TheBalanceWork

Why Is Creative Problem Solving Important – 15 Possible Reasons

Why is creative problem-solving important? The main reason is: to keep up with the competition in today’s ever-changing business landscape.

Developing innovative solutions to complex problems is a critical skill for any organization.

15 Reasons Why Is Creative Problem Solving Important

There are many advantages to using creative problem-solving techniques in the workplace.

They can change the way employees think about problems. And it can help organizations to be more agile and adaptable.

Some of the benefits of creative problem-solving include the following:

1. Encourages Out-Of-The-Box Thinking:

Creative problem-solving techniques encourage employees to think outside the box. They come up with innovative solutions to problems.

This type of thinking is essential in today’s rapidly changing business environment .

Think  outside the box - Why Is Creative Problem Solving Important

When it comes to problem-solving, organizations need to adapt and change quickly . That’s why it’s important to have creative employees who can think outside the box.

When faced with a problem, they can devise an innovative solution others may not have thought of.

And to be able to do this, they need to be encouraged to think creatively.

2. Helps You Solve Complex Problems:

Creative problem-solving can also help you solve complex problems. Often, complex problems require more than one solution.

The alternatives through creative thinking can help you find the best possible solution.

With creative problem-solving, you’re not just looking for the first solution that comes to mind. Instead, you’re looking for the best possible solution.

So effective problem-solving requires both creative and critical thinking .

Thinking creatively can also help you find new ways to look at old problems. This can give you a different perspective and help you find new solutions.

3. Encourages Innovation:

Innovation is important for businesses to stay ahead of the competition. And it let them be able to offer new products and services .

Creative problem-solving can help encourage innovation . It allows businesses to develop new ideas and find new ways to do things.

Some of the world’s most successful businesses have grown because they innovated.

With time, many businesses lose their ability to be creative and innovative. This can lead to them becoming stagnant and eventually fail.

You can take Nokia as an example. The company was once the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer.

However, it needed to innovate and keep up with the competition. As a result, its market share declined sharply, and it is now struggling to survive.

4. Builds Confidence:

Confidence is important in all areas of life. When you’re confident, you’re more likely to take risks and seize opportunities .

Learning how to solve problems creatively can help you build your confidence .

This is because you’ll know you have the skills to deal with whatever challenges come your way.

Some people are born confident. But for most of us, confidence needs to be developed.

If you lack confidence, solving problems creatively can help you build them up.

Your comfort zone is what limits you. So you must push yourself to try new things and solve problems uniquely. And you’ll slowly expand your comfort zone.

This can ripple effect on other areas of your life, making you more confident in everything you do.

5. Makes You More Resilient:

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks and keep going despite difficulties.

It’s a key quality for anyone who wants to achieve their goals.

And creative problem-solving can help you develop resilience.

When you face a problem, it’s natural to feel discouraged . But you need to view problems as opportunities to learn and grow. You’ll be more likely to find a creative solution .

This mindset will help you persevere when things get tough and overcome obstacles.

Some people are naturally more resilient than others. But everyone can benefit from developing this quality.

And creative problem-solving is one of the best ways to do

6. Develops Your Analytical Skills:

Creative problem solving doesn’t mean you never use logic or analysis. But, best solutions often come from a combination of creative and logical thinking.

To find a truly original solution, you need to be able to see problems from different angles. This requires both left-brain (logical) and right-brain (creative) thinking.

Logic or analysis - Why Is Creative Problem Solving Important

With creative problem-solving, you develop ability to analyze problems from many perspectives.

This will make you better at finding innovative solutions to complex challenges.

With better analytical skills, you’ll also be better equipped to handle difficult decisions . And you can solve problems quickly and efficiently.

7. Teaches You How to Be Proactive:

Proactive people don’t wait for things to happen. They make things happen.

The best way to achieve success is to take the initiative and be proactive.

When you’re proactive , you don’t wait for opportunities to come knocking on your door. Instead, you go out and create your opportunities .

When you’re proactive, you always look for ways to improve your situation. You’re constantly looking for ways to take your life to the next level.

8. It Helps You Develop A Positive Attitude:

A positive attitude is essential for achieving success in any area of life.

If you want to be successful, you need to start thinking positive thoughts .

Creative problem-solving helps you develop a positive attitude. It forces you to look at problems in a different light.

It helps you see that every problem has a solution. And, it helps you understand that every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow.

Some people see problems as roadblocks . They think that every problem is a negative thing.

This way of thinking will only hold you back.

Creative problem-solving helps you see problems as opportunities. In addition, it helps you develop a positive attitude that will lead to success.

9. Helps Employees Handle Change:

Change is a constant in today’s business world. And it can be difficult for employees to deal with.

They’ll be better equipped to handle change if they’re trained in creative problem-solving.

They’ll be able to adapt and find new solutions to problems. Change is no longer a negative thing but an opportunity to grow.

When you embrace change, you open up a world of possibilities .

10. Maintains Employee Engagement:

Employee engagement is important for any business. And creative problem-solving can help maintain employee engagement.

Engaged employees are more likely to be productive and motivated . They’re also less likely to leave the company.

Build morale

Engaged employees are an asset to any business. And creative problem-solving can help keep them engaged and resourceful .

Some ways you can encourage employee engagement through creative problem-solving are:

– Encourage employees to come up with new ideas and solutions to problems.

– Solicit feedback from employees regularly .

– Encourage employees to share their ideas with others.

– Create an environment that is conducive to creativity and innovation.

– Make sure employees feel like their work

11. Encourage Teamwork:

When employees work together to solve problems, it can help build morale. And it can foster a sense of camaraderie.

Creative thinking activities can help employees learn to work together and build trust .

Most creative thinking activities are in the form of groups. People in groups can share their ideas with each other and build on each other’s ideas.

Some examples of creative thinking activities that encourage teamwork are:

– Brainstorming

– Group discussion

– Team building exercises

12. Be Willing to Take Risks:

To encourage creative problem-solving, you need to be willing to take risks.

Encourage employees to experiment and try new things.

Make sure they feel comfortable making mistakes. And you can suggest ways to turn those mistakes into learning opportunities.

Take risks.

Some examples of ways to take risks are:

– Encourage employees to experiment

– Try new things

– Make mistakes and learn from them

13. Encourage A Growth Mindset:

A growth mindset is a belief that intelligence can be developed.

People with a growth mindset believe that they can improve their abilities by:

– Good teaching, and

– Persistence.

Creative problem solving requires a growth mindset. Without it, people give up too easily when they encounter a problem.

They may also be afraid to take risks, because they don’t want to look foolish.

Encouraging a growth mindset will help employees feel more confident about their abilities. And it can make them more likely to take risks and try new things.

14. Striving For Originality:

In order to be creative, you have to be willing to take risks. This means that you need to be okay with the possibility of failing.

You also need to be open to new ideas . And you need to be willing to experiment .

One way to encourage creativity is to set aside time for employees to explore new ideas . This can be through brainstorming sessions or another type of creativity exercise.

Originality comes from taking existing ideas and making them your own. This means that you need to be able to see the potential in other people’s ideas.

It also means that you need to be able to take those ideas and build on them. This takes a lot of imagination and creative thinking.

15. Be Persistent:

Creative problem-solving is not a one-time event. Instead, it’s a process you must go through again and again.

You need to be persistent in your search for new ideas. You also need to be persistent in trying out new solutions .

Keep going even if your first attempt doesn’t work. Instead, keep trying until you find a solution that does work.

And with creative problem solving, the more you practice , the better you’ll become at it.

So keep at it, and soon you’ll solve problems like a pro!

Final Word:

Why is creative problem-solving important? Above are some of the reasons why creative problem-solving is important. As you can see, it’s a very useful skill to have.

And it’s one that you can use in all areas of your life, both personal and professional.

So start practicing creative problem-solving today. And you will see how it can help you succeed in all areas of your life.

Last Updated on 1 year by Shahzaib Arshad

  • Recent Posts

Shahzaib Arshad

  • 7 Great Signs Your Boss Wants to Help You - October 8, 2023
  • How To Explain Dropping Out Of Law School? Detailed Guide - September 6, 2023
  • 10 Reasons Employees Get Fired in Workplace - August 27, 2023

Respond To Interview Thank You Email In These 5 Steps + Sample Emails

How Long For HR To Approve Job Offer – Is It 2 Weeks?

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

At TheBalanceWork, we always put our readers first. Simply reach out to us and we’ll do everything we can to assist you.

Quick Links

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Condition
  • Communication
  • Office Address
  • Postal Address
  • Operation Manager

share this!

March 19, 2020

The importance of creative problem-solving in the workplace

by University of Jyväskylä

work

Creativity in working life can be approached as a learning process. Researchers Soila Lemmetty and Kaija Collin from the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Education investigated what it means to be creative for experts in technology sector. By observing and interviewing tens of employees, they found that creativity is an important element of employees' everyday practices.

The importance of creativity for organizations' competitiveness has long been discussed. Creativity is often connected to innovations and novel products. Creativity is also often linked to the creative arts and individual personalities. However, at the same time, there is an emerging need to see that creativity is important in every kind of job, and it should be more strongly connected to everyday problem solving.

"The starting point of our study was that anyone can act creatively at work, and it could even be a desired activity, at least for the experts," Lemmetty says, explaining the background of the research. "Creativity is not dependent only on an individual's will or the decision to be creative though. Instead, many other factors outside of the individual affect the creative process ."

How to arrive at a creative solution depends on the situation and the nature of the problem at hand.

After all, it is all about learning. The problem-solver, in the other words the creative actor, is a learner in the process. The learner assesses the learning needs and methods in the situation and the quality of the solution required by the problem. However, learning does not need to be a lonely process, but colleagues and supervisors should support and help, by, for example, searching for information and sharing it.

Sometimes, especially in software development, problem-solving looks like a boring effort, but in reality, there are many kinds of processes occurring on the screen and under the surface. Actually, many of these processes relate to looking for information by discussing with colleagues, reading blogs, or testing different solutions.

"Googling was said to be one of the most important means for learning. Simultaneously, source critique, competence and experience were also called for," Lemmetty says.

However, Googling is not enough for a job to be creative, but to be creative the process should fulfil certain criteria: in a beautiful solution, for example, the code should be clear, simple and understandable by people other than experts themselves, such as by colleagues and clients.

"We cannot talk about creativity until there is an outcome. If the outcome is 'a mess' that cannot be understood, the process itself obviously cannot be creative either. Also copying the available solution was perceived as producing new problems rather than as solving them."

According to the study, it is not possible to support creativity in the technology sector just by hiring creative people , but by paying attention to the circumstances and frames of work. Essential elements of the creative learning process include the prevailing supervision and culture, experience sharing and clear aims. At the same time, however, there should be enough freedom to make decisions concerning one's own job and flexibility in scheduling and organizing work.

Why is it important to understand the nature of creative activity in the workplace? Different kinds of expert work will increase in the future, and a variety of technology will be a part of everybody's work. Therefore, it is expected that creative activity will be emphasized even more. This is why it is important to understand creative activity as an essential process of the work itself, alongside continuous learning and coping at work.

"It is fortunate that there are many kinds of people in the workplace: both inquisitive young people who are used to Googling to find solutions and more experienced employees who are familiar with sparring and guiding others," says Lemmetty. "When these younger and more experienced practitioners are part of the same team, the possibilities for creative and successful outcomes increase."

