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Use creative thinking

Problem Solving

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 ​Chapter › Topic

Use creative thinking 20 minutes

​Instructions

​The benefit of a structured approach is that you have a clear set of problem-solving ​Questions to consider:
steps to follow, and that helps you realize when and where you are stuck and not
advancing. In the course, you learned about three creative thinking techniques to help  Where are you in your
with this: point-of-view analysis, assumption reversal, and constraint release. problem-solving effort—
your current thinking?
 Goal: Apply one of the three creative thinking techniques to a problem you are  Why did you choose the
currently working on creative thinking
technique you selected?
 Logistics: This can be completed individually or with colleagues. If the option exists,
we recommend doing it with colleagues because creative thinking is enhanced by  What new insights did
multiple perspectives you gain with the
technique?
 Estimated time: 20 minutes

Select a problem you are working on and describe it on the next page. Choose one of
the three creative thinking techniques and, using the corresponding worksheet, apply
the technique to the problem you have chosen to solve.

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 ​Chapter › Topic

Description of your problem

​Worksheet

​Enter text here…

​Tips to consider:
• Your problem can be of
any size, from deciding
where to eat lunch, to
how to best handle an
issue with a colleague
• Make sure to describe
the problem in detail and
think about where you
are stuck and what is
preventing you from
solving the problem

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Point-of-view analysis
​Overview
When you solve problems, you're usually deductive, trying to drive to one answer. This can cause your thinking to
narrow down at a point in the problem-solving process where it should be opening up. Point-of-view analysis is
designed to help you move out of deductive mode and expand your thinking by taking on the vantage point of
others.

To recap the story Monne Williams told in the course: imagine you are trying to design a children’s museum. You
could go and simply look at building plans and think about the coolest exhibits and ways to help kids learn. But with
point-of-view analysis, you might put cameras on children and think about how they move through the world and
see things from a different perspective. Alternatively, you might get on the floor and think about how you would
experience things if you were only three feet tall. By doing this, you would experience the space from an entirely
different lens. That is the power of point-of-view analysis: understanding the experience, and perhaps the feelings it
causes, the way someone else would.

So, if you are trying to solve a team problem, or a customer problem, you would try to understand the problem from
their view. Ask yourself, how does this person experience this problem? What is their first contact with the
problematic area/issue? What happens next?, etc. By putting yourself in the other person’s shoes, you will hopefully
gain new insight.

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Point-of-view analysis
​Worksheet 1/2
1. Determine which point of view you will adopt. If you are doing the exercise with colleagues, each person may choose
to do a different point of view; however, it can also be valuable for multiple people to assume the same point of view—
you will all likely uncover different perspectives.
2. Determine how to best assume the perspective of the person you have chosen. Choosing how the person first
encounters the process, situation, etc., encompassed by the problem-solving effort is a good way to start. Then, walk
through the rest of the process, situation, etc., as the person would in the real world.
3. List out the experiences this person will encounter as they move through the process, situation, etc., that is central to
your problem-solving effort, and the reactions they may have.

​Experience ​Reaction/feeling evoked by experience

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

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Point-of-view analysis
​Worksheet 2/2

Consider the insights the new perspective(s) provide: How do the insights you’ve gained change the solution space for
your problem? What new or different issues do you see? How does this perspective change how you’ve prioritized your
issues? How did your hypotheses about a solution shift? Make note of your key findings and shifts in your thinking, and
use the insights, findings, and shifts in thinking you’ve gained to inform your next steps in your problem-solving effort
​Key findings

​Enter text here…

​Shifts in your thinking about the problem and potential solution

​Enter text here…

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Assumption reversal
​Overview
We all make assumptions about the world as it is and about the solution space in which we create our ideas. Those
assumptions can constrain or reduce the breadth of our solution space significantly.

Sometimes you’ve been looking at a problem for too long, or you’ve adopted the assumptions of others who
previously tried to solve it. Assumption reversal can help you become conscious of, and think beyond, the
assumptions you are holding onto. To do this, list out your assumptions and then reverse them, one at a time.

