Change, Creativity and Problem-Solving

Change, creativity and problem-solving are all important perspective for driving the business forward.

Change is not for its own sake, the very purpose of the change is often for problem-solving, progression, or innovation. From Change Management perspective, taking people through new experiences, exposing them to additional "information" through those experiences, developing their creativity, and doing that very purposefully will create the opportunity to shift attitudes, beliefs, mindsets that ultimately will cultivate their problem-solving capabilities.

Apply creativity in a recursive way for problem-solving: Creativity is about figuring out better ways to do things. For those who are trying to solve problems, they may find the problems evolving as they try different solutions. Study the choices and select the best possible implementable alternative. Through relentless experimentation and continuous discovery, they deepen their understanding of the issues, accumulate interdisciplinary knowledge or unique insight for figuring out optimal solutions. Thus, it is important to applying creativity in a recursive way to the creative process for both problem identification and problem-solving. Leverage “Lesson Learned,” and develop the next practices for change and creative problem-solving, learn from others’ failures, and break down the large problem into the small problems, in order to solve them in an iterative and creative way.

The innovative mind doesn't do different things, they do things differently: Many change failure or problem-solving ineffectiveness are caused by “We always do things like that,” mentality, even circumstances already change the long time ago. Or they dive into “HOW,” to fix it scenario before clarifying the clear “WHY ” and “WHAT” matter about the real issue. An innovative problem-solver doesn’t do different things, but they do things differently. Being in the state of flow is what all creative people would like to achieve because it is the most productive state, and always challenge your own thinking by asking questions which often lead to discovering situations others do not see at first. Creative people are both problem finders and problem solvers. Framing the right problem is equally or even more important than solving it. Find the possible solution alternatives to be adopted. To be a super problem-solver, an individual's creative mentality, proactive attitudes and the right dose of confidence are all valid within the context of his or her personal experience.  

Recognize and grow your problem-solvers: The super problem-solvers often have the intellectual curiosity to dig into the root cause and change mind to adapt to the digital dynamic. If you only fix the symptom, not the root cause, then it perhaps causes more problems later. Thus, digital leaders today, need to recognize and develop creative problem-solvers, innovators and those who can connect the unusual dots, see through the issues, look around and beneath the corner, and work smarter. The success of any problem-solving must include the welfare of the principals - employees. Involve talented people by giving them active roles in business initiatives or real-world problems, make them feel important, appreciate and reward them, and then, the challenges to solve difficult problems can be overcome. The problem-solvers have to apply multidimensional intelligence ( creative thinking, critical thinking, strategic thinking, and system thinking) that goes into problem identification as well as solution discovering! A true problem-solver enjoys understanding the complexity and guide people through it; finding common ground and initiative dialogues. Turn around the tough situations, and enjoy the challenges about complex problem-solving.

Change, creativity and problem-solving are all important perspective for driving the business forward. if you don’t have a sound solution to each newly created problem, you’ll have very little chances to successfully solving the main problem, and all is connected. Companies have to make a tough decision to increase their bottom line, but they must do so by first investing in their employees for developing their changeability and nurturing their creativity so that they are able to solve the right business problems, unleash their own potential, and maximize the business potential for the long run.

Posted in: Change Management,Connecting Dots,Creativity,Innovation,Problem Solving