For the article published in Journal of Creative Behavior , altogether 46 employees from three Finnish technology enterprises were interviewed. In addition, employees were observed in their work for nearly 150 hours. The study was conducted as part of HeRMo, a larger research project funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund. Soila Lemmetty works as a doctoral student and examines self-directed learning in the technology sector, while Kaija Collin is a senior researcher at the University of Jyväskylä.

Provided by University of Jyväskylä

Explore further

Feedback to editors

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Greenland Ice Sheet motion minimally impacted by late-season melting, study finds

4 hours ago

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Ebola: Scientists reveal a new way it replicates

6 hours ago

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Investigating the many flavors of edible ants

7 hours ago

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Dune: What the climate of Arrakis can tell us about the hunt for habitable exoplanets

Mar 16, 2024

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Saturday Citations: The volcanoes of Mars; Starship launched; 'Try our new menu item,' say Australian researchers

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Researchers take deep dive into how much water is stored in snow

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Ultra-flat optics for broadband thermal imaging

Mar 15, 2024

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Shark-bitten orcas in the Northeastern Pacific could be a new population of killer whale

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Einasto Supercluster: The new heavyweight contender in the universe

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Protein fragments ID two new 'extremophile' microbes—and may help find alien life

Relevant physicsforums posts, origins of the hungarians, interesting anecdotes in the history of physics.

22 hours ago

Biographies, history, personal accounts

Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better, music to lift your soul: 4 genres & honorable mention, two-tone, ska rock.

More from Art, Music, History, and Linguistics

Related Stories

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Technology in higher education: learning with it instead of from it

Feb 24, 2020

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Creativity important to lift math education

Feb 4, 2020

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

As an act of self-disclosure, workplace creativity can be risky business

Sep 4, 2019

How can we make Britain more creative?

Aug 1, 2014

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

Mar 5, 2020

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Evaluating creativity in computational co-creative systems

Aug 8, 2018

Recommended for you

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Gender and racial discrimination uncovered in leadership positions at Australia's leading universities

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Study finds children in Flint experienced educational declines even if they did not have lead pipes

Mar 14, 2024

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Study finds workers misjudge wage markets

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Energy price hikes hit older people hardest, study finds

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Could iPhones replace microscopes in early STEM education?

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Supply chain disruptions will further exacerbate economic losses from climate change, finds study

Mar 13, 2024

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

loading

How it works

For Business

Join Mind Tools

Article • 10 min read

Creative Problem Solving

Finding innovative solutions to challenges.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Imagine that you're vacuuming your house in a hurry because you've got friends coming over. Frustratingly, you're working hard but you're not getting very far. You kneel down, open up the vacuum cleaner, and pull out the bag. In a cloud of dust, you realize that it's full... again. Coughing, you empty it and wonder why vacuum cleaners with bags still exist!

James Dyson, inventor and founder of Dyson® vacuum cleaners, had exactly the same problem, and he used creative problem solving to find the answer. While many companies focused on developing a better vacuum cleaner filter, he realized that he had to think differently and find a more creative solution. So, he devised a revolutionary way to separate the dirt from the air, and invented the world's first bagless vacuum cleaner. [1]

Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of solving problems or identifying opportunities when conventional thinking has failed. It encourages you to find fresh perspectives and come up with innovative solutions, so that you can formulate a plan to overcome obstacles and reach your goals.

In this article, we'll explore what CPS is, and we'll look at its key principles. We'll also provide a model that you can use to generate creative solutions.

About Creative Problem Solving

Alex Osborn, founder of the Creative Education Foundation, first developed creative problem solving in the 1940s, along with the term "brainstorming." And, together with Sid Parnes, he developed the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process. Despite its age, this model remains a valuable approach to problem solving. [2]

The early Osborn-Parnes model inspired a number of other tools. One of these is the 2011 CPS Learner's Model, also from the Creative Education Foundation, developed by Dr Gerard J. Puccio, Marie Mance, and co-workers. In this article, we'll use this modern four-step model to explore how you can use CPS to generate innovative, effective solutions.

Why Use Creative Problem Solving?

Dealing with obstacles and challenges is a regular part of working life, and overcoming them isn't always easy. To improve your products, services, communications, and interpersonal skills, and for you and your organization to excel, you need to encourage creative thinking and find innovative solutions that work.

CPS asks you to separate your "divergent" and "convergent" thinking as a way to do this. Divergent thinking is the process of generating lots of potential solutions and possibilities, otherwise known as brainstorming. And convergent thinking involves evaluating those options and choosing the most promising one. Often, we use a combination of the two to develop new ideas or solutions. However, using them simultaneously can result in unbalanced or biased decisions, and can stifle idea generation.

For more on divergent and convergent thinking, and for a useful diagram, see the book "Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making." [3]

Core Principles of Creative Problem Solving

CPS has four core principles. Let's explore each one in more detail:

  • Divergent and convergent thinking must be balanced. The key to creativity is learning how to identify and balance divergent and convergent thinking (done separately), and knowing when to practice each one.
  • Ask problems as questions. When you rephrase problems and challenges as open-ended questions with multiple possibilities, it's easier to come up with solutions. Asking these types of questions generates lots of rich information, while asking closed questions tends to elicit short answers, such as confirmations or disagreements. Problem statements tend to generate limited responses, or none at all.
  • Defer or suspend judgment. As Alex Osborn learned from his work on brainstorming, judging solutions early on tends to shut down idea generation. Instead, there's an appropriate and necessary time to judge ideas during the convergence stage.
  • Focus on "Yes, and," rather than "No, but." Language matters when you're generating information and ideas. "Yes, and" encourages people to expand their thoughts, which is necessary during certain stages of CPS. Using the word "but" – preceded by "yes" or "no" – ends conversation, and often negates what's come before it.

How to Use the Tool

Let's explore how you can use each of the four steps of the CPS Learner's Model (shown in figure 1, below) to generate innovative ideas and solutions.

Figure 1 – CPS Learner's Model

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Explore the Vision

Identify your goal, desire or challenge. This is a crucial first step because it's easy to assume, incorrectly, that you know what the problem is. However, you may have missed something or have failed to understand the issue fully, and defining your objective can provide clarity. Read our article, 5 Whys , for more on getting to the root of a problem quickly.

Gather Data

Once you've identified and understood the problem, you can collect information about it and develop a clear understanding of it. Make a note of details such as who and what is involved, all the relevant facts, and everyone's feelings and opinions.

Formulate Questions

When you've increased your awareness of the challenge or problem you've identified, ask questions that will generate solutions. Think about the obstacles you might face and the opportunities they could present.

Explore Ideas

Generate ideas that answer the challenge questions you identified in step 1. It can be tempting to consider solutions that you've tried before, as our minds tend to return to habitual thinking patterns that stop us from producing new ideas. However, this is a chance to use your creativity .

Brainstorming and Mind Maps are great ways to explore ideas during this divergent stage of CPS. And our articles, Encouraging Team Creativity , Problem Solving , Rolestorming , Hurson's Productive Thinking Model , and The Four-Step Innovation Process , can also help boost your creativity.

See our Brainstorming resources within our Creativity section for more on this.

Formulate Solutions

This is the convergent stage of CPS, where you begin to focus on evaluating all of your possible options and come up with solutions. Analyze whether potential solutions meet your needs and criteria, and decide whether you can implement them successfully. Next, consider how you can strengthen them and determine which ones are the best "fit." Our articles, Critical Thinking and ORAPAPA , are useful here.

4. Implement

Formulate a plan.

Once you've chosen the best solution, it's time to develop a plan of action. Start by identifying resources and actions that will allow you to implement your chosen solution. Next, communicate your plan and make sure that everyone involved understands and accepts it.

There have been many adaptations of CPS since its inception, because nobody owns the idea.

For example, Scott Isaksen and Donald Treffinger formed The Creative Problem Solving Group Inc . and the Center for Creative Learning , and their model has evolved over many versions. Blair Miller, Jonathan Vehar and Roger L. Firestien also created their own version, and Dr Gerard J. Puccio, Mary C. Murdock, and Marie Mance developed CPS: The Thinking Skills Model. [4] Tim Hurson created The Productive Thinking Model , and Paul Reali developed CPS: Competencies Model. [5]

Sid Parnes continued to adapt the CPS model by adding concepts such as imagery and visualization , and he founded the Creative Studies Project to teach CPS. For more information on the evolution and development of the CPS process, see Creative Problem Solving Version 6.1 by Donald J. Treffinger, Scott G. Isaksen, and K. Brian Dorval. [6]

Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Infographic

See our infographic on Creative Problem Solving .

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of using your creativity to develop new ideas and solutions to problems. The process is based on separating divergent and convergent thinking styles, so that you can focus your mind on creating at the first stage, and then evaluating at the second stage.

There have been many adaptations of the original Osborn-Parnes model, but they all involve a clear structure of identifying the problem, generating new ideas, evaluating the options, and then formulating a plan for successful implementation.

[1] Entrepreneur (2012). James Dyson on Using Failure to Drive Success [online]. Available here . [Accessed May 27, 2022.]

[2] Creative Education Foundation (2015). The CPS Process [online]. Available here . [Accessed May 26, 2022.]

[3] Kaner, S. et al. (2014). 'Facilitator′s Guide to Participatory Decision–Making,' San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

[4] Puccio, G., Mance, M., and Murdock, M. (2011). 'Creative Leadership: Skils That Drive Change' (2nd Ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

[5] OmniSkills (2013). Creative Problem Solving [online]. Available here . [Accessed May 26, 2022].

[6] Treffinger, G., Isaksen, S., and Dorval, B. (2010). Creative Problem Solving (CPS Version 6.1). Center for Creative Learning, Inc. & Creative Problem Solving Group, Inc. Available here .

You've accessed 1 of your 2 free resources.

Get unlimited access

Discover more content

What is problem solving.

Book Insights

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas With Pictures

Add comment

Comments (0)

Be the first to comment!

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Try Mind Tools for free

Get unlimited access to all our career-boosting content and member benefits with our 7-day free trial.

Sign-up to our newsletter

Subscribing to the Mind Tools newsletter will keep you up-to-date with our latest updates and newest resources.

Subscribe now

Business Skills

Personal Development

Leadership and Management

Most Popular

Newest Releases

Article az1b1vg

The Quest For Fewer Interruptions

Article a5eygum

What Are Your Values?

Mind Tools Store

About Mind Tools Content

Discover something new today

Frederick taylor and scientific management.

Understanding Taylorism and Early Management Theory

What Is Frederick Taylor's Scientific Management Theory?

Applying science to management

How Emotionally Intelligent Are You?

Boosting Your People Skills

Self-Assessment

What's Your Leadership Style?

Learn About the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Way You Like to Lead

Recommended for you

Working with menopause video.

How to Manage Menopause at Work

Business Operations and Process Management

Strategy Tools

Customer Service

Business Ethics and Values

Handling Information and Data

Project Management

Knowledge Management

Self-Development and Goal Setting

Time Management

Presentation Skills

Learning Skills

Career Skills

Communication Skills

Negotiation, Persuasion and Influence

Working With Others

Difficult Conversations

Creativity Tools

Self-Management

Work-Life Balance

Stress Management and Wellbeing

Coaching and Mentoring

Change Management

Team Management

Managing Conflict

Delegation and Empowerment

Performance Management

Leadership Skills

Developing Your Team

Talent Management

Problem Solving

Decision Making

  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Additional menu

MindManager Blog

What is problem-solving? And why is it important in the workplace?

