What do you do if your creative problem solving skills are being tested in a competitive industry?

1 Identify the real problem

Before you jump into brainstorming ideas, make sure you understand the root cause of the problem and the desired outcome. Ask yourself questions such as: What is the problem? Why is it a problem? Who is affected by it? What are the criteria for a successful solution? How will you measure the results? By clarifying the problem, you can avoid wasting time and energy on irrelevant or superficial solutions.

2 Diversify your sources of inspiration

Sometimes, you may feel stuck or bored with the same old ideas or approaches. To boost your creativity, try to expose yourself to different sources of inspiration, such as books, podcasts, blogs, art, nature, or people from other fields or backgrounds. You may find new perspectives, insights, or connections that can spark your imagination and help you generate original and novel ideas.

3 Experiment and prototype

Once you have some potential ideas, don't be afraid to test them out and see how they work in practice. You can create simple prototypes or mock-ups that demonstrate the key features or benefits of your ideas, and get feedback from your customers, colleagues, or stakeholders. This way, you can learn from your mistakes, improve your solutions, and validate your assumptions.

4 Collaborate and learn

Creative problem solving is not a solo activity. You can benefit from collaborating with others who can offer different skills, opinions, or experiences. You can also learn from other people's successes or failures, and see how they solved similar or related problems. By sharing your ideas, challenges, and feedback, you can enhance your creative problem solving skills and create better solutions.

5 Be resilient and adaptable

Finally, creative problem solving requires resilience and adaptability. You may face rejection, criticism, or failure along the way, but don't let that discourage you or stop you from trying again. Instead, use these setbacks as opportunities to learn, grow, and improve. You may also need to adapt your solutions to changing circumstances, customer needs, or industry trends. By being flexible and open-minded, you can keep your creative problem solving skills sharp and relevant.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?