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Creative Problem Solving

By Mary Alyce Burkhart, Ph.D. and Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D.

Copyright 2000, All Rights Reserved

Introduction

We start everyone off with problem solving because it is the
most familiar ground for you to cover. It is also one of the
things you are most conscious of doing from day to day.

You may call the process "decision making." While decision
making is part of problem solving, it is actually step four
in the process. That is the reason why many people have
trouble with problem solving; they tend to skip over the
first three steps, then they forget to include part of step
five. So one of the first things to learn is to stop calling
it "decision making" and start calling it "problem solving."
The decision is made in step four.

As you can see, creative problem solving involves five
steps. The reason we know that is because two psychologists,
Goldfried and Davidson, studied good problem solvers back in
the 1970s. They studied people who had great problem solving
track records. These people used the following five steps to
tackle problems. I have simplified the language and
(hopefully) made the steps a bit more fun to read about.

Step 1, Attitude:

Goldfried and Davidson called this "Problem Solving
Orientation." It's the realization that life is just a
series of problems to be solved. You might as well just roll
up your sleeves and get to work solving them. I call it
having a good attitude.

This one may be obvious to you, but it's one of those
obvious things you will tend to forget about when you have a
problem in front of you. If you have a poor attitude, the
chances of coming up with a successful solution for the
problem is pretty slim. The absolute worst attitude is
summed up in the phrase: "I can't do that." At that point
all problem-solving stops. If you think you can't solve a
problem, you can't. At least there is not much point in
going through the rest of the steps with that attitude.
Remember; start with "I can do this." There is a universe of
difference between can and can't. Don't make light of that
difference.

Of course there are many other thoughts that can lead to a
poor problem-solving attitude. Not as bad as "can't," but
enough to mess up the process. So here is a list of some
negative thoughts that you might use, or you might hear
other people using when going into problem solving. You need
to catch these thoughts and change them before you go to
step two in the process.

- This is too hard.

- I know other people have done this, but it's much harder
for me.

-If only I had more (time, money, help, talent, name your
excuse), I might be able to solve this.

- Why does this always happen to me?

- The world is out to get me. I'm the only one with this
problem.

- This is an emergency! I don't have time to think about
this!

So let‚s take a look at those thoughts and see how we might
change them into ones that will create a better
problem-solving attitude.

"This is too hard." This statement is very close to "I
can't." The better way to think is, "I really don't know how
difficult this problem is to solve.?" Why? Because we all
have had what seemed to be huge problems that were solved
with some minor changes. Then there were the problems that
seemed simple and ended up being very difficult to solve.
The great thing about creative problem solving is that you
just might think up a simple solution to what seemed to be a
difficult problem. So enter into every problem solving
opportunity with an open mind. You don't ever really know
how hard or simple a problem is going to be.

"I know other people have done this, but it's much harder
for me." This statement is close to the first, but it adds
that element that you are somehow less adequate to solve the
problem than others are. If you think you are less adequate,
chances are you will be less adequate. There is no need to
enter into problem solving with this thought. It stifles
your creativity.

"If only I had more (time, money, help, talent, name your
excuse) I might be able to solve this." This is an excuse
for not doing anything. This one is straight out of the
procrastinator's handbook. This thought allows you to wait
around for some good fortune to come your way before you
start to work. Time, money and help may or may not be part
of what you need to solve a problem. If you need them, then
that's another problem to be solved.

"The world is out to get me. I'm the only one with this
problem." The world is not out to get you or anyone else. If
you take problems personally, you end up feeling sad and
angry. Neither is going to help you solve problems. In every
life there are thousands of problems to be solved. Everyone
has thousands, everyone.

"This is an emergency! I don't have time to think about
this!" Believe it or not, this is the one I hear the most. I
call it being in "emergency mode." That means you don't have
to think much. You just make a gut decision and go with it.
Never mind about the long-term consequences, just make the
decision!

