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Creative Problem-Solving In The Face Of Extreme Limits: Navi Radjou (Transcript)

• March 8, 2024 12:26 am March 8, 2024 12:26 am
• by Pangambam S

Here is the full transcript of Navi Radjou’s talk titled “Creative Problem-Solving In The Face Of Extreme Limits” at TED conference.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

When you grow up in a developing country like India, as I did, you instantly learn to get more value from limited resources and find creative ways to reuse what you already have. Take Mansukh Prajapati , a potter in India. He has created a fridge made entirely of clay that consumes no electricity. He can keep fruits and vegetables fresh for many days. That’s a cool invention, literally.

Resourcefulness Across Continents

In Africa, if you run out of your cell phone battery, don’t panic. You will find some resourceful entrepreneurs who can recharge your cell phone using bicycles. And since we are in South America, let’s go to Lima in Peru, a region with high humidity that receives only one inch of rainfall each year. An engineering college in Lima designed a giant advertising billboard that absorbs air humidity and converts it into purified water, generating over 90 liters of water every day. The Peruvians are amazing. They can literally create water out of thin air.

For the past seven years, I have met and studied hundreds of entrepreneurs in India, China, Africa, and South America, and they keep amazing me. Many of them did not go to school. They don’t invent stuff in big R&D labs. The street is the lab. Why do they do that? Because they don’t have the kind of basic resources we take for granted, like capital and energy, and basic services like healthcare and education are also scarce in those regions.

The Essence of Jugaad

When external resources are scarce, you have to go within yourself to tap the most abundant resource, human ingenuity, and use that ingenuity to find clever ways to solve problems with limited resources. In India, we call it Jugaad . Jugaad is a Hindi word that means an improvised fix, a clever solution born in adversity. Jugaad solutions are not sophisticated or perfect, but they create more value at lower cost.

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Navi Radjou: Creative problem-solving in the face of extreme limits

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TEDx: Not finding a great idea, but solving the right problem

by Roger Firestien | Apr 26, 2021

I’ve led over 1,000 Creative Problem Solving sessions over my 40-year career, and only once did what we originally think was the problem actually end up being the one that needed solving.

Some questions that we encounter in life only have one right answer: What’s the capital of Poland? Warsaw. What’s 2 + 2? Four. But in reality, we’ll all have to deal with problems that are more complex than that. That’s when it’s crucial to challenge our initial impression of what we think the problem is.

The first step of the Creative Problem Solving process is to clarify the problem, and that’s what I focus on in my TEDx Talk. Two keys to accomplishing this step are to ask creative questions and ask “What’s stopping me?”

“The language we use to describe a problem is going to dictate the kinds of ideas we generate.”

About Dr. Roger Firestien

Dr. Roger Firestien has presented programs on innovation to over 600 organizations around the world including Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, universities, associations, hospitals, and religious institutions.

Roger has written seven books and hundreds of articles on the creative process . His books include Why didn’t I think of that ? and Create in a Flash . His latest book is Solve the REAL problem . It will be released soon as an audiobook.

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Mastering your creativity: discovering breakthrough solutions fast.

Through a series of structured learning experiences, you will learn to become deliberately creative and build your skills to lead innovation teams in your organization. You will be instructed by Dr. Roger Firestien who has presented programs on innovation to over 600 organizations around the world including Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, universities, associations and religious institutions.

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In Forbes.com: 5 Keys To Solving The Right Problems In Your Business

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Ten TED Talks to Teach Your Students About Creativity

Why creativity.

Creativity is more important now than ever before. In recent years, reports such as The Future of Jobs, from the World Economic Forum, and the Workplace Learning , from Linkedin, emphasized that creativity is an essential skill in the workplace. However, the importance of creativity is not limited to the work environment. Throughout humanity’s history, it has been (and will continue to be) a critical survival skill . If someone had any doubts about that, this year the pandemic has shown us that creative thinking is essential to help us navigate the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous times we are living in. It allows us to adapt to our new reality by developing original and useful solutions.

More than ever, there is an urgent need to develop creative thinkers. Parents and educators need to put creativity on their agenda and bring creativity into homes and schools. But how do we do that? 

When explaining how to incorporate creativity into the curriculum, Ronald Beghetto mentions three strategies: teaching about , teaching for , and teaching with creativity. As educators and as parents, we need to understand and promote these three complementary methods. Our final goal is to teach for creativity, to transform students’ creative potential in creative achievement. One of the best ways to do that is by teaching or parenting with creativity. We need to see ourselves as creative individuals and demonstrate that we are willing to explore new ideas, use our imagination, take risks, learn from mistakes, and tolerate uncertainty and complexity. When we take a creative approach to teaching (and to life in general), we model creativity and create a safe environment for children and teenagers to be creative as well.

However, teaching about creativity is also beneficial and necessary. This involves teaching about the nature of creativity itself, its processes, and how to use some creative tools to help youngsters understand the value of creativity in their lives.  As Beghetto stated, teaching about creativity includes introducing the new generation to the field of creativity studies and its findings and insights.

Teaching Students About Creativity

What might be all the ways we can teach high schoolers or even undergraduate students about creativity? As educators, providing lessons, suggesting creativity books, and delivering workshops are some of the typical options. However, I want to recommend a new approach: using TED Talks as conversation starters. Since these talks are short (from five to less than 20 minutes), it’s possible to watch the video and discuss some interesting aspects of the creative process in a half-hour class. Some TED Talk presenters also have books on the same topic, allowing additional resources to extend the learning if wanted.

Ten TED Talks

Here are ten TED Talks that I believe are great resources for high schoolers and college students. They can easily be used at home or in the classroom.  

1) The Way of Improvisation – Dave Morris (11 minutes) – TEDxVictoria

In this very informal talk, Dave Morris shows that improvisation is a process and explains the seven steps of improvising.

2) The Art of Asking Questions – Dan Moulthrop  (17 minutes) – TEDxSHHS

Dan Moulthrop explains that asking questions is executing the act of curiosity, which we know is an essential aspect of creativity. He talks about an experience he had when he was in high school and gives eight lessons about the art of asking questions.