September 28, 2023 by MindManager Blog

If there’s one thing you can count on as a business professional, it’s that you’ll never run short of new problems to solve. Thankfully, whether it includes handling difficult or unexpected situations in the workplace, or resolving complex organizational challenges, we all have the capacity to develop our business problem-solving skills.

The best way to get better at tackling problems productively is to start at the beginning. After all, the better you understand what problem-solving is – and the significant role it plays in every organization – the easier you’ll find it to improve on problem-solving skills in the workplace.

Let’s dive in!

What is problem-solving?

Problem-solving refers to the act of find solutions to difficult or complex issues.

A good problem-solving definition might be finding solutions to difficult or complex issues . In practice, however, solving problems in the workplace is a little more immersive than that.

In the workplace, problem-solving includes a variety of tools, resources, and techniques to:

  • Identify what’s not working.
  • Figure out why it’s broken.
  • Determine the best course of action to fix it.

Whether you know them as obstacles, glitches, or setbacks, problems are a part of our everyday lives. The good news is that our brains excel at reasoning out intricate scenarios and making calculations in situations we’ve never experienced before. That means every one of us is hard-wired to be an adept problem-solver.

The trick is to learn how to take that innate ability and apply it in a deliberate and practiced way.

However, one thing is certain: successfully resolving business and workplace issues is essential.

Not only does effective problem-solving create value that encourages growth, it goes hand-in-hand with impactful decision making.

What are the benefits of problem-solving in business?

Practically speaking, problem-solving provides a golden opportunity to improve your processes, products, and systems – especially when you work through those challenges with others.

Learning to face difficulties calmly, and deal with them intentionally, can also:

  • Ramp up your confidence.
  • Increase your resilience.
  • Help you develop valuable critical thinking skills.

Applying problem-solving skills in the face of an obstacle that seems insurmountable trains you to shift your perspective and look at potential hurdles in a different way.

It also gets you used to examining multiple options for dealing with a problem, which can help you feel more confident in the direction you take.

Solving problems as a team

Business problem solving as a team offers an even wider range of benefits since active collaboration tends to make good things happen at both the individual and group level.

For example:

  • Team-based problem-solving is akin to having a built-in sounding board when you explore new approaches and ideas.
  • As each team member’s critical thinking skills evolve, they bring fresh insights to the collective problem-solving process, bearing out the old adage that many heads are better than one.
  • Solving problems as a team also reduces the feeling of personal risk and exposure that’s common when one person is tasked with solving a puzzle. When that same problem is shared, the sense of risk gets dispersed, and individual team members are less likely to feel singled out.

Not only is there less chance of arriving at an unreasonable or biased solution when you problem-solve as a group, team members assigned to carry that solution out will feel more invested in its success.

Examples of problem solving skills in the workplace

Improving on your problem-solving skills helps you make the most of your brain’s natural capacity to analyze and reason things out.

There are dozens of problem-solving skills that play out in the average workplace – all of which can contribute to your ability to correct oversights, resolve conflict , and work around unexpected obstructions.

Here are a few common examples of problem-solving skills in the workplace, and tips on how to improve them.

1. Data gathering

Figuring out the cause of a problem hinges on collecting relevant data. Consulting efficiently with colleagues, conducting online research, and brainstorming with your team are all valuable data gathering skills.

2. Active listening

As opposed to listening in a purely supportive or empathetic way, active listening involves concentrating fully on what the other person is saying so you can understand the content, respond accordingly, and remember what was said later.

3. Troubleshooting

The ability to analyze and troubleshoot a situation with the help of any data and human input you’ve gathered is essential for drilling down into the core of a problem, and scrutinizing potential solutions.

4. Brainstorming

Brainstorming has become synonymous with creative thinking, innovative idea generation, and problem-solving. The more productive your brainstorming sessions, the more likely you and your group are to put together a list of quality, workable solutions.

It’s interesting to note that effective decision making is both a contributor to, and a by-product of, effective problem-solving.

For example, honing your analytical abilities and other problem-solving skills will inevitably help you make better decisions. The more efficient your decision-making process becomes, meanwhile, the better you’ll get at uncovering and acting on the most promising solution to any dilemma.

A simple problem-solving scenario

It’s clear that we can all benefit from getting more comfortable with problem-solving in the workplace.

Examples of situations where your problem-solving skills will come in handy aren’t difficult to find, and might include:

  • Fixing a technical issue for your customer.
  • Improving your student’s test performance.
  • Reducing the theft of your in-store merchandise.
  • Bumping up your marketing reach.

But, here’s the interesting thing. While it’s evident in each of these situations that there’s a problem to be solved, the exact nature of that problem isn’t so obvious.

In the student’s case, for example, you’d need additional input to help you figure out why they’re performing poorly. Only then would you be able to take steps to find the best-fit solution and achieve the desired learning outcome.

Here’s a simple scenario to help demonstrate that idea:

Bringing new customers onboard in a timely manner is an important part of your client relations strategy. Since hiring Alex a few weeks ago, however, your onboarding process has been taking longer than it should and team members are beginning to complain.

While you can see that the problem in this scenario is the fact that your team isn’t meeting their client onboarding goals, the key is to get clear on exactly what’s causing the hold-up.

You could jump to the conclusion that Alex has time management issues and that it’s time to start looking for a replacement. But, since one of the most common mistakes in business problem-solving is attempting to seize on a solution right away, that might cause you to waste time and resources on a remedy that ultimately proves unnecessary, or that doesn’t provide a viable fix.

Instead, it’s time to put your problem-solving skills to work.

Using data gathering and troubleshooting to pinpoint and clarify the bottleneck in your onboarding process – and active listening to interpret the situation from Alex’s perspective – you soon determine that the real cause of the problem is not what you thought.

In truth, an administrative oversight during the hiring process (yet another problem to be solved!) left Alex unaware of, and without access to, the business process map that’s so vital to efficiently onboarding new customers. Once you provide the necessary resources, it doesn’t take Alex long to get up to speed – and your client onboarding process to revert back to the well-oiled machine that it was.

Even with a team of eager problem-solvers by your side, the truth is that it’s often necessary to have the right problem-solving tools in place to achieve your desired results. That’s where versatile mind mapping software can help.

Not only does MindManager® provide a visual framework that fully supports the problem-solving process, it improves comprehension, inspires more creative solutions, and boosts your ability to make the best possible decisions.

Ready to take the next step?

MindManager helps boost collaboration and productivity among remote and hybrid teams to achieve better results, faster.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Why choose MindManager?

MindManager® helps individuals, teams, and enterprises bring greater clarity and structure to plans, projects, and processes. It provides visual productivity tools and mind mapping software to help take you and your organization to where you want to be.

Explore MindManager

Everything that you need to know to start your own business. From business ideas to researching the competition.

Practical and real-world advice on how to run your business — from managing employees to keeping the books.

Our best expert advice on how to grow your business — from attracting new customers to keeping existing customers happy and having the capital to do it.

Entrepreneurs and industry leaders share their best advice on how to take your company to the next level.

  • Business Ideas
  • Human Resources
  • Business Financing
  • Growth Studio
  • Ask the Board

Looking for your local chamber?

Interested in partnering with us?

Grow » thrive, how to foster creativity in the workplace.

Learn why fostering a culture of creativity is crucial for business success and how to build creativity in the workplace.

 Three coworkers are seen through floor-to-ceiling glass panels; they are writing on the multi-colored post-it notes stuck to the glass. From left to right, the three coworkers are a curly-haired woman wearing glasses and a striped shirt; a shorter person with blond hair, their face obscured by the post-it notes; and a man wearing a salmon-colored button-up shirt.

Creativity is an essential skill that can be useful in many aspects of life, including work, where creative problem-solving can transform into indispensable innovations — but many wonder how to spark and foster the spirit of creativity in an office environment.

In March 2023, the University of Essex and Humboldt University of Berlin conducted a psychological study involving hundreds of papers and thousands of respondents to find what techniques have the best long-term impacts on creativity, many of which business owners, managers, and employees can adapt to work. Ultimately, training that highlights mental techniques, meditation and open thinking, and experiencing different cultures unconsciously expands horizons and boosts creativity.

Techniques to foster creativity

If you’re feeling uninspired, here are a few techniques and strategies you can use to ignite your creativity in the workplace.

  • Brainstorming: Brainstorming sessions have evolved over the years to unfetter minds and foster out-of-the-box thinking. The most important factor in brainstorming with a group is to remain open-minded so all participants can throw out larger-than-life or nonviable ideas to get to the best solution.
  • Meditation: Meditation and its benefits can serve a vital purpose in professional growth and development. Meditation can lower stress and anxiety, enable divergent thinking, enhance emotional intelligence and self-awareness, and invite open-mindedness.
  • Brainwriting: A group can engage in brainwriting by having each person write down the problem that needs a solution. Independent of the group, each participant takes time to write their list of potential solutions. When everyone is finished, group members share their thoughts and generate more related ideas based on the solutions provided.
  • Storyboarding: Storyboarding is commonly used in business for creating ads and videos, but it can also be used for problem-solving. An outline of visual or written elements can help organize ideas and determine solution feasibility, even if it's not complete.
  • Traveling : Research indicates that traveling — especially to different countries — and living, working, eating, and existing in different cultures unconsciously expands horizons. Allow workers to take a vacation or even plan a company retreat to get the juices flowing.

The value of creativity in the workplace

Creativity in the workplace brings many benefits , including:

  • Developing innovative solutions : Innovation is fueled by creativity. Creative problem-solving can foster actionable solutions to existing problems or help generate new ideas and opportunities to grow.
  • Fostering productivity: Creativity begets productivity in many ways. When employees get stuck in a rut, creativity can pull them out of their comfort zone or give them a different routine to re-spark passion. In addition, creativity helps to eliminate a fear of failure, which unshackles employees to have a flow of ideas.
  • Providing adaptability: Creativity enables workplace adaptability. For instance, business owners can explore new product ideas based on customer demand. This entrepreneurial approach allows for creative problem-solving and adapting to changes.

[Read more: Rewarding Creativity: What Research Reveals About How to Inspire Employees to Be Innovative ]

The act of rewarding creativity communicates its value and incentivizes employees to continue thinking outside the box.

How to enhance creativity

As a business owner, you can increase creativity within yourself and your team in several ways. Depending on the business size, scale, industry, and routine, some methods may work better than others.

Implement a flexible work schedule

For teams with the ability to do so, implementing a flexible work schedule can foster creativity by varying employee routines and reducing stress. Taking a flexible work schedule a step further to a “work anywhere” allowance also enables employees to be productive at home, on trips, and more.

Provide a critical thinking area

A setting can stifle or feed creativity — consider the colors, lighting, noise level, and number of distractions in meeting rooms. Providing a well-lit, calm, no-distraction zone for employees to think critically about problems can cultivate creativity in your team — and create a beautifully designed new pocket of the office.