The fact is that 99.9% of life is NOT an emergency. You have
time to think. Your brain, however, does not want to take
time to think. It knows that it is a supercomputer and it
wants to act like one. For some parts of your life this is a
good thing. You don't want to be taking time to consider
every little move you make during a day. You would never get
much of anything done.

There are a many things that do require you to slow down and
think. You know what they are because you really don't have
the answers to them. You just take stabs at solutions and
hope for the best. So when you catch yourself saying, "This
is an emergency.," slow down. Ask yourself, "Is someone
going to die or get really sick if I don't make the decision
fast?" If the answer is "No," then chances are you have time
to think.

There may be dozens of thoughts you can have that get in the
way of problem solving. You will know when you are having
them by how you feel about the problem. If you are motivated
to take it on, then your thoughts are probably fine. If you
feel sad, mad or frightened of the problem, check out the
thoughts you are having about it. Find the negative thoughts
and make them into positive ones.

There is just no replacement for a good attitude when it
comes to creative problem solving. So get one!

Step 2 - Defining/Describing the Problem

When we talk about a problem we talk about six things. As a
matter of fact, these are the only six things humans talk
about. When it comes to creative problem solving you want to
make sure you have answered some questions about these six
things before you start coming up with solutions. The six
things are:

Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why (called 5 Ws and an H).

I know you have seen these questions since the third grade.
You use each of these words at least a hundred times a day.
Now you want to carefully apply them to solving your
problems. You do that by deliberately slowing down your
thinking and asking yourself at least the following six
questions about your problem:

1. What is the problem?

2. Who owns the problem?

3. Where does the problem happen?

4. When does it happen?

5. How does it happen?

6. Why does it happen?

There are thousands of other questions you can ask about a
problem that include the five W's and an H. These are just
ones to get you started. You don't have to ask thousands of
questions. Just ask enough so that you develop a clear
picture of the problem you are dealing with.

Note: If you are solving a problem with a group, then you
want to keep asking questions until everyone in the group
has a good picture of it. This is exactly the place where
you can get the group "buy in" you hear so much about. If
everyone has had their chance to describe how they see a
problem, and they know the other members of the group have
heard them, then chances are they will "buy in" to the
solution.

The mistake people make by themselves and in groups is
skipping over this process. They "think" they know what the
problem is and go on from there. In reality you can probably
never know a problem completely. That does not mean you want
to get stuck at Step 2 forever, it just means you want to
take plenty of time to get a clear picture of the problem by
defining and describing it.

Let's get back to the list of questions and take a look at
some possible pitfalls in each one.

What is the problem? The most common mistake is saying that
a problem is a person instead of saying it is the behavior
of a person. So instead of saying, "Bill, you're a problem,"
say, "Bill, your behavior is a problem." Once you say that
you can measure the problem.

Measure you say? Yes, in order to know the "what" of a
problem you need to be able to measure it. This is where
"How" questions are used. For example, "How short or long is
it?" "How much does it weigh?" "How many." You see, you
can't measure "Bill." You can measure how many widgets he
makes in an hour, how fast he types and how many phone calls
he makes. You can even measure how friendly he is.

The point is that you want to state "what" a problem is in
terms that you can measure. This will make Step 5 in the
process a lot easier.

Who owns the problem? You want to ask this question to make
sure you are not trying to solve someone else's problem for
them. Other people's problems seem a lot easier to take on.
That's because you don't have the emotional commitment to
the problem. You also don't have to suffer the consequences
if the solution does not work.

You will discover, however, that other people's problems are
infinitely hard to solve. You can't define the problem
because you don't know it well. The only exception to this
is when someone asks for your help. If they do, take them
through these problem-solving steps. Otherwise, solve
problems that pertain to you.