3) Where Good Ideas Come From – Steven Johnson (17 minutes) – TEDGlobal 2010

In this talk, Steven Johnson explains the types of environments that lead to great creativity and innovation levels. He highlights the importance of “liquid networks,” or places where people with different ideas and backgrounds get together and share their knowledge. Steven Johnson also has a book with the same name ( Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation ). 

4) My Invention that Made Peace with Lions – Richard Turere (7 minutes) – TED2013

Delivered by Richard Turere at age 13, this talk shows an example of creative problem solving. He identified a problem in his community, came up with some ideas, prototyped and tested them, and eventually solved the problem, sharing his solution with others.

5) Angel’s Advocate – Marci Segal (10 minutes) – TEDxCanmore

In this talk, Marci Segal emphasizes the need to welcome new ideas instead of quickly criticizing them. She proposes we play the “angel’s advocate,” using affirmative judgment when analyzing new options. 

6) How Drawing Helps You Think – Ralph Ammer (17 minutes) – TEDxTUM

Ralph Ammer delivers an illustrated talk showing the importance of thinking in pictures to improve our thinking, creativity, and communication. He highlights some essential lessons for creativity, such as producing many alternatives, deferring judgment, and combining ideas.

7) A Crash Course in Creativity – Tina Seelig (18 minutes) – TEDxStanford

In this talk, Tina Seelig presents her Innovation Engine model, explaining its six elements. She also delivers some lessons about creativity, such as the importance of reframing problems, combining ideas, and challenging assumptions. Tina Seelig also has a book called InGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity .

8) How I Harnessed the Wind – William Kamkwamba (6 minutes) – TEDGlobal 2009

This short talk has an inspiring story behind it. William Kamkwamba talks about how he built a windmill to pump water and irrigate the maize fields during a drought in Malawi, Africa. It is possible to learn more about his story in a book called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind as well as the movie produced by Netflix of the same name .

9) Steal Like an Artist – Austin Kleon (11 minutes) – TEDxKC

Using his experience as an artist and writer, Austin Kleon shows how new ideas are built upon old ones and introduces the concept of the genealogy of ideas. He mentions that nothing is entirely original, but it is actually a remix. Austin Kleon also has a book called Steal Like an Artist . 

10) A Powerful Way to Unleash Your Natural Creativity – Tim Harford (17 minutes) – TED@Merck KGaA

Tim Harford claims that working simultaneously on more than one project (what he calls “slow-motion multitasking”) can be powerful for creativity and explains why. 

This is just a starting list. Feel free to look for more options. I know there are other exciting talks out there, and I would love for you to share them in the comments below . Maybe a good challenge could be to ask students to find a new one to add to the list. Now more than ever, we need to encourage creativity. And it seems that we can do that even sitting on our sofa, eating popcorn, and watching a video!

• Creativity is more important than ever. Teaching about , for, and with creativity are all essential needs in today’s education. Consider experimenting with different ways to promote all of them in your classrooms. 
• If you are teaching about creativity, embrace the risk of doing something different. Consider looking for different approaches. Movies, songs, commercials, cartoons, and even picture books can be great resources to bring a new perspective to some aspects of creativity. And they can also encourage your students to look for “creativity” in the world around them. 

*Creativity and Education has a YouTube station, Createtubeity , and a playlist titled, TED talks to spark conversations about creativity with your students.   It will be updated regularly, so please subscribe to the station!

Luciane Bonamigo Valls has more than 20 years of experience with children, teenagers, families, and educators. She has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and two graduate certificates (Educational Psychology and Educational Management). Luciane is pursuing a Masters’ Program in Creativity and Change Leadership at SUNY Buffalo State, where she received the Mary Murdock Creative Spirit Award. Originally from Brazil, Luciane has been living in the USA since 2012. Her previous experiences include projects such as creating and teaching an online course for teenagers about invention and innovation, problem-solving, and creativity, and working with teachers and school administrators to bring creative thinking into schools.

References:

Beghetto, R. A. (2013). Killing ideas softly? The promise and perils of creativity in the classroom . Information Age Publishing. 

Linkedin (2019). 2019 workplace learning report – Why 2019 is the breakout year for the talent developer. 

Puccio, G. J. (2017). From the dawn of humanity to the 21st century: Creativity as an enduring survival skill. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 51 (4), 330-334.  

World Economic Forum. (2016). The future of jobs: Employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution . 

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Creative problem solving in the face of extreme limits - TEDTalk

This talk was presented at an official TED Conference, this video was published by TEDTalks on 12 Jan 2015

About TEDTalks TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

About the speaker Navi Radjou has spent years studying "jugaad," also known as frugal innovation. Pioneered by entrepreneurs in emerging markets who figured out how to get spectacular value from limited resources, the practice has now caught on globally. Peppering his talk with a wealth of examples of human ingenuity at work, Radjou also shares three principles for how we can all do more with less.  

Design thinking: 5 must-watch TED Talks

Design thinking  is not  a codified process  or a step-by-step framework for innovation. More than anything, it’s a mindset for approaching new product and service development based on user-focused practices and prototyping. As a result, the concept can be difficult for IT leaders and team members to understand fully - or explain to other people. Discussions of design thinking often come tightly coupled with DevOps and innovation strategies – but while all three go together, each has its own principles.

The following TED talks, however, do a great job of illustrating some of the major tenets of design thinking – observation, empathy, human need, ongoing engagement.

[ What do people commonly get wrong about design thinking? Read also:  10 design thinking myths debunked . ]

These videos are valuable viewing for people interested in exploring or furthering their organization’s adoption of design thinking approaches.

1. The first secret of design is … noticing

Speaker: Tony Fadell

Tony Fadell begins his talk with a scene from “The Blues Brothers” in which Jake visits Elwood’s Chicago apartment for the first time. The El rushes by outside the window, rattling the entire room, leading Jake asks how often it goes by. “So often,” Elwood replies, “you won’t even notice it.” Then something falls off the wall.

Fadell uses the vignette to illustrate how easily humans get used to the way things are. In many ways, such habituation serves an important purpose. But innovation comes from actually noticing these things and trying to improve upon them. Fadell, a designer behind the first iPod and founder of Nest Labs, knows the subject well. In this entertaining and anecdote-laden talk, Fadell sells us on the value of not just noticing the way things are but seeing those situations as opportunities for change. “It’s seeing the invisible problem, not just the obvious problem, that’s important,” Fadell says, “not just for product design, but for everything we do.”