Reward creativity

[Read more: 8 Meeting Icebreaker Ideas That Your Employees Will Actually Enjoy ]

How to overcome creative blocks

All professionals remain susceptible to a “block” — whether it’s in writing, designing, or even running a business. To overcome these creative blocks, consider carrying a notebook around to catalog what inspires you, allow yourself a refresher day, or forgo technology and do something tactile. The more you let yourself think freely, the more your creativity will flourish.

[Read more: 5 Tips to Boost Your Brainstorming Session ]

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

CO—is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here .

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Become a small business member and save!

Become an integral voice in the world’s largest business organization when you join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a small business member. Members also receive exclusive discounts from B2B partners, including a special offer from FedEx that can help your business save hundreds a year on shipping. Become a member today and start saving!

Subscribe to our newsletter, Midnight Oil

Expert business advice, news, and trends, delivered weekly

By signing up you agree to the CO— Privacy Policy. You can opt out anytime.

For more tips on how to help your business thrive

How to “spring clean” your business, how to be a better entrepreneur in 2024, how to be a better boss in 2024.

By continuing on our website, you agree to our use of cookies for statistical and personalisation purposes. Know More

Welcome to CO—

Designed for business owners, CO— is a site that connects like minds and delivers actionable insights for next-level growth.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce 1615 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20062

Social links

Looking for local chamber, stay in touch.

  • Choosing Workplace
  • Customer Stories
  • Workplace for Good
  • Getting Started
  • Why Workplace
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Future of Work
  • How can Workplace help you?
  • Business Communication
  • Employee Engagement
  • Strengthen Culture
  • Getting Connected
  • Frontline Workers
  • Remote and Hybrid Working
  • Integrations
  • Interactive Demo
  • Features at a Glance
  • Connect to all your tools
  • Workplace & Microsoft
  • Integrations directory
  • Knowledge Library
  • Key Updates
  • Auto-Translate
  • Safety Center
  • Access Codes
  • Pricing Plans
  • Forrester ROI Study
  • Events & Webinars
  • Ebooks & Guides
  • Employee Experience
  • Remote Working
  • Team Collaboration
  • Productivity
  • Become A Partner
  • Service & Reseller Partners
  • Integrations Partners
  • Start Using Workplace
  • Mastering Workplace Features
  • Workplace Use Cases
  • Technical Resources
  • Workplace Academy
  • Help Center
  • Customer Communities
  • What's New in Workplace
  • Set up Guides
  • Domain Management
  • Workplace Integrations
  • Account Management
  • Authentication
  • IT Configuration
  • Account Lifecycle
  • Security and Governance
  • Workplace API
  • Getting started
  • Using Workplace
  • Managing Workplace
  • IT and Developer Support
  • Get in touch

The importance of creativity at work and 9 ways to improve it

Whatever industry you’re in, creativity in the workplace is an important element of success. here’s how you can bring more creativity into your company..

Creativity at Work

What is creativity in the workplace?

When you think of creativity at work, you might be imagining architects at drawing boards, graphic designers creating artwork for bold campaigns, or fashion designers running up masterpieces on their sewing machines. All these are definitely creative activities in the workplace, but they’re not the only kind of creativity that matters in a business.

Creativity in the broadest sense is about having a mindset that is imaginative, curious and open to doing things differently. Anyone can be creative, and it doesn’t need to be restricted to specific departments or job roles. Whether or not you feel you have artistic talent or a natural gift for design, your creativity is a valuable contribution to your workplace.

In recognition of this, more and more businesses are adopting design thinking, a process for innovation and problem-solving that developed in the creative industries but can be applied to workplaces of all kinds. Design thinking solves problems by focusing on human experiences and empathy. By better understanding how people think, feel and behave in relation to an interaction, you are better able to find solutions that work.

The design thinking process encourages lots of ideation and welcomes different approaches to the creative challenge at hand. It allows for plenty of trial and error too, so that different possibilities can be explored.

In order for creativity to thrive, it needs to be understood and valued at all levels of a business. Leaders can model a creative mindset in order to foster a culture of creativity. By valuing novel ideas and being open to new solutions, they can send a message that creativity and innovation is welcome. They can also help by allowing time and space for creativity.

Learn how global HR leaders build company culture

Download these 6 expert tips to discover the link between employee engagement and company culture.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Why is creativity important in the workplace?

Intuitively, we understand creativity as a positive thing. But from a business perspective, why does it make sense to prioritize creativity in your company? There are two principal factors that make a creative workplace a smart option for your bottom line.

Firstly, a creative workplace is more likely to be an enjoyable one for employees. There is a well-researched link between wellbeing and creativity, with studies showing that happier people are more creative, and that creativity makes us happier too. Aside from being pleasant to work with and more likely to be engaged in their jobs, happy employees are 13% more productive, according to Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

A creative environment can improve the employee experience in other ways, too. Creativity at work tends to involve collaborative problem solving and teamwork, which strengthens work relationships and fosters a feeling of belonging. There’s also a sense of ownership that comes with having helped to solve a problem, and employees who feel this way tend to be more engaged at work.

The second organizational benefit of creativity is its ability to drive growth – according to Forrester data, companies that show creativity grow 2.6x faster than their peers – and innovation . Innovation is what helps companies stay relevant and competitive in a changing market, and it’s what allows them to adapt to external changes large and small, from regulatory changes to major world events. A business that always does what it has always done, sticking to the same processes and technologies it adopted at its inception, becomes progressively more vulnerable to obsolescence or to being outpaced by its competitors over time.

Creativity and innovation are different things, although they are closely related. As Eli Amdur puts it, writing in Forbes,

“Creativity is a trait – whether personal or organizational – that leads to something new. Innovation is that something new.”

So, if innovation is the business benefit, creativity is the road that will take you there.

Improving creativity at work

In a Gallup poll of around 16,000 employees, three factors emerged as the necessary building blocks of a creative workplace.

Expectations to be creative at work

Time to be creative

Freedom to take the risks necessary to be creative

But how can you put these insights to work? Here are 9 ways to make your company more creative.

1. Effective brainstorming

Brainstorming is a perennially popular technique for generating ideas, and most people are familiar with it. But it still requires a bit of preparation to make a brainstorming session as useful as possible. Try involving different modes of communication, including spoken words, writing, drawing and contributing to a group document. You can also help get the creative circuits firing with a group exercise. Make sure your chosen brainstorming location has plenty of space and isn’t subject to too much interruption. It can also help to keep the temperature and noise levels comfortable to help reduce stress.

2. Diverse teams

The more varied your teams are, the more ideas they will be able to bring to the table. There is a proven link between multi-cultural experiences and creativity, with research showing that the more multicultural experiences a person has, the greater their creative performance. Your company’s creativity will benefit from having a wealth of cultural experiences in your team, from different backgrounds and different age groups to diversity of ethnicity, ability and gender.

Hiring a more diverse workforce may be a medium to long-term goal, rather than something you can implement right now. But you can introduce some fresh thinking to your creative process straight away by involving a mix of people from different teams, departments and even different seniority levels.

3. Creative problem solving

Creative problem solving (CPS) was developed in the 1940s by Alex Osborn of the Creative Education Foundation. Osborn is also responsible for the phenomenon of brainstorming, which forms part of the CPS process. CPS is a tried and tested process that’s worth considering if you want to address a business challenge creatively.

CPS involves starting with divergent thinking, i.e., coming up with as many ideas as possible in a brainstorming session, before moving to convergent thinking, where you select the most viable outputs from the brainstorm and develop them further. In CPS, problems are framed as questions, inviting answers that take the form of solutions.

Another hallmark of the process is responding positively to suggestions - always ‘yes and…’ rather than ‘no’.

4. Big-picture thinking

When you adopt big-picture thinking, you broaden your perspective to include the wider context of what you’re thinking about. As well as considering it in the present, you might consider how and why it started and what might happen in the future if you take one path or another in your work. Big-picture thinking can help prevent you getting stuck in the details of a problem or challenge so you can move towards a solution.

5. Encouraging creative risk taking

For many businesses, taking risks can be a sticking point in developing a more creative culture. Because creativity involves thinking of things afresh, it can challenge established processes, products and ways of working. It can also put things like profit and growth on the line when you take a plunge into the unknown and try something that may not turn out as you hope.

However, risk is inherent to creativity, and it’s important not to let aversion to risk prevent your business reaping the benefits. That means giving employees permission to come up with ideas that fail, and praising them for trying things out even when they don’t ultimately work.

6. Avoiding blame

Blame culture helps nobody. When things go wrong, move immediately to learning why it happened and what lessons can be learned from it so you can do things differently in the future.

7. Giving time for projects to mature

Creativity isn’t like other forms of work that can be made to go faster by adding more pressure. A person or team’s creative process might be non-linear, with new ideas and modifications emerging unpredictably through a process of intuition. While you can certainly lay fertile ground for creative activity to take place, you can’t demand that it happens faster, or indeed happens at all.

Research at Harvard Business School suggests that there may be a ‘sweet spot’ where creativity and time-pressure optimally interact. Too much pressure will reduce creativity, while no pressure at all could lead to a state of inertia.

8. Giving time for passion projects

Giving employees time and space to carry out passion projects, over which they have ownership and autonomy, can strengthen their sense of ownership and engagement. It may also be a way to pursue some of the fruits of your divergent thinking during the creative problem solving or brainstorming process – i.e., the ones that didn’t get carried forward into development but still have potential to add value.

9. Encouraging collaboration

Shared creativity can amplify each person’s contribution, adding motivation and inspiration as ideas are validated and encouraged by the group. However, collaboration is not a one size fits all approach, as some people find group work less inspiring than working alone. For truly creative collaboration , it’s important that you find the blend of autonomy, group work and idea sharing that works best for your team.

Keep reading:

  • How to avoid groupthink
  • Six essential skills for the future of work
  • How to improve your personal productivity

Let's Stay Connected

Get the latest news and insights from the frontline of work.

By submitting this form, you agree to receive marketing-related electronic communications from Facebook, including news, events, updates and promotional emails. You may withdraw your consent and unsubscribe from such emails at any time. You also acknowledge that you have read and agree to the Workplace Privacy terms.

The four types of organizational culture: which is the best for your business?

Learn how to lead a connected company., recent posts.

Team collaboration | 10 minute read

How to build team collaboration.

A collaborative approach can help your people work smarter, more creatively and more effectively. Here’s how to get team collaboration right.

Collaboration | 3 minute read

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Discover essential tips to improve multidisciplinary collaboration, including the benefits of multiple points of view and how to improve teamwork in your workplace.

Team collaboration | 8 minute read

How To Make Cross-team Collaboration Work Effectively

Learn how to encourage cross-team collaboration and understand the best practices and pitfalls to leverage better collaboration across your teams

The service you are accessing is either under high load or has detected unusual activity from your network location.

To protect this service from abuse please complete the challenge below to continue.

What code is in the image? submit

Your unique support ID for this request is: 96619576188062781.

If you see this challenge frequently or believe you are seeing it in error please record this ID and contact the Deakin University IT Service Desk . Additional information is available from the IT Knowledge Base .

Why Creativity Is the Key to a Successful Workplace

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

In the current climate of economic uncertainty, many workers in tech are facing the fear of potential layoffs . In response, employers can take proactive steps to alleviate these anxieties and foster a culture of creativity that will help employees to tap into their emotions and feel more psychologically safe. 