Where is the problem? The pitfall here is that people just
forget to ask the question. Where refers to a place. In the
case of those Mars probes that keep disappearing, the
problem is on Mars. That's a tough place to have a problem.
Fortunately most of your problems will be here on earth.
Does the problem happen at work? At home? In the car?
Sometimes where a problem occurs is very important. Always
ask the question just in case it is.

When is it a problem? Again, the most common mistake is
forgetting to ask the question. Is it only in the morning,
afternoon, evening? Maybe it happens only when others are
present. Every problem occurs in a context of the things
around it at the time that it happens. Figure out all that
is happening at that time.

How is it a problem? I like to think of "How To" books when
I think of this question. They are laid out in steps that
you do one after another. Problems occur the same way. First
this happens, then that happens, then the next thing
happens. The pitfall is that we often think of a problem as
the final step in the process. In reality the problem may be
at one of the steps along the path to the problem. Make sure
you describe the steps of a problem to get a good picture of
it.

Why is it a problem? I like to call this the "Philosophy"
question. That is because you can go really deep with a
"why" question. For example, "Why are we here on earth?"
When it comes right down to it, a problem is a problem
because someone thinks it's a problem. What's a problem for
me may be no problem to you. Sometimes a problem is just not
a problem if you look at it differently. This sort of goes
back to Step 1 and your attitude about a problem. Through
defining the problem you may change the way you see things.
The problem may just go away. Don't make light of this, I
have seen it happen hundreds of times!

Step 3 - Generating Solutions (a.k.a. Brainstorming,
Thinking Outside the Box)

This is where you will truly put the "creative" in Creative
Problem Solving. This is also where people often jump in to
the NON-creative problem solving process. They don't think
about their attitude, they barely describe the problem, then
they come up with a solution. You will notice this step is
called Generating Solutions (emphasis on that plural "s").

This is the point that you want to pull out all the stops
and just think of every possible thing you might do to solve
the problem you have defined. If you get stuck set the
problem aside awhile and get back to it later. If you are
still stuck, go back and check your attitude, then describe
the problem some more. Then do more generating of solutions.
Literally write down every idea you have. If you can't write
fast enough, then tape-record them. Just let the solutions
fly!

Notice there is no mention of evaluating the solutions. That
is because you don't want to evaluate at this point. Have
fun and say any crazy solution that comes into your head.
The more far out the better. Laugh and have fun with it.
Also come up with more serious solutions. Don't label them
as wacky or serious though, just say them and record them.

There are more things you can do to get creative in this
process. One is simply to change rooms. Yes, change rooms or
go outside! This will cause you to see the world
differently. It may even cause you to redefine the problem.
(That's okay because you can always go back and do more
defining.)

How about go out and exercise, then generate some more
solutions. You will change the state of your body, so maybe
you will see things differently when you come back.

You see there are hundreds of things you can do to
jump-start your creativity and generate more solutions.
Don't limit yourself.

Above all remember the two primary rules for generating
solutions:

1) Record every solution you (or the group) thinks of. Don't
ever let one get away! 2) Never evaluate solutions at this
stage. This is not the time for that and it will stifle
creativity. Leave the evaluating to step four. For now
Generate Solutions!

If you watch people problem solve like we do, you will
notice a lot of violations of rules 1 and 2 for Step 3. We
usually see no time at all spent on Step 1 (Attitude) and
precious little (if any) time spent on Step 2 (Defining and
Describing). Then a solution is brought up that does not get
written down. Then the person (or group) goes to work
deciding whether that's a good solution or not. If it's
judged to be good, problem solving is over. As you can
imagine, this is NOT the road to creative problem solving.

We can not stress enough the importance of following the
rules of recording all solutions and not evaluating them as
they come up. Above all make this an exciting process. Jump
up and down, get your energy going, get excited.

Think of it this way, if this is a problem worth solving,
isn't it worth getting excited about? If the answer is "No,"
then go back and check your attitude. It needs adjusting.

Step 4 - Choosing a Solution

In Step 3 you came up with several possible solutions to
your problem. You were careful to record them all and not
evaluate them. You also made extra effort to get excited
about generating the solutions.