2. Designers – think big!

Speaker: Tim Brown

Tim Brown is the CEO of Palo Alto-based consulting firm IDEO, one of the first firms to help companies apply the concept of design thinking to product and service development.

In this early design thinking talk, Brown addresses the reemergence of design thinking as a solution for tackling new problems and explores how its concepts can be applied outside of new product development. Whether the discipline is applied to technology or economics, he says, it always starts with what humans might need. What makes life easier? What makes technology useful? More than just incremental shifts, like tweaking an interface, he says, it’s “about understanding culture and context.” Understanding the human need is step one. Prototyping is the vehicle for progress. And the end goal is not consumption, but ongoing participation and interaction between producer and consumer to create experiences that are “meaningful, productive, and profitable.”

3. How to build your creative confidence

Speaker: David Kelley

David Kelly, the founder of IDEO as well as Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, is a foundational figure in modern design thinking. Here he explains how design thinking processes can turn even the most technical professional into a creative force. In this video, Kelley shares anecdotes of taking the most “non-creative” business leaders through his d.school classes at Stanford, where they learn about design thinking, empathy, and iterative prototyping, and seeing them emerge to redesign processes, experiences, and business models. Through a series of small successes, Kelley says, any willing student can turn fear of creativity into familiarity and surprise themselves with the ideas that result.

4.  Design is in the details

Speaker: Paul Bennett

British branding and design leader Paul Bennett explains that design doesn’t necessarily have to be about “Big Ideas”, but may be best used to solve small – but overlooked and universal – problems. Bennet introduces his concept of the “Blinding Glimpse of the Bleeding Obvious”: those good ideas that are “so staring-at-you-right-in-the-face that you kind of miss them.” The most valuable changes may not be systemic, he argues but those tiny things that make a huge difference in experience. The key to figuring out what those things are is to put yourself in the shoes of the user or customer.

5. Speed up innovation with design thinking

Speaker: Guido Stompff

Innovation is something everyone love to talk about, says Guido Stompff, but few companies know how to achieve. Someone goes to the board of directors or management team with a brilliant idea, but the corporate decision-makers first want to know how much it will cost, how much money it will make, how much time it will take, what the competition will do, and so on.

Organizations that really want to innovate should take a page from the way architects, designers, and artists work, Stompff says in this TEDx talk. They start with some sketches, show them to others, get input client, and sketch again. It’s a design thinking approach that Stompff says anyone can apply.

In this talk, he shares four ways to innovate like a designer. The first is to just start. Don’t wait to settle on plans or budgets, but instead take some action. The second is to team up; never innovate on your own. The third is to think in terms of options – and lots of them – rather than in solutions. And the fourth is to make things, break things, and visualize things so that you can learn on the go.

[ Researching design thinking? Read our related article,  Design thinking: 7 questions to ask before you start . ]

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4 Must-Watch Inspirational TED Talks on Creativity in Business

Get inspired and let the creative juices flow with expert advice from these top ted speakers..

There are days that I'm on fire with creative ideas--I have tons of Post-It notes and email reminders to prove it!

But there are also those dreaded days that a creative block strikes, when it's like pulling teeth get the wheels turning again. When that happens, it's time to turn to the pros. TED Talks are a great source of inspiration, particularly their segments on creativity.

Linda Hill:  How to manage for collective creativity.

Want to find the secret to unlocking the creativity hidden inside your daily work? Want to give every idea a chance?

Linda Hill, Harvard professor and co-author of Collective Genius , has studied some of the world ' s most creative companies to create tools and tactics that keep great ideas flowing from everyone within the company, not just those who have been designated "creatives."

Seventeen minutes is all it takes for Linda to help you get your creative juices flowing again!

Nadi Radjou:   Creative problem solving in the face of extreme limits.

With years spent studying " jugaad, " known also as frugal innovation, Radjou is a wealth of information with a message you need to hear. Jugaad was pioneered by entrepreneurs in emerging markets, who discovered how to get spectacular value from limited resources. The practice that is now globally recognized and a wealth of examples of human ingenuity at work accompany Radjou's talk.

Creative blocks can often stem from what feels like limited resources and capabilities. Check out Radjou 's three principals on how we can do more with less.

Eddie Obeng:  Smart failure for a fast-changing world

The world is changing much more rapidly than is realized by most, says business educator Obeng, and our creative output is not able to keep up. In just under 12 minutes, he highlights three important changes we should not only understand, but implement for better productivity. He also calls for a stronger culture of " smart failure ."

Realistically speaking, there are two ways you can fail in our new world.

One, you ' re doing something that requires following a procedure and it ' s a difficult task so you get it wrong. How should you then be treated? Probably by being fired.

Conversely, maybe you ' re doing something new that has never been done before and you get it completely wrong. How should you then be treated? "Well, with free pizzas!" says Obeng.

In fact, you should be treated better than the people who succeeded. Hence the term " smart failure. "

It's a theory I can totally get on board with and one already employed by some of the most innovative brands out there.

Tom Wujec:  Got a wicked problem? First, tell me how you make toast.

Making toast doesn ' t sound particularly complicated--until you're asked to draw the process step by step. Wujec loves to engage people and teams by having them draw how to make toast because in doing so, the process reveals unexpected truths about how we can solve our biggest and most complicated work problems.

After nine minutes with Wujec, try doing his exercise yourself. See if you agree with his surprising insights, born out of watching thousands of people drawing toast.

Looking for more TED inspiration? Check out these must-watch TED Talks for entrepreneurs .

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12 Powerful Creative Problem-Solving Techniques That Work

No one likes the feeling of being stuck.

It creates internal tension. That tension seeks resolution.

Thankfully, there are many creative problem-solving techniques for resolving this tension and revealing new solutions.

In this guide, we’ll explore 12 creative ways to solve problems with a variety of techniques, tools, and methods that be used for personal use and in the workplace.

Let’s dive in…

How to Approach Creative Problem-Solving Techniques

All of the creative problem-solving techniques discussed below work some of the time .