Those skills allow colleagues to build stronger connections and generate meaningful change in an organization. It also helps to foster an environment where thoughtful, sympathetic leadership can thrive. A recent report from Harvard Business Review suggests that emotional intelligence plays an important role in this process.

5 Ways to Foster Creativity on Your Team

  • Create opportunities for employees to share their experiences.
  • Promote an inclusive environment.
  • Lead with trust and accountability.
  • Create opportunities for cross-functional collaboration
  •  Encourage creative team bonding

By fostering a place of emotional intelligence, employees can build trust with their colleagues, improve their self-awareness and ultimately be more effective in their role at work. According to McKinsey ,  the demand for emotional intelligence skills is expected to grow by 26 percent by 2030. 

While some teams may be stretched thin, making time for creative opportunities can aid in the development of emotional intelligence and yield more effective team collaboration. Here’s how. 

How to Foster Creativity and Emotional Intelligence 

In times of a looming recession, when organizations face shrinking budgets, employers can empower their workforce to tackle challenges and show increased resilience by honoring creativity. A Harvard Business Review report cites research that revealed the importance of “safe communication climates,” which is similar to psychological safety, as a key for creative workplaces to thrive. 

Here are some steps you can take to foster creativity on your team.

More on Company Culture It’s Time to Kill the Daily Stand-Up

Create Opportunities for Employees to Share Their Experiences

One way to foster creativity within your team is to organize informal learning sessions during lunch breaks in which employees can present their skills, hobbies or recent learnings on a subject relevant to the team. This is also a great way to help team members build rapport with each other, a necessity for a creative environment. You can also schedule regular creative feedback sessions, during which employees can openly share their perspectives and suggestions for change. 

Another great way to engage employees across the scope of the business is to provide opportunities for employees to create their own content to use for blog or marketing purposes. The goal is to give team members a space to write about their work, their accomplishments and their passions. This helps build confidence and allows them to feel understood. When sharing this content, put their names on it and make sure to tag them on social media. By uplifting the voices and experience of your employees, you can empower them to share more of their ideas openly and foster trust in this creative space.

It’s also important to lead by example. Demonstrate your own commitment to creativity by actively participating in team brainstorms and sharing your own ideas. Prove you are open to new perspectives by asking your team questions. Embracing a growth mindset and showing you can be flexible when presented with new information or a different viewpoint will set the tone for your team and inspire them to follow your lead.

Promote an Inclusive Environment 

To promote an inclusive environment and foster psychological safety, it’s essential to make it clear to your team that you value open and honest communication that goes both ways. As a team leader or manager, asking questions like, “What am I not doing, understanding, or seeing?” and “In what ways can I be helpful to you as your manager right now?,” are critical to creating the right communication channels that allow for psychological safety. 

What Is Psychological Safety?

Psychological safety is a term coined by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson that refers to a belief among team members that they can make mistakes, share ideas and take risks without fear of negative consequences. 

Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson originally coined the term psychological safety , which refers to a shared belief among team members that they can take risks, express concerns or ideas, ask  questions and admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences. 

Consider implementing weekly one-on-one meetings to discuss tasks and workflow, as well as recurring monthly check-ins, during which, managers and team leaders can dive into how a team member is doing, what support they need and how you can improve processes. Having regular conversations will help you foster creativity and ensure that your team members feel heard and valued.

Encouraging open communication and providing the space for regular check-ins and opportunities for leadership to address team concerns without retribution fosters an environment where employees feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions. 

More on Company Culture Want People to Return to the Office? Focus on Relationships.

Lead With Trust and Accountability 

In today’s world of side hustles and polyworking , flexibility means empowering employees to work in ways that suit their needs and interests. This requires a foundation of trust and accountability. According to the National Institute of Health ,  micromanaging is one of the three top reasons that an employee will resign. It’s critical to give your employee the flexibility to balance their work and life . This means setting clear expectations while holding people accountable to make sure they get their work done. It requires not questioning if they are online exactly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or caring about whether they took a yoga class in the middle of the day. 

Instead, the goal is to show that you are confident you hired the right person to do their job and trust they will complete their work. Holding regular check-ins with each employee allows you to be honest and upfront about performance, expectations and feedback. Providing resources like unlimited PTO so an employee doesn’t have to take a sick day when their child is ill is another example of great remote work leadership . 

Remember that teams lead by example, so it’s important for leaders to do the things they hope to see in teams. Be upfront right away about a disappointment or confusion with their work so that they know what the expectations are and are not surprised later down the road. Ultimately, flexible work is about creating an environment that supports personal and professional growth, while also driving business success.

Create Opportunities for Cross-Functional Collaboration 

Collaboration across departments exposes employees to different perspectives, ideas, and approaches to problem solving. It's essential to cultivate a work culture that values experimentation and encourages employees to be creative. This type of collaboration can foster creativity by breaking down silos and encourages new ways of thinking. 

Employers should offer opportunities for collaboration across different departments and encourage employees to explore new assignments that align with their passion and skills. For example, start a mentorship program for junior employees to shadow other senior executives, or encourage walking meetings that allow employees to connect outside or around the office. 

Consider implementing a hackathon , which are once quarterly, day-long events that allow teams to come together and develop unique solutions to problems. 

Another example is giving employees a professional development stipend so that they can access courses they’re interested in, and then blocking off dedicated time each month to allow employees to work on these projects. Afterward, come together as a team to discuss what everyone learned and the new tools or skills they found valuable. 

Encourage Creative Team Bonding

A  recent Gallup report   revealed that feelings of isolation reduce employee productivity up to 21 percent. Creating experiences to promote team bonding helps employees develop new skills and better understand their colleague’s perspectives while also creating a supportive work environment that values creativity and personal growth.  

Organizing occasional off-site events, such as team-building activities or workshops, can be a great way to build relationships and explore new perspectives. Consider planning company-wide or smaller in-person team events that allow employees to attend creative workshops or training sessions focused on emotional intelligence. These events encourage personal and professional growth and create a supportive work environment where employees feel valued and connected. 

More on Company Culture 7 Ways to Define and Create Your Aspirational Culture

Why Creativity Is Important for Employee Well-Being

In times of uncertainty employee well-being and productivity is at risk. A way to mitigate this risk is by highlighting the importance of psychological safety and emotional intelligence in the workplace. To achieve this, employers have an opportunity to promote creativity as a vehicle to foster a supportive and inclusive work environment. 

By giving employees the opportunity to express themselves and take risks, and prioritizing their creative pursuits and personal growth, employers can facilitate stronger, more meaningful connections between employees and their work. It can also help a team to understand each other’s perspectives and feel more resilient to new challenges. Embracing this perspective can lead to breakthrough ideas, new opportunities and a more innovative and resilient organization

Built In’s expert contributor network publishes thoughtful, solutions-oriented stories written by innovative tech professionals. It is the tech industry’s definitive destination for sharing compelling, first-person accounts of problem-solving on the road to innovation.

Great Companies Need Great People. That's Where We Come In.

  • Business Essentials
  • Leadership & Management
  • Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation
  • *New* Digital Transformation
  • Finance & Accounting
  • Business in Society
  • For Organizations
  • Support Portal
  • Media Coverage
  • Founding Donors
  • Leadership Team

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

  • Harvard Business School →
  • HBS Online →
  • Business Insights →

Business Insights

Harvard Business School Online's Business Insights Blog provides the career insights you need to achieve your goals and gain confidence in your business skills.

  • Career Development
  • Communication
  • Decision-Making
  • Earning Your MBA
  • Negotiation
  • News & Events
  • Productivity
  • Staff Spotlight
  • Student Profiles
  • Work-Life Balance
  • Alternative Investments
  • Business Analytics
  • Business Strategy
  • Business and Climate Change
  • Design Thinking and Innovation
  • Digital Marketing Strategy
  • Disruptive Strategy
  • Economics for Managers
  • Entrepreneurship Essentials
  • Financial Accounting
  • Global Business
  • Launching Tech Ventures
  • Leadership Principles
  • Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability
  • Leading with Finance
  • Management Essentials
  • Negotiation Mastery
  • Organizational Leadership
  • Power and Influence for Positive Impact
  • Strategy Execution
  • Sustainable Business Strategy
  • Sustainable Investing
  • Winning with Digital Platforms

How to Be a More Creative Problem-Solver at Work: 8 Tips

Business professionals using creative problem-solving at work

  • 01 Mar 2022

The importance of creativity in the workplace—particularly when problem-solving—is undeniable. Business leaders can’t approach new problems with old solutions and expect the same result.

This is where innovation-based processes need to guide problem-solving. Here’s an overview of what creative problem-solving is, along with tips on how to use it in conjunction with design thinking.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Creative Problem-Solving?

Encountering problems with no clear cause can be frustrating. This occurs when there’s disagreement around a defined problem or research yields unclear results. In such situations, creative problem-solving helps develop solutions, despite a lack of clarity.

While creative problem-solving is less structured than other forms of innovation, it encourages exploring open-ended ideas and shifting perspectives—thereby fostering innovation and easier adaptation in the workplace. It also works best when paired with other innovation-based processes, such as design thinking .

Creative Problem-Solving and Design Thinking

Design thinking is a solutions-based mentality that encourages innovation and problem-solving. It’s guided by an iterative process that Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar outlines in four stages in the online course Design Thinking and Innovation :

The four stages of design thinking: clarify, ideate, develop, and implement

  • Clarify: This stage involves researching a problem through empathic observation and insights.
  • Ideate: This stage focuses on generating ideas and asking open-ended questions based on observations made during the clarification stage.
  • Develop: The development stage involves exploring possible solutions based on the ideas you generate. Experimentation and prototyping are both encouraged.
  • Implement: The final stage is a culmination of the previous three. It involves finalizing a solution’s development and communicating its value to stakeholders.

Although user research is an essential first step in the design thinking process, there are times when it can’t identify a problem’s root cause. Creative problem-solving addresses this challenge by promoting the development of new perspectives.

Leveraging tools like design thinking and creativity at work can further your problem-solving abilities. Here are eight tips for doing so.

Design Thinking and Innovation | Uncover creative solutions to your business problems | Learn More

8 Creative Problem-Solving Tips

1. empathize with your audience.

A fundamental practice of design thinking’s clarify stage is empathy. Understanding your target audience can help you find creative and relevant solutions for their pain points through observing them and asking questions.

Practice empathy by paying attention to others’ needs and avoiding personal comparisons. The more you understand your audience, the more effective your solutions will be.

2. Reframe Problems as Questions

If a problem is difficult to define, reframe it as a question rather than a statement. For example, instead of saying, "The problem is," try framing around a question like, "How might we?" Think creatively by shifting your focus from the problem to potential solutions.

Consider this hypothetical case study: You’re the owner of a local coffee shop trying to fill your tip jar. Approaching the situation with a problem-focused mindset frames this as: "We need to find a way to get customers to tip more." If you reframe this as a question, however, you can explore: "How might we make it easier for customers to tip?" When you shift your focus from the shop to the customer, you empathize with your audience. You can take this train of thought one step further and consider questions such as: "How might we provide a tipping method for customers who don't carry cash?"