Now it's time to make a decision! You will decide what
solution you want to try out. In a way this is going to be a
repeat of defining and describing, but this time you will be
describing each solution, then deciding how well you like
it.

If you tape-recorded your solutions, write down ALL the
solutions you came up with. If you are by yourself, a piece
of paper will do. If you are doing this in a group, do it on
a board where all can see.

Next, make two columns down the right side of the solutions.
Label one column "Pros" the other "Cons." When you think of
a good reason to use the solution, put a hash mark (|) in
the pro column. Do the same for cons. Also, write down a
note about each pro and con so you can remember what the
hash marks stand for.

The process of finding pros and cons is much like describing
and defining the solutions. You ask questions like, Who will
do it? What will be done? When will it be done? Just go
through the five Ws and an H and define and describe each
solution.

This process often gives you more definition of the problem.
You may well think of new solutions while you are doing
this. That's fine, just put them at the bottom of the list
and go back to defining the other solutions.

When you have gone through each item on the list you will
have a pretty good idea of which solutions you might want to
try. So narrow the list down and really analyze the ones
that look promising.

Now comes a very important question, Which one do you think
you can get most excited about doing? Try to find the most
exciting solution because that's the one you are most likely
to get motivated to do.

That brings us to sustainability. For the most part you are
better off if solutions follow the old "KISS" rule (Keep It
Simple and Sustainable). If a solution is too hard and too
complicated, it won't get done. If it's something you will
forget to do, it won't get done. That's why it's important
to see if you get excited about a solution. The simple fact
is that you will tend to do things you are excited about
doing. A good solution that gets done is a whole lot better
than a great solution that does not get done.

This is the end of Lesson 4. Now you have a Good Attitude,
you have Defined and Described the problem, you have gotten
excited and Generated Solutions and you have now Chosen A
Solution that seems good and you are motivated to do.

Lesson 5 - Doing and Reviewing

In lesson 4 you learned how to go about choosing a solution.
That came from your Good Attitude, your Description of the
problem and getting excited about Generating Solutions. You
defined each solution and decided whether it was worth a
try. You decided on a solution that you are pretty sure you
can stay motivated to do. Now you are ready to try it out.
In other words, you are ready to "Do It."

Before you do it, however, you want to make sure you will
know if it's working. Remember back in Step 2 when I said it
is important to define a problem in terms you can measure?
Now you will want to use those measures to see if your
solution is working. If you wanted to make more widgets per
day, then you will need to count the widgets you make and
see if you made more. What you measure depends entirely on
how you defined the problem in the first place. So it's a
simple matter to go back to Step 2 and see what you wrote
down about the problem. Choose something you can measure.

Now you will need to determine how things are in the
present. For example, how many widgets are we making per day
now? How much do I weigh now? How much money do I have now?
Whatever you measure now will be your benchmark for checking
how well your solution works in the future.

If you implement the solution and thing improve, great! If
you implement and things get worse, oops, it happens to the
best of us. Things may even stay the same. In all three
cases you have more work to do.

Let's say things got better. Are they as good as you would
like? If they are, how are you going to keep them that way?
That may be a whole new problem to solve, maybe not. Maybe
you can see a way to adjust your solution to make it even
better. That often happens.

Then again maybe your solution messed things up. This is
called the rule of unforeseen consequences. Try as you might
sometimes you just can't see how things will turn out. This
is when that good problem-solving attitude really comes in
handy. If you have a good attitude you will say, "Well, at
least I learned something." Then you can go back to defining
the problem equipped with the new information you now have.
Face it, there is no other way you could have got that
information without trying.