While it’s fine to have a favorite “go-to” creative problem-solving technique, the reality is each problem has some unique elements to it.

The key to is mix and match various techniques and methodologies until you get a workable solution.

When faced with a difficult challenge, try a combination of the problem-solving techniques listed below.

The Power of Divergent Thinking

Creativity is everyone’s birthright.

One study with 1,500 participants, found that 98 percent of children around the age of five qualify as geniuses. 1 George Land and Beth Jarman, Breakpoint and Beyond , 1998.

That is, virtually all children are gifted with divergent thinking— the ability to see many possible answers to a question.

For example, how many uses can you think of for a paper clip?

The average adult might offer 10 to 15 answers. Those skilled in divergent thinking divine closer to 200 answers.

Yet, something happens along the way because by adulthood, how many people score at the genius level? Only 2 percent!

That is, we see a complete inversion: from 98% being geniuses in early childhood to only 2% in adulthood.

What causes this debilitating drop in creativity?

According to creativity researcher Sir Ken Robinson, the answer is our schooling. 2 Sir Ken Robinson, Do schools kill creativity? TED Talk , 2006. Through 13 years of “education” our innate creativity is stripped out of us!

Conditioning Yourself for Creative Solutions

So to improve the efficacy of these creative problem-solving techniques, it helps to re-condition ourselves to use divergent thinking.

The key is to learn how to remove our prior conditioning and restore our natural creative abilities. You’ll notice that many of the creative problem-solving techniques below help us do just that.

Thankfully, divergent thinking is a skill and we can develop it like a muscle. So the more we use divergent thinking, the more second nature it becomes.

For this reason, when you’re presented with personal, professional, or business-related problems, celebrate them as an opportunity to exercise your creative abilities.

12 Powerful Creative Problem-Solving Techniques

Now, we’re going to cover 12 creative problem-solving techniques with examples that you can apply right away to get results.

These creative problem-solving methods are:

• Use “What If” Scenarios
• Focus on Quantity Over Quality
• Switch Roles
• Use the Six Thinking Hats Technique
• Explore Different Contexts
• Take a 30,000-Foot View
• Ask Your Subconscious
• Mind Map Your Problem
• Adopt a Beginner’s Mind
• Alter Your State of Consciousness
• Find Your Center

Then, we’ll quickly review a series of problem-solving tools you can experiment with.

1 – Use “What If” Scenarios

Use “what if?” questions to project different scenarios into the future.

In A Whack on the Side of the Head , Roger Von Oech, says,

“In the imaginative phase, you ask questions such as: What if? Why not? What rules can we break? What assumptions can we drop? How about if we looked at this backwards? Can we borrow a metaphor from another discipline? The motto of the imaginative phase is: Thinking something different.”

Using this creative problem-solving technique challenges you to allow your mind to play out different scenarios without judgment or criticism .

(Judgment always comes after the creative problem-solving process—not before.)

2 – Focus on Quantity Over Quality

Creativity research shows that focusing on generating more ideas or solutions instead of on the quality of the ideas ultimately produces better results. 3 Paulus, Paul & Kohn, Nicholas & ARDITTI, LAUREN. (2011). Effects of Quantity and Quality Instructions on Brainstorming. The Journal of Creative Behavior. 45. 10.1002/j.2162-6057.2011.tb01083.x .

This phenomenon is known as the “Equal-Odds rule.” Nobel laureate Linus Pauling instinctively suggested a similar process: 4 The Evening Sentinel , Priestley Award Winner Says Deployment of ABM’s “Silly”, Start Page 1, Quote Page 6, Column 1, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. March 28, 1969.

I was once asked ‘How do you go about having good ideas?’ and my answer was that you have a lot of ideas and throw away the bad ones.

When I used to facilitate meetings and brainstorming sessions with leadership teams in large organizations, this was an invaluable creative problem-solving technique. By consciously focusing on generating more ideas first instead of evaluating the quality of the ideas, you avoid shifting into a critical mindset that often stops the ideation process.

3 – Switch Roles

Our minds tend to get locked in habitual patterns, leading to what’s called “paradigm blindness.” Another related term is the “curse of knowledge,” a common cognitive bias observed in so-called “experts” in their field. 5 Hinds, Pamela J. (1999). “The curse of expertise: The effects of expertise and debiasing methods on prediction of novice performance”. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 5 (2): 205–221. doi:10.1037/1076-898X.5.2.205 . S2CID 1081055

This cognitive bias is another illustration of how divergent thinking was conditioned out of us during our formative years.

Switching roles helps us “wear a different hat” where we momentarily shift away from our conditioning.

For example, if you have a marketing-related problem, try putting on an engineer’s hat—or even a gardener’s hat. If you have a problem as an entrepreneur, put yourself in the customer’s mindset. See the world from their point of view.

The idea is to shift your perspective so you can approach the problem from a new angle. Your ability to shift perspectives quickly—without privileging any one perspective—doesn’t only help you solve problems. It also helps you become a stronger leader .

4 – Use the Six Thinking Hats Technique

Speaking of hats, creativity researcher Edward de Bono developed an effective creative problem-solving technique called the Six Thinking Hats.

The Six Thinking Hats provides you and your team with six different perspectives to utilize when tackling a problem. (You can use these six hats on your own too.)

Each hat serves a different function. For creative problem solving, you start with the blue hat to clearly define the problem.

You then move to the white hat where you outline all of the existing and known data regarding the issue. Next, you put on the green hat and generate as many ideas as you can (similar to the “quantity over quality” technique above).

Then, you put on the yellow hat, which represents what de Bono calls “value sensitivity.” The yellow hat is used to build on the ideas generated from the green hat phase. Finally, you put on the black hat to evaluate your solutions and play Devil’s Advocate.

The Six Thinking Hats is an excellent technique for group brainstorming and creative problem-solving.

5 – Explore Different Contexts

Many problems arise because we neglect to zoom out from the problem and examine the larger context.

For example, long-term investments are often based on an “investment thesis.” This thesis might be based on trends in the market, consumer demands, brand recognition, dominant market share, strength in innovation, or a combination of factors. But sometimes the assumptions you base your thesis on are wrong.

So if you’re facing a problem at home or work, examine your assumptions.