Whether you work at a coffee shop, a startup, or a Fortune 500 company, reframing can help surface creative solutions to problems that are difficult to define.

3. Defer Judgment of Ideas

If you encounter an idea that seems outlandish or unreasonable, a natural response would be to reject it. This instant judgment impedes creativity. Even if ideas seem implausible, they can play a huge part in ideation. It's important to permit the exploration of original ideas.

While judgment can be perceived as negative, it’s crucial to avoid accepting ideas too quickly. If you love an idea, don’t immediately pursue it. Give equal consideration to each proposal and build on different concepts instead of acting on them immediately.

4. Overcome Cognitive Fixedness

Cognitive fixedness is a state of mind that prevents you from recognizing a situation’s alternative solutions or interpretations instead of considering every situation through the lens of past experiences.

Although it's efficient in the short-term, cognitive fixedness interferes with creative thinking because it prevents you from approaching situations unbiased. It's important to be aware of this tendency so you can avoid it.

5. Balance Divergent and Convergent Thinking

One of the key principles of creative problem-solving is the balance of divergent and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the process of brainstorming multiple ideas without limitation; open-ended creativity is encouraged. It’s an effective tool for generating ideas, but not every idea can be explored. Divergent thinking eventually needs to be grounded in reality.

Convergent thinking, on the other hand, is the process of narrowing ideas down into a few options. While converging ideas too quickly stifles creativity, it’s an important step that bridges the gap between ideation and development. It's important to strike a healthy balance between both to allow for the ideation and exploration of creative ideas.

6. Use Creative Tools

Using creative tools is another way to foster innovation. Without a clear cause for a problem, such tools can help you avoid cognitive fixedness and abrupt decision-making. Here are several examples:

Problem Stories

Creating a problem story requires identifying undesired phenomena (UDP) and taking note of events that precede and result from them. The goal is to reframe the situations to visualize their cause and effect.

To start, identify a UDP. Then, discover what events led to it. Observe and ask questions of your consumer base to determine the UDP’s cause.

Next, identify why the UDP is a problem. What effect does the UDP have that necessitates changing the status quo? It's helpful to visualize each event in boxes adjacent to one another when answering such questions.

The problem story can be extended in either direction, as long as there are additional cause-and-effect relationships. Once complete, focus on breaking the chains connecting two subsequent events by disrupting the cause-and-effect relationship between them.

Alternate Worlds

The alternate worlds tool encourages you to consider how people from different backgrounds would approach similar situations. For instance, how would someone in hospitality versus manufacturing approach the same problem? This tool isn't intended to instantly solve problems but, rather, to encourage idea generation and creativity.

7. Use Positive Language

It's vital to maintain a positive mindset when problem-solving and avoid negative words that interfere with creativity. Positive language prevents quick judgments and overcomes cognitive fixedness. Instead of "no, but," use words like "yes, and."

Positive language makes others feel heard and valued rather than shut down. This practice doesn’t necessitate agreeing with every idea but instead approaching each from a positive perspective.

Using “yes, and” as a tool for further idea exploration is also effective. If someone presents an idea, build upon it using “yes, and.” What additional features could improve it? How could it benefit consumers beyond its intended purpose?

While it may not seem essential, this small adjustment can make a big difference in encouraging creativity.

8. Practice Design Thinking

Practicing design thinking can make you a more creative problem-solver. While commonly associated with the workplace, adopting a design thinking mentality can also improve your everyday life. Here are several ways you can practice design thinking:

  • Learn from others: There are many examples of design thinking in business . Review case studies to learn from others’ successes, research problems companies haven't addressed, and consider alternative solutions using the design thinking process.
  • Approach everyday problems with a design thinking mentality: One of the best ways to practice design thinking is to apply it to your daily life. Approach everyday problems using design thinking’s four-stage framework to uncover what solutions it yields.
  • Study design thinking: While learning design thinking independently is a great place to start, taking an online course can offer more insight and practical experience. The right course can teach you important skills , increase your marketability, and provide valuable networking opportunities.

Which HBS Online Entrepreneurship and Innovation Course is Right for You? | Download Your Free Flowchart

Ready to Become a Creative Problem-Solver?

Though creativity comes naturally to some, it's an acquired skill for many. Regardless of which category you're in, improving your ability to innovate is a valuable endeavor. Whether you want to bolster your creativity or expand your professional skill set, taking an innovation-based course can enhance your problem-solving.

If you're ready to become a more creative problem-solver, 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.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

About the Author

  • Follow Skillsarena on YouTube
  • Follow Skillsarena on Facebook
  • Follow Skillsarena on Twitter
  • Follow Skillsarena on LinkedIn
  • Follow Skillsarena on Instagram
  • Request Demo
  • importance-of-problem-solving-skills

Why Problem Solving Skills are Important in the Workplace

Posted 26/10/2021 by Vicki Mann

You can read this in 8 minutes.

In the modern workplace, problem solving skills are no less than essential. Needless to say, the world of work is not always plain sailing. No matter what role or industry you find yourself in, challenging situations are not just likely, but to be very much expected. Every role imaginable will come with its own unique set of problems that need to be solved, but what ties these situations together is their spontaneity and their need to be met with problem-solving and creative thinking. Unforeseen circumstances that will continuously arise can only be approached with practicality, common sense and personal skill. Problem solving techniques are at the heart of these abilities, and they can be applied to just about every work-related task, from organisation to communication and collaboration, managing deadlines to maintaining interpersonal relationships with colleagues. Due to the necessity of problem-solving techniques in every workplace, it could not be more important that employers use cognitive ability tests when sifting through applications to optimise recruitment selection.  

What are problem solving skills?

So, what are problem-solving skills? Problem-solving in the workplace entails a range of techniques: working around unexpected new issues, managing changing variables, the confidence to approach a new task and the knowledge of how to solve interpersonal problems. It also includes certain intrinsic qualities, such as practicality and confidence: that is, the capacity to spot when something is going wrong and raise questions which might help to solve it in the workplace. A problem solver can confidently find and manage solutions for complex and unexpected situations. Problem-solving skills involve a balance of analytical thinking, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills. Analytical thinking skills are crucial when it comes to identifying a problem, and creativity is key in finding methods to solve it. Critical thinking enables somebody to see which solution might be the most effective. Problem-solving skills are useful both in the short-term and the long-term. A candidate with good problem-solving skills will ensure that obstacles are surmounted in the moment, and the best solution is found, but they will also be able to identify the variables that gave rise to the problem in the first place, and make changes to prevent similar issues occurring in the future. In this sense, problem-solving skills are the key to approaching most complex issues and finding more enduring solutions. A good problem-solver is an asset to any organisation, and is likely to perform their job more successfully. In order to make objective hiring decisions and select the candidates with the best problem-solving capacities, your organisation will need to test for specific skills. These skills involve the ways in which a person deals with real life situations, and may not be apparent from conventional techniques such as interview questions, which do not necessarily indicate how a candidate would solve a problem in the workplace. Pre-employment skills tests, on the other hand, are a bias-free solution, ensuring that your organisation hires the applicants best suited to their roles. When assessing an applicant's capacity for problem-solving, there are six key skills which are tested.  

1. Collaboration Skills

Although problem-solving is something which exists within each individual to a greater or lesser degree, it also determines how an individual is able to interact with a group and complete a task collaboratively. Reaching a good solution and setting it in motion often requires collaboration. A problem solver knows that working with others successfully (regardless of their  personality type ) is the best route to solve most of the challenges that crop up both in the workplace and in everyday life.  

2. Communication Skills

When problems arise in any organisation, it is important that employees can approach them calmly, communicate the situation to others in clear and succinct terms and work together to solve it. Complex problems require good communicators, those who can simplify the situation and express the main issues in order to come to an efficient solution.  

3. Decision-Making Skills

The capacity and confidence to make a quick decision and stick to it is a crucial problem-solving technique. In a complicated situation, coming to a level-headed decision quickly and committing to it is crucial to solving the issue.  

4. Analytical Thinking Skills

The analytical mindset is necessary in confronting any problem or task and reaching a solution. It is imperative that a candidate, when faced with an issue, is able to analyse the situation and identify what has gone wrong. Analytical thinking skills are also key in the ability to select the best out of a range of possible solutions.  

5. Creative Thinking Skills

Creative thinking is an important capacity when it comes to coming up with methods to solve a problem in the workplace. The potential to approach a complicated issue from a variety of angles, and to apply the imagination to overcoming a task makes it easier to solve a problem in an efficient way.  

6. Listening Skills

Problem-solving skills rely on the fundamental faculty of listening. Listening is the surest method to collect information about an issue, weigh up different perspectives and opinions, and begin to understand a problem in order to solve it. The facility to listen to coworkers in the workplace is also a way to prevent complicated and problematic situations from occurring in the first place! Needless to say, in the world of work today, these techniques are invaluable, and it is essential that employers use psychometric measures to test for problem-solving skills in order to improve recruitment. Knowing a candidate's ability in these key areas is important, and can prevent the risk of a bad hire. Recruitment tests are very important, as getting the hire wrong does not just cost money, it also results in a loss of time and loss of productivity. Pre-employment testing, particularly tests which measure an applicant's capacity to solve a problem, and decide on the best solution, are a cost-efficient means to improve the recruitment process and ensure your company's success and growth.  

How to assess candidates' problem-solving skills

We offer different pre-employment tests which accurately assess an applicant's strength in key areas and their technique in identifying good solutions to problems in the workplace.

Situational Judgement Tests

The  Situational Judgement Test  is a kind of psychometric test that measures soft skills such as common sense, non-academic behaviours, technique in identifying solutions and practical intelligence. The tests work in a realistic and practical way, presenting applicants with a variety of different workplace situations which they might encounter when performing the functions that the job requires. Undoubtedly, the capacity to see which course of action a prospective employee would take or which solution they would choose in a given situation gives the employer a valuable insight into their specific skill set, and how they might respond to the demands of the job.

Logic-Based Aptitude Tests

Our  logical reasoning tests  measure a candidate's non-verbal intelligence - their capacity to analyse situations, extract rules, and find the right solution using logical and abstract reasoning. This is an in-depth cognitive test and so it provides an accurate indication of how successful a candidate will be when faced with workplace problems which they have to solve. Unlike most aptitude tests, logical reasoning tests do not measure knowledge in a particular subject area, simply their thought problem-solving process. This means that it is a useful tool in the recruitment process for any employer to evaluate applicants in any field.

Bespoke Tests

The option to  create your own tests  tailored to the demands of your organisation is a successful means of guaranteeing the right hires and ensuring good job performance. At Skillsarena, we have the expertise to create a quiz or any other testing experience that will assess the problem-solving skills that are most necessary to your particular company.   The importance of problem-solving skills in the modern workplace cannot be overstated. In order to make sure that your company grows, it is imperative that employees have the analytical and creative skills necessary to solve any problems they might face in their jobs. Our  Situational Judgement Tests ,  Logical Reasoning Tests , and  Bespoke Tests  are the best method of guaranteeing a good hire, testing an applicant's capacity to solve a real problem in ways that can't be measured by interview questions alone. As an employer, you know which skills and problem-solving techniques are most important for your particular company. At Skillsarena, we help you evaluate these abilities in applicants, and in doing so we make sure that your organisation is productive and successful. Get started with Skillsarena today to bring out the best in your candidates. After taking a look through our test offerings,  create an account with our self-service system . This way, we can get you started with your Skillsarena profile as soon as possible. If you require any assistance, give us a call on 0203 693 2201 or send an email to [email protected] . We look forward to hearing from you!