[Sidebar] This is a good time to tell the story of Thomas
Edison inventing the light bulb. He had to try over a
thousand times to find the right filament. He was once asked
how he could stand making over a thousand mistakes. He said
something like, "They weren't mistakes, they were just steps
to making a light bulb." With each attempt he knew what did
not work. This is the true nature of problem solving. There
are no failures; you just get more information. [End
Sidebar]

The third scenario is that things stay the same. Then there
is a good chance that you did not have the problem defined
well. In essence, you missed your target. The better you
define your problem the more on target you will be with your
solution. The answer is to keep your good attitude and go
back to defining.

Notice that while Creative Problem Solving is a five-step
process, you will almost always backtrack to previous steps.
For that matter, since problems are just a way of life, you
will be continually restarting the process as one problem
leads to another. If you are like most of us at times you
will get in a hurry and skip over a step or two. That won't
be a problem if you catch it. Just go back and do the
step(s) you skipped.

As you get into the flow of checking your attitude,
defining, generating, choosing, then doing and reviewing the
process will become second nature to you. Then when you hear
others talking of solving problems you will begin to listen
in terms of what stage they are in. What you will really
notice is how they skip over crucial stages in the process.

Remember, problem solving IS life. At times thing may get
you down and you will feel stressed, sad and irritable. Of
course, feeling stressed, tired and irritable is a problem!
So go through the problem solving steps and find a solution.
You will find that just going through the steps will help
you feel better. That is because you will know you are about
to do something to feel better.

Lesson 6 - An Example

Here is an example of how one might run through the creative
problem solving steps you learned in Lessons 1 through 5.

Example: Losing Weight

You see this problem everywhere. We all know it is a popular
problem because billions of dollars are spent on it every
year. What people who want to lose weight tend to do is jump
from one solution to another as they hear about the latest
diet or exercise fad. For example, for years we avoided fat.
Now we are told that may not be that big of a deal. Then we
are told to avoid carbohydrates. First you have to do
strenuous exercise 20 minutes a day, every other day. Then
it's okay if you do ten minutes of good paced walking
several times a week.

The problem for a lot of people is that no matter what they
try they either don't lose weight, or they don't keep it off
when the lose it.

This sounds like a problem for the Creative Problem Solving
Method!

Step 1: Attitude. In my opinion this is the source of most
people's problems with weight. On the one hand they say they
want to lose weight and keep it off, on the other hand they
may be thinking, "I really can't lose weight." If that word
"can't" is really in their thinking, they are doomed to
failure.

There are much less obvious attitude problems, however. One
is control. A lot of people are angry because they have to
lose weight. They are told they should lose weight, so they
try, but secretly they resent it. They think thoughts like,
"I know they all say I'm supposed to lose weight, but I
should be able to eat what I want." Someone thinking this
thought is losing weight for the wrong reason. The right
reason is because of your health and how good you feel, not
what people want you to do.

There are dozens of different ways people can sabotage
weight lose with negative thoughts. If you are trying to
lose weight, don't forget to check your attitude work on
changing any negative thoughts into positive ones. For
example, you might think, "Eating healthy is good for me and
can also taste good. I do not have to give up my favorite
foods or enjoying meals with friends and family."

Step 2 - Defining the Problem

Who's problem is it? If it's your problem with your weight,
that's fine. If it's someone else's problem with your
weight, that's not okay. (This takes you right back to
attitude, make sure you want to lose weight for you, not
someone else.)

What is the problem? Well, the obvious answer is fat, but
there can be other problems. Maybe you have expensive
clothes that you are about to "grow" out of. Maybe your
doctor has told you your heart is in trouble. Maybe you want
to be more attractive to yourself so you will be more
attractive to others. Maybe you like chocolate just a little
too much.

Where is the problem? You might say the problem is in your
butt and gut. Then again the problem might be hanging around
the pastry shop too much. Maybe you can't get in your car
anymore. There are lots of "where's."

When is it a problem? For sure it's a problem when you are
eating. It's a problem when you are hungry. Is the problem
when you are with others or alone? Do you eat the most at a
certain time of day? Timing has a lot to do with eating.
Make sure you define it well.