If sales are down, for example, instead of revisiting your sales strategy investigate the context of your overall industry:

• Has your industry changed?
• Is your business disconnected from your customer’s needs?
• Is your product or service becoming obsolete?

We can often find creative solutions to our problems by shifting the context.

6 – Take a 30,000-Foot View

Often, when we’re stuck in a problem, it’s because we’re “missing the forest for the trees.”

Zoom out and take a “30,000-foot view” of the situation. See your problem from above with a detached, neutral mindset. Take an expansive viewpoint before narrowing in on the specific problem.

This problem-solving technique is another variation of changing the context.

Sometimes you’ll find this to be a powerful creative problem-solving technique where the right solution spontaneously presents itself. (You’ll think to yourself: Why didn’t I see this before? )

7 – Walk Away

Most often, the best problem-solving technique is to stop trying to solve it —and walk away.

Yet, our minds often don’t like this technique. The mind likes to be in control. And walking away means letting go of control.

I spent five years researching creative geniuses trying to better understand the source of inspiration for a book I was writing years ago. 6 Scott Jeffrey, Creativity Revealed: Discovering the Source of Inspiration , 2008.

In studying dozens of creative geniuses, from Mozart to William Blake, a clear pattern emerged.

Creative geniuses know when to walk away from the problems they are facing. They instinctively access what can be called the Wanderer archetype.

More recent studies show that deliberate “mind-wandering” supports creativity. 7 Henriksen D, Richardson C, Shack K. Mindfulness and creativity: Implications for thinking and learning. Think Skills Creat. 2020 Sep;37:100689. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100689 . Epub 2020 Aug 1. PMID: 32834868; PMCID: PMC7395604. Great ideas come to use when we’re not trying. 8 Kaplan, M. Why great ideas come when you aren’t trying. Nature (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2012.10678

Wandering and reverie are essential to the creative process because they allow us to hear our Muse. The key is knowing when to let go of trying to solve the problem. Creativity problem-solving can, in this way, become an effortless process.

8 – Ask Your Subconscious

When we’re stuck on a problem and we need a creative solution, it means our conscious mind is stuck.

It does not, however, mean that we don’t already know the answer. The creative solution is often known below our conscious awareness  in what can be termed our subconscious mind, or our unconscious.

Psychiatrist Carl Jung realized that dreams are a bridge from the wisdom of our unconscious to our conscious minds. As Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz explains, 9 Fraser Boa, The Way of the Dream: Conversations on Jungian Dream Interpretation With Marie-Louise Von Franz , 1994.

Dreams are the letters of the Self that the Self writes us every night.

One of the most powerful creative problem-solving techniques is to ask your subconscious mind to solve the problem you’re facing before you go to sleep. Then, keep a journal and pen on your nightstand and when you awaken, record whatever comes to mind.

This is a powerful technique that will improve with practice. It’s used by many geniuses and inventors.

Another variation of this creative problem-solving technique that doesn’t require sleeping is to ask your inner guide. I provide a step-by-step creative technique to access your inner guide here .

9 – Mind Map Your Problem

Another way to get unstuck in solving problems is to access the visual side of our brain. In left/right hemisphere parlance, the left brain is dominated by logic, reason, and language while the right brain is dominated by images, symbols, and feelings. (I realize that the “science” behind this distinction is now questionable, however, the concept is still useful.)

Our problems arise largely in our “thinking brain” as we tend to favor our thoughts over other modes of processing information. In the language of Jung’s Psychological Types , most of us have a dominant thinking function that rules over our feelings, intuition, and sensing functions.

Mind mapping is a powerful creative problem-solving technique that deploys visual brainstorming.

I learned about mind mapping in the 1990s from Tony Buzan’s The Mind Map Book and used this method for many years.

In the context of problem-solving, you draw the problem in the center of the page and then start ideating and connecting ideas from the center. Think of mind mapping as a visual outline.

You don’t need to be a skilled artist to use mind mapping. Nowadays, there are also numerous apps for mind mapping including Mind Meister and Miro, but I would still recommend using a blank piece of paper and some colored pencils or markers.

10 – Adopt a Beginner’s Mind

Our early “education” conditions us with what psychologists call functional fixedness where we look at problems from a familiar viewpoint.

Numerous creative problem-solving techniques we discussed above—like switching the context, changing our roles, wearing the Six Thinking Hats, and taking a 30,000-foot view—are designed to overcome functional fixedness.

Another technique is found in Zen philosophy called a Beginner’s Mind .

With a beginner’s mind, we empty our minds and forget what we think we know. In doing so, we enter a more playful, childlike state. Instead of being serious and “attacking the problem,” we can tinker and play with different ideas and scenarios without any fears of “getting it wrong.”

It can be a liberating experience. Psychologist Abraham Maslow found that self-actualizing individuals enter a state like the Beginner’s Mind where they get fully absorbed in whatever they are doing.

11 – Alter Your State of Consciousness

Another thing I noticed in my examination of artists and creative geniuses is that virtually all of them used various substances to alter their state of consciousness when  producing creative work and solving intellectual problems .

The substances vary widely including stimulants like coffee and/or cigarettes, alcohol (like absinthe), and all manner of psychedelic substances like LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, and peyote.

I’m not suggesting you should “take drugs” to solve your problems. The point is that it’s incredibly useful to alter your state of consciousness to help find creative solutions.

While using various substances is one way to accomplish this, there are many other methods like:

• Stanislav Grof’s Holotropic Breathing Technique (similar to pranayama breathing)
• The WIM Hof Method (ice cold showers)
• Brainwave entrainment programs (binaural beats and isochronic tones)
• The Silva Method (also uses brainwave entrainment)
• Kasina Mind Media System by Mindplace (light stimulation and binaural beats)

Many of these types of programs shift your brain from a beta-dominant state to an alpha-dominated state which is more conducive for creativity. See, for example, Brain Awake by iAwake Technologies.