You may also like

Posted on Mon, July 31, 2023

Skillsarena Proctoring: Revolutionising Online Skills Testing for Reliable Hiring Outcomes

Posted on Tue, July 20, 2021

Video Interviews: 8 Benefits of Recruiting Using Video

Posted on Mon, August 22, 2022

Supporting National Inclusion Week with Recite Me

Learn more

How it works

Transform your enterprise with the scalable mindsets, skills, & behavior change that drive performance.

Explore how BetterUp connects to your core business systems.

We pair AI with the latest in human-centered coaching to drive powerful, lasting learning and behavior change.

Build leaders that accelerate team performance and engagement.

Unlock performance potential at scale with AI-powered curated growth journeys.

Build resilience, well-being and agility to drive performance across your entire enterprise.

Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders.

Unlock business impact from the top with executive coaching.

Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.

Accelerate the performance and potential of your agencies and employees.

See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce.

Discover how BetterUp measurably impacts key business outcomes for organizations like yours.

A demo is the first step to transforming your business. Meet with us to develop a plan for attaining your goals.

Request a demo

  • What is coaching?

Learn how 1:1 coaching works, who its for, and if it's right for you.

Accelerate your personal and professional growth with the expert guidance of a BetterUp Coach.

Types of Coaching

Navigate career transitions, accelerate your professional growth, and achieve your career goals with expert coaching.

Enhance your communication skills for better personal and professional relationships, with tailored coaching that focuses on your needs.

Find balance, resilience, and well-being in all areas of your life with holistic coaching designed to empower you.

Discover your perfect match : Take our 5-minute assessment and let us pair you with one of our top Coaches tailored just for you.

Find your Coach

Best practices, research, and tools to fuel individual and business growth.

View on-demand BetterUp events and learn about upcoming live discussions.

The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace.

  • BetterUp Briefing

The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today.

Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more.

Founded in 2022 to deepen the understanding of the intersection of well-being, purpose, and performance

We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.

Join us and create impactful change.

Read the buzz about BetterUp.

Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce.

For Business

For Individuals

Why creativity isn't just for creatives and how to find it anywhere

Understand Yourself Better:

Big 5 Personality Test

Find my Coach

Jump to section

What is creativity in the workplace?

Why is fostering creativity crucial for your company, 5 benefits of employees being creative in the workplace, is there room for creativity in all workplace roles, how to increase creativity in workplace environments, 5 examples of creativity in the workplace, fostering innovation and creativity in the workplace.

Increased creativity in the workplace leads to positive outcomes. That includes things like   increased job satisfaction and reduced absenteeism .

But in some career fields, it might be hard to see how you can incorporate creativity into your daily tasks.

You might be a tax accountant or a security guard. How can you start fostering creativity in those types of careers?

Thankfully, creativity doesn’t just involve things like painting or writing a novel. There are ways to increase creativity in workplace settings for nearly every kind of job.

Let’s discuss why fostering creativity in the workplace is so crucial and how to do it.

subscribe-cta

For some jobs, it might not be immediately obvious how they could incorporate creativity into their work. However, creativity in the workplace is more important than you might imagine.

In fact, 94% of hiring managers say it’s   important to consider creativity   when evaluating a job candidate.

So what does creativity in the workplace look like, exactly?

When you imagine creativity, you probably think of things like music, artwork, or stories. But it’s much more than that. Creativity is a mindset.

Creativity means thinking outside of the box, combining resources in new ways, and coming up with ideas or solutions that might not be obvious to others.

Cultivating a beginner’s mind   can help open you up to new ways of solving problems or completing your work more efficiently. Creative people are always asking questions and looking for new and better ways of doing things.

Creative ideas can be unconventional and unorthodox. That can make some people uncomfortable. But sometimes, a fresh way of looking at things is exactly what you need in the workplace.

In competitive industries, creativity is what keeps your company moving forward.

two-coworkers-connect-in-front-of-laptop-creativity-in-the-workplace

Some of the   top reasons for job dissatisfaction   include a lack of interest, a lack of meaningful work, or feeling like you aren’t being heard. Enabling creativity can help alleviate these issues.

Imagine a company where you simply go to your cubicle or workspace every day and do repetitive tasks. You're measured on how many of them you get done. It might be nice to feel competent at your job. It might feel mind-numbing. It probably doesn't feel like you have time or opportunity for creativity.

You can run into similar   problems when working from home . It can feel like you’re living the same day over and over, okay, but without any creative outlet.

Contrast that with a job where you can use your resourcefulness and creativity to solve problems or come up with better approaches. Maybe you pitch creative ideas to management, and some of them actually get implemented. Or maybe you get to test out creative ideas without first pitching to management. 

What if your boss encouraged you to think outside the box , be curious, and take risks? How much happier and more empowered would that make you feel? How much more interesting would work be? 

Applying creative thinking to our work can help to make it more   meaningful and engaging . Creative thinkers feel like they’re active participants in their jobs instead of just cogs in a machine.

One study by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence relates to this. It showed that how employees perceive their supervisor can   influence creativity and innovation in their work . 

Supervisors described as emotionally intelligent help to foster creativity in the workplace. They provide more opportunities to grow and learn.

Creativity-promoting work environments   are those that:

  • Are intellectually challenging
  • Offer sufficient resources
  • Have greater degrees of freedom
  • Encourage innovative thinking
  • Are receptive to new ideas
  • Provide support
  • Trust their employees

Creativity in the workplace statistics

At BetterUp, we see members who receive coaching demonstrate a   10% improvement on our Innovation Index   after about three months. The innovation index is essentially a measure of creativity in the workplace. 

Our research shows that a higher score on the innovation index is related to greater job satisfaction and job performance. It also is related to a decreased intent to leave the organization.

Here’s what one BetterUp user had to say:

“I use creativity and empathy to problem-solve in my team. By understanding [different] perspectives...and by approaching the solution with out-of-the-box thinking, problems are easier to solve, and the solutions are more inclusive.”

woman-working-on-designs-at-home-creativity-in-the-workplace

Fostering creativity in your workplace comes with a wide variety of benefits. Let’s take a look at five of the most impactful:

1. Creativity builds better teamwork

The creative process encourages employees to collaborate, so they’re more likely to work together. One person may be able to come up with new ideas. However, it will take an entire team to make them a reality.

A workplace culture that   instills a strong sense of belonging   will naturally produce more creativity.

2. Creativity reduces workplace stress

Studies have shown that engaging in creativity   induces positive health effects   in people. Benefits include a reduction in cortisol levels.

Cortisol is the human body's main stress hormone. It works with your brain to control fear, motivation, and mood.

Importantly, a person's level of artistic experience doesn't seem to impact the benefits of creativity. People see the same decrease in cortisol levels when doing creative activities regardless. Everyone can be creative.

3. Creative workplaces are more likely to attract and retain employees

We know from what we’ve talked about so far that creativity makes people happier at work. 

So it’s no surprise that employees will feel better and   more invested in their jobs   when they’re given the ability to be creative.

This makes employees more loyal to the company. Their positive experiences also get reflected externally to job candidates. Employees talk to friends and post online about their positive workplace experiences. 

Wouldn’t you like to work for a company that’s known to foster creativity and innovation?

4. Creativity allows for better problem-solving

A big part of creativity is being able to think outside of the box.

A creative workplace gives employees the ability to come up with unique solutions to challenges instead of simply being told what to do.

Many employees will gladly offer up ideas to improve processes and help make the business more efficient if they’re given the option.

5. Creativity makes employees more motivated

Allowing for creativity gives employees more ownership of their job duties and responsibilities. It also increases their sense of agency. This can   make them more motivated .

A creative company doesn’t necessarily mind how you come to a conclusion or achieve a result. Obviously, you don’t want your employees to cut corners or do anything unethical. 

But there are often multiple ways to accomplish any given task. And the team members who spend the most time working on that task are likely the ones who know which approach is best.

creative-flat-lay-photographer-creativity-in-the-workplace

Not all jobs seem like they offer much room for creativity.

There are definitely some that allow for more creativity than others. But nearly every job has room for creativity. 

Creativity doesn’t have to be about artistic expression. Developing new practices, making a workflow more efficient, or finding a better way to do things are all examples of creative thinking.

Now that you know the benefits of adding creative opportunities to the workplace, let’s take a look at five ways you can actually do that:

1. Design your office space with creativity in mind

An open-space office design will naturally allow for more creativity and collaboration. This is especially true when compared to one that separates people with cubicles and walls. 

Try to provide more opportunities for teammates to interact and collaborate with each other. Brainstorming is a lot easier when you can just walk over to a teammate’s desk.

2. Create a more inclusive environment

Too often, the workplace gets split with artificial separations and hierarchies.

You might not get a chance to really interact with anyone outside of your department. And in some companies, managers can feel difficult to approach.

Creating a more welcoming environment helps make for easier collaboration. Collaboration and better teamwork are   essential for creative innovation . When people feel safe and that they belong, they’re more open to collaborating.

However, it isn't just about feeling safe or encouraged. The other key element is having transparency to what matters most to the organization at the moment and having access to data, information, and resources to better understand problems and opportunities.

The old-school view of management is typically one of an   autocratic management style . It’s very top-down and almost military-like in structure. There is a strong element of controlling and micromanaging, not just workers but information.

However, this management style can   stifle creativity and innovation .

Many managers worry about giving their employees potentially time-wasting activities. This includes something like a “watercooler” channel on Slack or Microsoft Teams. But these sorts of outlets can make teammates more productive and satisfied with their jobs.

3. Diversify your team

One study by BCG showed that   companies with more diverse management teams   have 19% higher revenue.

Diversity isn’t just great for the company’s bottom line, though. It creates a better experience and a more creative workplace for the entire team.   Having an inclusive leader   makes team members more likely to feel like they belong.

A diverse team of employees brings all sorts of unique and innovative ideas from   their lived experiences   to the table. In turn, you’ll get a wide range of different points of view.

4. Turn failures into learning opportunities

A creative workplace doesn’t discourage people from trying their best and failing. Failure is a natural part of taking risks and trying something new.

 If employees feel like they’ll be penalized for mistakes or that it'll   lead to conflict , they’re less likely to undertake creative activities.

It might seem like allowing for failure hurts productivity in the short term. But in the long run, the opportunities for growth and innovation usually outweigh the risks.

5. Allow for knowledge sharing

Your employees might have skills and talents that you aren’t even aware of. If these aren’t explored, they’ll just sit unused.

An employee who is particularly knowledgeable about Excel could   teach a lunch and learn . That way, they can show everyone else the basics. 

Another employee might teach a lesson on how to most effectively use LinkedIn.

Someone else might be a yoga teacher in their off-time and can teach a relaxation or meditation class to the organization.