For example, imagine that a park sprays for mosquitos every evening. People know not to go into that park in the
evening because they don’t want to be covered in bug spray. After a while, the park stops spraying for mosquitos.
But no one re-enters the park during evenings. Even people newly arrived to the neighborhood, who weren’t there
for the spraying, don’t walk in the park in the evening. They assume there is a good reason that no one uses the
park at that time. Were they to reverse their assumptions, they would realize the danger had passed and they could
walk in the park in the evening without trouble.

Assumption reversal can help you question the assumptions you’re operating under during a problem-solving effort.
You can ask: Is this an assumption that is still valid about my solution space? This technique can help you see a
problem from a fresh perspective.

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Assumption reversal
​Worksheet 1/2

1. List all your implicit and explicit assumptions around the problem. Avoid filtering out ideas that don’t seem significant.
(That they don’t seem important could be another assumption.)
• If you are doing the exercise with colleagues, ask each person to do this individually on a piece of paper so as
not to influence one another’s thinking.
• On a flip chart or board, list out assumptions. Group like responses by first writing down an assumption, then
asking the group whether anyone had a similar assumption that they’ve identified.
2. Walk through each assumption, asking: Is this true? Is it still valid? If so, why do we believe this? Summarize your
key takeaways in the righthand column of the table below as you move through your list. Add rows as needed

​Assumption ​Key takeaways

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

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​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

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Assumption reversal
​Worksheet 2/2

Consider the insights the new perspective(s) provide. Consider: how do the insights you’ve gained change the solution
space for your problem? What new or different issues do you see? How does this perspective change how you’ve
prioritized your issues? How did your hypotheses about a solution shift? Make note of your key findings and shifts in your
thinking, and use the shifts in your thinking and new directions you’ve identified to inform your next steps in your problem-
solving effort.

​Shifts in your thinking/new directions

​Enter text here…

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Constraint release
​Overview
Constraint release is another creative thinking technique, and it is related to assumption reversal. The purpose of this
technique is to help you recognize and release constraints that may be subconsciously inhibiting your thinking. After
you’ve written down the constraints, one by one, you release them. Often, just as in assumption reversal, you may find a
constraint was not real, was no longer valid, or that, while it exists, there is a way around it.

To summarize Monne Williams’s example of constraint release from the course: imagine a biology experiment. There are
a handful of fleas, and they are put into a glass jar. The glass jar sits on a table. All the fleas jump, and, over time, they will
all jump out of the jar. Imagine that the researcher takes all the fleas, puts them back into the jar, and puts a lid on the jar.
The fleas still jump, but now they hit the lid of the jar. After a while, the maximum height to which they jump will be just
below the bottom of the lid. Once this happens, the researcher takes the lid off again. The jar is now completely open, but
no fleas will jump out of the jar. Even though the lid is gone, it has become a lasting constraint.

Now imagine trying to solve a problem. At some point in the past, while coming up with ideas, you may have hit your head
on a constraint. But that constraint may now be gone—and yet your ideas are still rising only just below the level of the
constraint.

The power of constraint release is this: it helps you take the lid off your thinking and allow yourself to jump out of that jar.

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​Constraint release
​Worksheet 1/2

1. List all your implicit and explicit constraints around the problem. Avoid filtering out ideas that don’t seem significant.
• If you are doing the exercise with colleagues, ask each person to do this individually on a piece of paper so as
not to influence one another’s thinking.
• On a flip chart or board, list out constraints. Group like responses by first writing down a constraint, then asking
the group whether anyone had a similar constraint that they’ve identified.
2. Then, walk through each constraint, asking: Is this true? Is it still valid? If so, why do we believe this? Even if it is a
constraint, can we work around it in a way we haven’t considered? Summarize your key takeaways in the righthand
column of the table below as you move through your list. Add rows as needed.

​Constraint ​Key takeaways

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

​Enter text here… ​Enter text here…

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​Constraint release
​Worksheet 2/2

Consider the insights the new perspective(s) provide. Consider: how do the insights you’ve gained change the solution
space for your problem? What new or different issues do you see? How does this perspective change how you’ve
prioritized your issues? How did your hypotheses about a solution shift? Make note of your key findings and shifts in your
thinking, and use the shifts in your thinking and new directions you’ve identified to inform your next steps in your problem-
solving effort.

​Shifts in your thinking/new directions

​Enter text here…

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