12 – Access Your Center

Perhaps the easiest and safest way of altering your state of consciousness is via meditation . Studies show that people experience improved brainstorming and higher creativity after only twenty minutes of meditation—even if they’re inexperienced meditators. 10 Colzato, L.S., Szapora, A., Lippelt, D. et al.  Prior Meditation Practice Modulates Performance and Strategy Use in Convergent- and Divergent-Thinking Problems.  Mindfulness  8, 10–16 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-014-0352-9

When we’re stuck on a problem, or feeling confused about what we should do, we’re usually experiencing internal resistance. Different parts of us called archetypes hijack our minds and give us conflicting wants, beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives. These parts keep us from thinking clearly to find workable solutions.

As such, when you’re stuck, it helps to find your center first . It can also be highly beneficial to ground yourself on the earth . Both of these methods can help you quiet your mind chatter and shift into a more alpha-dominant brain pattern.

Getting in the habit of centering yourself before approaching a problem is perhaps the most powerful creative problem-solving technique. It can greatly assist you in taking a 30,000-foot view of our problem as well.

Creative Problem-Solving Tools

We referenced numerous problem-solving tools in the above examples including:

• Roger von Oech’s Creative Whack Pack (a deck of cards with 64 creative strategies)
• Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats method
• Mind mapping (see Tony Buzan’s How to Mind Map or research online)
• Brainwave entrainment (download free samples on iAwake or try your luck online)
• All of the mind-altering methods under “Alter Your State of Consciousness”

If you’re looking for problem-solving tools for a business/group context, in addition to the Six Thinking Hats, you might also try:

SWOT Analysis

Brainwriting.

Let’s have a quick look at each of these tools.

SWOT analysis is an excellent tool for business owners to help them understand their competitive landscape and make important business decisions. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. SWOT analysis is a practical strategic planning tool for businesses and it can be an effective problem-solving tool for your business.

Five Whys sometimes helps identify the root cause of the problem when it’s not clearly understood. You start by stating the problem as you understand it. Then you ask, “Why?” (For example, why is this occurring? ) As the tool’s name implies, you ask Why questions five times in total.

Brainwriting is a form of brainstorming where individuals generate ideas on their own before meeting to discuss them as a group. For a host of psychological reasons, this is often a superior way of approaching problem-solving in the workplace. Combining brainwriting with the Six Thinking Hats method can be even more powerful.

Using These Creative Problem-Solving Tools

All of the techniques and tools above represent creative problem-solving methods.

These examples illustrate that there are numerous pathways to get the answers we seek.

Some pathways, however, are more effective than others. The key is to experiment with various methods to uncover which ones work best for you .

Different methods will be more effective in different contexts.

Here, wisdom and intuition come into play. Over time, your connection with your inner guide improves and creative problem-solving becomes a more spontaneous process.

Recap: Creative Problem-Solving Techniques

Creative problem-solving is a skill based on the development of divergent thinking combined with altering our state of consciousness.

Due to our early conditioning, our “normal” waking state of consciousness is often filled with biases, limitations, blind spots, and negativity. This causes us to perceive problems rigidly.

When we get “stuck” it’s because our minds are fixed on a limited number of options.

To get “unstuck,” we just need to alter our state of consciousness and examine our problems from various perspectives, which is what the above creative problem-solving techniques are designed to do.

The more you play with these techniques, the more they become second nature to you.

You may find that each technique begins to play off the other. Then, the art and subtleties of the discovery process begin to emerge.

Enjoy solving your next problem!

How to Access Your Imagination

Peak Experiences: A Complete Guide  

A Grounded Guide to Spiritual Guidance

About the Author

Scott Jeffrey is the founder of CEOsage, a self-leadership resource publishing in-depth guides read by millions of self-actualizing individuals. He writes about self-development, practical psychology, Eastern philosophy, and integrated practices. For 25 years, Scott was a business coach to high-performing entrepreneurs, CEOs, and best-selling authors. He's the author of four books including Creativity Revealed .

Learn more >

Some great ideas here. I am particularly intrigued by the "walk away" idea fulfilling the wanderer archetype. While counter intuitive, in my experience, walking away lets my mind develop subconcious connections that are sometimes the best. Sort of like letting my brain do the work instead of me! Bravo!

Todd Alexander

Thanks for your comments, Todd. It seems as though he need to train and remind ourselves to "walk away" because the mind thinks it can push its way through the problem.

How many times does it take for us to "absolutely know" that answers answer themselves when we take a break from forceful problem-solving and walk into the creative nature zone?! ;) The solution presents itself when we let go.

Great Post, Scott!

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Critical thinking is a 21st-century essential — here’s how to help kids learn it

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If we want children to thrive in our complicated world, we need to teach them how to think, says educator Brian Oshiro. And we can do it with 4 simple questions.

This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.

We all want the young people in our lives to thrive, but there’s no clear consensus about what will best put them on the path to future success. Should every child be taught to code? Attain fluency in Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi and English?

Those are great, but they’re not enough, says educator and teacher trainer Brian Oshiro . If we want our children to have flexible minds that can readily absorb new information and respond to complex problems, he says, we need to develop their critical thinking skills.

In adult life, “we all have to deal with questions that are a lot more complicated than those found on a multiple-choice test,” he says in a TEDxXiguan talk. “We need to give students an opportunity to grapple with questions that don’t necessarily have one correct answer. This is more realistic of the types of situations that they’re likely to face when they get outside the classroom.”

How can we encourage kids to think critically from an early age? Through an activity that every child is already an expert at — asking questions.

1. Go beyond “what?” — and ask “how?” and “why?”

Let’s say your child is learning about climate change in school. Their teacher may ask them a question like “What are the main causes of climate change?” Oshiro says there are two problems with this question — it can be answered with a quick web search, and being able to answer it gives people a false sense of security; it makes them feel like they know a topic, but their knowledge is superficial.

At home, prompt your kid to answer questions such as “ How exactly does X cause climate change?” and “ Why should we worry about it?” To answer, they’ll need to go beyond the bare facts and really think about a subject.

Other great questions: “ How will climate change affect where we live?” or “ Why should our town in particular worry about climate change?” Localizing questions gives kids, says Oshiro, “an opportunity to connect whatever knowledge they have to something personal in their lives.”

2. Follow it up with “How do you know this?”

Oshiro says, “They have to provide some sort of evidence and be able to defend their answer against some logical attack.” Answering this question requires kids to reflect on their previous statements and assess where they’re getting their information from.