How? How do you decide what to eat? How do you eat? Fast or
slow? How do you cook dinner? How do you get something for
lunch? How do you shop? How do you exercise? Better, how do
you avoid exercising? You really need to know the steps you
take to eating and exercising.

Why? Why do you really want to lose weight? Be honest with
yourself. Make sure you have a good reason that motivates
you.

Generating Solutions:

Take up marathon running. Become a vegetarian (they always
look skinny). Go on the latest diet. Exercise for five
minutes a day. Count calories. Cook low fat meals. Cook high
protein meals. Take up a new sport. Get liposuctioned. Buy
and use an exercise machine. Buy a new scale. Go on diet
pills. Don't go food shopping for weeks. See your doctor. Go
on the "Chocolate" diet. Take off your clothes (guaranteed
to lose weight)

Choosing a Solution:

Obviously some of the solutions are silly. It won't take
long to define those. They are there to have fun, so they
get written down in the spirit of having fun.

Marathon - Who? You. What? Running. Where? On the road, on a
track? When? Morning or afternoon for several hours at a
time. How? Get up, get your running clothes on, take off.
Why? It's a good way to burn calories.

Pros: Definitely will lose weight. Cons: Very Time
consuming. Pounds your body.

You get the idea, you can do the rest using the 5Ws and an
H, then doing pros and cons.

What you want to end up with is a solution that has a good
chance of working AND there is a good chance you are
motivated to do it. If you are not motivated, then that's
another problem. (How will I get motivated to ___.)

Doing and Reviewing

Let's say "Exercise five minutes per day" was chosen, and
exercise was defined as "Brisk Walking" in Step 4. So you
put five minutes of walking per day in your schedule for
several days. After each day you look back and recall if you
spent time doing "Brisk Walking." If no time was spent, you
need to go back to Step 1 and check your attitude.

The same thing can be done with any of the solutions that
seem likely to lose you weight, as long as the solution is
defined in terms that you can measure. Walking can be
measured in miles or minutes per day. Weight lifting can me
measured in reps and how much you lift. Weight loss is
measured in pounds and inches. Whatever you do come up with
a measure that you know you can keep doing.

If you stop reviewing your progress, then you probably will
stop doing the solution. That usually means that your
problem will not go away, or it will return. Keep reviewing
how well you are doing your solutions. It's the secret of
solving any problem.

==================================================

Here is a check list of the five Creative Problem Solving
Steps and the most important points to remember about each
one.

-Attitude - Problems are just part of life. Just roll up
your sleeves and take them on. Remember you CAN solve
problems. Most problems are not emergencies.

-Defining and Describing - Ask Who, What, Where, When, How
and Why questions about the problem. Ask them until you have
a good "picture" of what the problem is.

-Generating Solutions - Get excited! Then let the solutions
fly. Record them all. Don't evaluate them, just let them
out! If you get stuck, set things aside and get more
information. Read books and articles to find possible
solutions. Take your time, it's not an emergence.

-Choosing a Solution - Get your list of solutions and define
and describe each one. Ask the 5 Ws and an H question about
each one. Then write down the pros and cons of each
solution. Narrow the list down to solutions you are pretty
sure you can get motivated to do. Then choose the one that
seems to be a good solution that you WILL do.

Do and Review - Try out your solution and see if it works.
You know what to measure because you described that in steps
2 and 4. So measure your results and see if the solution is
working. If it works, keep reviewing your results. If not,
go back to step 1.

Remember! This is not a rigid process. You will find
yourself jumping around the steps. As a matter of fact, you
will probably catch yourself after you have implemented a
solution and it's not working. Then you will recall that you
skipped over some steps. Don't be hard on yourself. I catch
myself doing that and I have been doing this for almost 20
years! Just go back and go through the steps you missed.

Have a Great Time Problem Solving!


Warmest Regards,

Drs. Burkhart and Polk