteria ratings

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Evaluation Matrix
Rating Scale: Good
Fair
5
option
1

option
2

Average
4 3
option
3

2
option
4

1
option
5

Option
6

criteria
1
criteria
2
criteria
3
criteria
4
criteria
5

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Explore
The
Challenge

summary

1. Identify the Goal, Wish or

Challenge.
2. Gather Data
3. Clarify the Problem

Generate
4. Generate Ideas
Ideas
Prepare for 5. Select & Strengthen
Action
Solutions

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