3. Prompt them to think about how their perspective may differ from other people’s.

Ask a question like “How will climate change affect people living in X country or X city?” or “Why should people living in X country or X city worry about it?” Kids will be pushed to think about the priorities and concerns of others, says Oshiro, and to try to understand their perspectives — essential elements of creative problem-solving.

4. Finally, ask them how to solve this problem.

But be sure to focus the question. For example, rather than ask “How can we solve climate change?” — which is too big for anyone to wrap their mind around — ask “How could we address and solve cause X of climate change?” Answering this question will require kids to synthesize their knowledge. Nudge them to come up with a variety of approaches: What scientific solution could address cause X? What’s a financial solution? Political solution?

You can start this project any time on any topic; you don’t have to be an expert on what your kids are studying. This is about teaching them to think for themselves. Your role is to direct their questions, listen and respond. Meanwhile, your kids “have to think about how they’re going to put this into digestible pieces for you to understand it,” says Oshiro. “It’s a great way to consolidate learning.”

Critical thinking isn’t just for the young, of course. He says, “If you’re a lifelong learner, ask yourself these types of questions in order to test your assumptions about what you think you already know.” As he adds, “We can all improve and support critical thinking by asking a few extra questions each day.”

Watch his TEDxXiguan talk now:

About the author

Mary Halton is a science journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. You can find her on Twitter at @maryhalton

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5 TEDTalks Every Entrepreneur Needs to Watch These speeches will help you challenge your assumptions, believe in yourself and push you to be the best leader you can possibly be.

Edited by Dan Bova Aug 10, 2015

I'm a big fan of TEDTalks -- they're full of insights on everything from human nature to scientific breakthroughs to trends in design. They're inspirational, informative and eye-opening in ways that can help you become a better person and a better professional. For the aspiring entrepreneur, they exist to help you challenge your assumptions, believe in yourself and push you to be the best leader you can possibly be.

Then again, wading through those thousands of talks for just the right lecture on business development can be intimidating, especially if you're just in the mood for a quick talk on your lunch break. That's why I've compiled this list of essential TEDTalks, which every entrepreneur should see:

1. Creative problem-solving in the face of extreme limits.

This TEDTalk by Navi Radjou is all about minimalistic applications in the field of problem-solving. Problem-solving applies to everything, since it's necessary for innovation, scientific discovery and even social constructs. Radjou introduces the demands and advantages of extreme limitation when it comes to problem-solving.

For the entrepreneur, this means working with limited capital, resources and time. The constraints are high, so it seems more difficult, but it actually drives greater degrees of innovation. This talk is perfect for when you feel like you're up against the wall with almost nothing to work with.

Related: 5 TED Talks That Will Inspire You to Be a Better Entrepreneur

2. How great leaders inspire action.

This TEDTalk by Simon Sinek explores the idea of leadership and why some people are better at inspiring action than others. Starting with examples from Martin Luther King's leadership in the Civil Rights Movement to Apple's leadership in the business world, Sinek examines certain patterns that seemingly predict the success rates of various leaders.

One line in the TEDTalk speaks particularly strongly to entrepreneurs: "People don't buy what you do. People buy why you do it." For entrepreneurs attempting to become industry leaders in their own right, fundamentally understanding this principle is a necessity. Watch Sinek's TEDTalk for a more thorough exploration of this idea, with real examples.

3. The single biggest reason why startups succeed.

Bill Gross attempts in this TEDTalk to quantify all the reasons why one startup might be more successful than another. As a serial entrepreneur and a mentor for other startups, Gross has had much experience in the business world. He's seen great businesses fail and questionable businesses succeed, and this experience drove him to quantify exactly why these differences exist.

Gross measures each startup in terms of the strength of the idea, the timing of the company launch, the team leading the business, access to capital and the overall business model. What he found was that one factor led to success more than any other -- and that's timing. It's a must watch for any business owner.

Related: 14 Inspirational Movie Quotes for Entrepreneurs

4. Do what you love. (No excuses!)

Gary Vaynerchuk offers a relatively simple premise, given away by its title, in this TEDTalk. If you're the type of person who likes to scan through articles for a single nugget or takeaway, there's no need to watch the full TEDTalk -- the title is pretty accurate. The method Vaynerchuk uses to convince you that this is the case, however, is inspiring and worth a watch.

Entrepreneurs are often motivated in part by the potential for great revenue or are thrilled at the notion of owning their own businesses. But to be truly successful, you have to love what you're doing. You have to be in an industry that you truly care about and do the type of work you actually enjoy. Otherwise, you'll never be satisfied.

5. How to manage for collective creativity.

This TEDTalk by Linda Hill is perfect for entrepreneurs trying to maximize the creative potential of their top teams. Exploring different tactics as they are used by some of the world's most respected and most created companies, Hill examines the root causes for creative greatness.

Ultimately, she comes up with a simple set of tools and strategies that any entrepreneur can use to fuel the generation of great new ideas from the entire team, and keep pressing the company to move forward. Creative thinking and abstract problem-solving are some of the most important features of any company, and Hill explains the best way to incorporate these into your culture.

If you haven't already seen these TEDTalks and you either are or plan on being an entrepreneur, add these to your queue right now. There's no excuse not to -- you can even download them as audio files so you can listen to them on the commute home. The more open you are to new ideas and new experiences, the more likely it is that you'll succeed in your entrepreneurial journey.

Related: The Most Talked-About Speeches of 2014

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What Is Creative Problem-Solving & Why Is It Important?

• 01 Feb 2022

One of the biggest hindrances to innovation is complacency—it can be more comfortable to do what you know than venture into the unknown. Business leaders can overcome this barrier by mobilizing creative team members and providing space to innovate.

There are several tools you can use to encourage creativity in the workplace. Creative problem-solving is one of them, which facilitates the development of innovative solutions to difficult problems.

Here’s an overview of creative problem-solving and why it’s important in business.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Creative Problem-Solving?

Research is necessary when solving a problem. But there are situations where a problem’s specific cause is difficult to pinpoint. This can occur when there’s not enough time to narrow down the problem’s source or there are differing opinions about its root cause.

In such cases, you can use creative problem-solving , which allows you to explore potential solutions regardless of whether a problem has been defined.

Creative problem-solving is less structured than other innovation processes and encourages exploring open-ended solutions. It also focuses on developing new perspectives and fostering creativity in the workplace . Its benefits include:

• Finding creative solutions to complex problems : User research can insufficiently illustrate a situation’s complexity. While other innovation processes rely on this information, creative problem-solving can yield solutions without it.
• Adapting to change : Business is constantly changing, and business leaders need to adapt. Creative problem-solving helps overcome unforeseen challenges and find solutions to unconventional problems.
• Fueling innovation and growth : In addition to solutions, creative problem-solving can spark innovative ideas that drive company growth. These ideas can lead to new product lines, services, or a modified operations structure that improves efficiency.

Creative problem-solving is traditionally based on the following key principles :

1. Balance Divergent and Convergent Thinking

Creative problem-solving uses two primary tools to find solutions: divergence and convergence. Divergence generates ideas in response to a problem, while convergence narrows them down to a shortlist. It balances these two practices and turns ideas into concrete solutions.

2. Reframe Problems as Questions

By framing problems as questions, you shift from focusing on obstacles to solutions. This provides the freedom to brainstorm potential ideas.

3. Defer Judgment of Ideas

When brainstorming, it can be natural to reject or accept ideas right away. Yet, immediate judgments interfere with the idea generation process. Even ideas that seem implausible can turn into outstanding innovations upon further exploration and development.

4. Focus on "Yes, And" Instead of "No, But"

Using negative words like "no" discourages creative thinking. Instead, use positive language to build and maintain an environment that fosters the development of creative and innovative ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving and Design Thinking

Whereas creative problem-solving facilitates developing innovative ideas through a less structured workflow, design thinking takes a far more organized approach.

Design thinking is a human-centered, solutions-based process that fosters the ideation and development of solutions. In the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar leverages a four-phase framework to explain design thinking.

The four stages are:

• Clarify: The clarification stage allows you to empathize with the user and identify problems. Observations and insights are informed by thorough research. Findings are then reframed as problem statements or questions.
• Ideate: Ideation is the process of coming up with innovative ideas. The divergence of ideas involved with creative problem-solving is a major focus.
• Develop: In the development stage, ideas evolve into experiments and tests. Ideas converge and are explored through prototyping and open critique.
• Implement: Implementation involves continuing to test and experiment to refine the solution and encourage its adoption.

Creative problem-solving primarily operates in the ideate phase of design thinking but can be applied to others. This is because design thinking is an iterative process that moves between the stages as ideas are generated and pursued. This is normal and encouraged, as innovation requires exploring multiple ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving Tools

While there are many useful tools in the creative problem-solving process, here are three you should know:

Creating a Problem Story

One way to innovate is by creating a story about a problem to understand how it affects users and what solutions best fit their needs. Here are the steps you need to take to use this tool properly.

1. Identify a UDP

Create a problem story to identify the undesired phenomena (UDP). For example, consider a company that produces printers that overheat. In this case, the UDP is "our printers overheat."

2. Move Forward in Time

To move forward in time, ask: “Why is this a problem?” For example, minor damage could be one result of the machines overheating. In more extreme cases, printers may catch fire. Don't be afraid to create multiple problem stories if you think of more than one UDP.

3. Move Backward in Time

To move backward in time, ask: “What caused this UDP?” If you can't identify the root problem, think about what typically causes the UDP to occur. For the overheating printers, overuse could be a cause.

Following the three-step framework above helps illustrate a clear problem story:

• The printer is overused.
• The printer overheats.
• The printer breaks down.

You can extend the problem story in either direction if you think of additional cause-and-effect relationships.

4. Break the Chains

By this point, you’ll have multiple UDP storylines. Take two that are similar and focus on breaking the chains connecting them. This can be accomplished through inversion or neutralization.

• Inversion: Inversion changes the relationship between two UDPs so the cause is the same but the effect is the opposite. For example, if the UDP is "the more X happens, the more likely Y is to happen," inversion changes the equation to "the more X happens, the less likely Y is to happen." Using the printer example, inversion would consider: "What if the more a printer is used, the less likely it’s going to overheat?" Innovation requires an open mind. Just because a solution initially seems unlikely doesn't mean it can't be pursued further or spark additional ideas.
• Neutralization: Neutralization completely eliminates the cause-and-effect relationship between X and Y. This changes the above equation to "the more or less X happens has no effect on Y." In the case of the printers, neutralization would rephrase the relationship to "the more or less a printer is used has no effect on whether it overheats."

Even if creating a problem story doesn't provide a solution, it can offer useful context to users’ problems and additional ideas to be explored. Given that divergence is one of the fundamental practices of creative problem-solving, it’s a good idea to incorporate it into each tool you use.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a tool that can be highly effective when guided by the iterative qualities of the design thinking process. It involves openly discussing and debating ideas and topics in a group setting. This facilitates idea generation and exploration as different team members consider the same concept from multiple perspectives.

Hosting brainstorming sessions can result in problems, such as groupthink or social loafing. To combat this, leverage a three-step brainstorming method involving divergence and convergence :

• Have each group member come up with as many ideas as possible and write them down to ensure the brainstorming session is productive.
• Continue the divergence of ideas by collectively sharing and exploring each idea as a group. The goal is to create a setting where new ideas are inspired by open discussion.
• Begin the convergence of ideas by narrowing them down to a few explorable options. There’s no "right number of ideas." Don't be afraid to consider exploring all of them, as long as you have the resources to do so.

Alternate Worlds

The alternate worlds tool is an empathetic approach to creative problem-solving. It encourages you to consider how someone in another world would approach your situation.

For example, if you’re concerned that the printers you produce overheat and catch fire, consider how a different industry would approach the problem. How would an automotive expert solve it? How would a firefighter?

Be creative as you consider and research alternate worlds. The purpose is not to nail down a solution right away but to continue the ideation process through diverging and exploring ideas.

Continue Developing Your Skills

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, marketer, or business leader, learning the ropes of design thinking can be an effective way to build your skills and foster creativity and innovation in any setting.

If you're ready to develop your design thinking and creative problem-solving skills, explore Design Thinking and Innovation , one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses. If you aren't sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

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Why Problems Are the Key to Creativity