It’s hard to know what kind of untapped potential currently exists in your company. That’s why doing things like creating a more inclusive environment where these kinds of conversations can occur is critical.

artist-sketching-creative-designs-creativity-in-the-workplace

To help you get an idea of what creativity in the workplace looks like, let’s look at five examples:

  • Artistic creativity . This includes things that we traditionally consider to be creative endeavors, like drawing a logo or writing a company newsletter.
  • Creativity in STEM fields . This includes things like writing computer code, designing a company website, or creating a robot in order to automate a work task.
  • Creative problem-solving.   When someone uses this type of creativity, it may not seem like they’re creating anything.

But creative solutions can help solve some of your organization’s   most challenging problems . This includes everything from cutting costs in a budget to assembling furniture.

  • Effective research . This includes performing specific research on any task or problem. It could be something that a particular employee, department, or the entire organization deals with. 

For example, this could be evaluating a new piece of software for your company and considering alternatives.

  • Social media strategy . Creativity is necessary to set your organization’s communications apart from competitors. 

Make sure to use creativity to brainstorm and design posts that your brand’s followers respond best to. This also involves optimizing for the best times and platforms to post to.

businesspeople-with-book-discussing-in-office-creativity-in-the-workplace

Encouraging and cultivating creativity in the workplace is a win-win-win situation. It’s something that helps everybody.

Companies benefit from innovation and creativity in the workplace in terms of their bottom line. 

Managers get a happier, more engaged and passionate team with more job satisfaction. 

And employees are better able to do their jobs, express themselves, and discover additional layers of passion and meaning in their work.

BetterUp can help your organization   foster a company culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion . 

A sense of belonging is key when trying to improve creativity in the workplace.   Request a demo   and let us help drive culture change across your organization.

New call-to-action

Maggie Wooll

Thought Leader

Thinking outside the box: 8 ways to become a creative problem solver

What is creative thinking and why does it matter, employees report greater creativity working remotely, new data shows poor mental health impedes creativity, how to improve your creative skills for effective problem-solving, from crisis to creativity, 37 innovation and creativity appraisal comments, 8 creative solutions to your most challenging problems, what is groupthink and how do you avoid it, similar articles, why psychological safety at work matters and how to create it, human capital: why it matters and 5 tips to improve it, how to build a healthy workplace environment, collaboration at work: the secret to getting better results, how divergent thinking can drive your creativity, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

3100 E 5th Street, Suite 350 Austin, TX 78702

  • Platform Overview
  • Integrations
  • Powered by AI
  • BetterUp Lead
  • BetterUp Manage™
  • BetterUp Care™
  • Sales Performance
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Case Studies
  • Why BetterUp?
  • About Coaching
  • Find your Coach
  • Career Coaching
  • Communication Coaching
  • Life Coaching
  • News and Press
  • Leadership Team
  • Become a BetterUp Coach
  • BetterUp Labs
  • Center for Purpose & Performance
  • Leadership Training
  • Business Coaching
  • Contact Support
  • Contact Sales
  • Privacy Policy
  • Acceptable Use Policy
  • Trust & Security
  • Cookie Preferences

See our features in action

How skills-based hiring works

Explore all of our integrations

Assess coding skills

Discover what drives candidates

Test thinking and problem-solving

Evaluate language proficiency

Hire industry-leading tech talent

High-volume hiring done right

Find skilled candidates fast

Our customer success stories

Expert talent assessment articles

Insights into candidate potential

Why it works and how to adopt it

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Learn how TestGorilla uses industry-leading science to create skills-based hiring solutions.

Why are problem solving skills in the workplace so important? Subskills, benefits, scenarios

Test your candidates' problem-solving skills with testgorilla.

problem solving skills in the workplace

The importance of problem-solving skills in the workplace can’t be overstated. Every business and job role has its problems. From entry-level hires to senior staffers, every one of your employees will face challenges that don’t can’t be answered by doing a quick Google search – or asking ChatGPT to come up with solutions.

That’s why employers must hire people with excellent problem-solving skills, especially for roles that require dealing with complex business challenges, tight deadlines, and changing variables – for example, when recruiting leaders .

But what are problem-solving skills? What role do they play in the workplace? 

And, most importantly, how can you evaluate candidates’ skills before you hire them?

Table of contents

What are problem solving skills, the benefits of problem solving skills: why are problem solving skills important , examples of problems at the workplace – and how problem solving skills can help, how to assess problem solving skills, evaluate problem solving skills and hire candidates who can think for themselves.

To fully understand the importance of problem-solving skills in the workplace, it’s important first to understand the broad skill set that we commonly refer to as “problem solving skills”. 

Generally, problem-solving refers to a person’s ability to successfully manage and find solutions for complex and unexpected situations. 

Candidates with great problem-solving skills have a combination of analytical and creative thinking. They’re comfortable with making decisions and confident enough to rise to challenges in the workplace.

These candidates possess a combination of analytical, creative, and critical-thinking skills – and a high level of attention to detail . As a result, they will quickly identify problems when they arise and identify the most effective solutions. 

They’ll also identify the factors and forces that might have caused the problem and instigate changes to mitigate future challenges.

There are six key problem-solving skills that you should look for when assessing job candidates: 

key problem solving skills to look for when hiring

1. Listening skills

Active listeners are generally great problem solvers. 

They can listen to those around them to gather the information needed to solve the problem at hand. They also recognize the importance of valuing others’ opinions and experiences to help understand why the problem occurred and define the best course of action to remedy it. 

2. Analytical thinking skills 

Analytical thinkers can identify the logical reasons why a problem occurred, what the long-term effects of the issue could be, and identify how effective different solutions might be to select the most practical one. 

That’s why it’s essential to assess analytical thinking skills during recruitment.

Learn how pre-employment assessments can streamline your hiring process

Book a free live demo with us and learn how quick and easy it is to create an online skills assessment

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

3. Creative thinking skills

Creative thinkers can balance their analytical skills with creative approaches to challenges. Creative thinking skills enable individuals to uncover innovative and progressive solutions to problems. 

In this way, they’re able to provide new perspectives and provide imaginative and experimental solutions to all kinds of problems. 

4. Communication skills 

Problem solvers should also possess great communication skills . The ability to effectively relay complex information thoroughly yet succinctly is a huge benefit for employers working in fast-paced environments. 

5. Decision-making skills 

Those with problem-solving skills will also possess the ability to make decisions and be confident in them. This is important, because most problem-solving involves making firm decisions to reach a successful outcome. 

6. Teamwork

Although problem-solvers need to be independent thinkers, it’s also vital for them to work well as part of a team . 

Determining the best solution often requires collaboration, so it’s important that candidates can demonstrate how they can motivate others to come up with the best solutions and work with them to help develop and implement solutions. 

Problem-solving skills enable you to find candidates who are cognitively equipped to handle anything their jobs throw at them.

Problem solvers can observe, judge, and act quickly when difficulties arise when they inevitably do. Moreover, they are not afraid of the unknown, which is invaluable to employers who rely on their employees to identify and solve problems. 

Why are problem solving skills important?

There are several important benefits of problem-solving skills in the workplace. Below, we’ll go through five of the most significant ones that all problem solvers can bring to their roles and workplaces: 

1. Ability to organize their time intelligently 

Time management skills can often be underlooked as one of the benefits of problem-solving skills in the workplace. 

However, those with problem-solving abilities also typically possess stellar time-management skills. The ability to manage their time wisely and laser-focus on what’s important to the business will lead to better decision-making and business impact. 

2. Ability to prioritize, plan, and execute strategies

Problem solvers have no issue with carefully assessing customer and business needs and deciding how to prioritize, plan, and execute strategies to meet them. They can manage all moving parts and strategize to meet multiple unique demands.

3. Ability to think outside the box

Problem solvers can often identify hidden opportunities in problems. Thinking outside of the box is an important problem-solving skill in the workplace, because it can often lead to better outcomes than the originally expected ones. 

4. Ability to work under pressure

This is often one of the most important benefits of problem-solving skills in the workplace. Problem solvers often work well under pressure, for example when dealing with short deadlines and changing project requirements.

Depending on your workplace culture, you might prefer someone who can deliver quick solutions or someone who takes their time to identify the next steps. Both are valid and important problem solving qualities. 

5. Ability to address risk

Planning is an important problem-solving skill. Problem solvers are not just equipped to deal with the problem at hand but are also able to anticipate problems that will arise in the future based on trends, patterns, experience, and current events.

Let’s now look at some specific examples of problems that could arise at the workplace – at any workplace, really – and how employees’ problem solving skills can help address each issue. 

Below, you’ll find five typical scenarios where problem solving skills are essential.

Conflict between team members

Poor team dynamics or lack of a collaborative spirit might result in frequent workplace conflicts – especially within larger teams.

For example, members of cross-functional teams might disagree on the way they should address a particular issue or even on the priority they should give to it. 

How problem solving skills can help: 

Teamwork is essential when solving conflict – and a cornerstone of effective cross-functional team leadership .

For this, coworkers need to share a common understanding of the team’s goals and also be willing to work towards achieving them, even when they disagree on the specific approaches to each goal.  The ability to understand others’ perspectives, analyze information critically, and come up with a few different solutions is key to finding a common ground and making progress on the team’s objectives.

Inefficient processes

Outdated, inefficient processes can reduce productivity and frustrate employees.

Multi-step approval processes are a typical example of this. Having multiple layers of approval for routine decisions can significantly slow down team progress and lead to missed opportunities.

Analytical thinking skills are key in identifying inefficiencies and building better procedures. Employees or team leads can build flowcharts that speed up decision making without having to ask a supervisor’s permission at every step of the process. 

Communication challenges

Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings and lack of clarity and direction – which, in turn, can be detrimental to team performance. 

For example, if you’re a remote-first company, maintaining clear and effective remote communication can be challenging. 

The over-reliance on emails and messaging apps might make it feel like teams are communicating effectively and are always connected. However, the lack of non-verbal cues and face-to-face interactions might make it more difficult to build rapport and a positive workplace culture .

Listening skills are essential to solving communication issues – and good listeners are often excellent at solving problems by recognizing, understanding, and acknowledging others’ points of view. 

One-on-one meetings enable people to communicate more freely and effectively and solve challenges together, so consider encouraging team members to hop on a call each time they encounter a difficult challenge.

Additionally, you can help employees bond with each other with some remote team building activities to improve team cohesion. Plus, problem solving challenges can be excellent team building exercises.

Technological disruptions 

New technologies often disrupt the usual ways of doing things – and sometimes, this can be disruptive for entire teams’ work. 

For example, generative AI and automation technologies have revolutionized numerous types of work, including data analysis, marketing, customer service, and even content creation.

Creative thinking and cognitive flexibility are among the top 10 most important skills of the future , according to the World Economic Forum. Both are essential for adopting new technologies successfully – and finding ways to make the most out of each new tool to improve productivity. 

Insufficient onboarding resources 

Team members may struggle to do their best work if they haven't received proper training or resources.

For example, start-ups that experience rapid growth might hire a few employees at once – or even entire teams. 

If they fail to allocate sufficient time and resources to onboarding new hires, this might lead to lost productivity, a lacking sense of belonging, or increased turnover. That’s true not only for junior employees but also for newly hired senior leaders , as the Harvard Business Review points out.

Your leadership team’s analytical and decision-making skills are crucial in enabling them to distribute limited resources in a way that would give their teams the best chances of success. 

To build a solid onboarding process , you need leaders who are able to take ownership of it – and who have the right problem-solving skills.

Many organizations use problem-solving interview questions to identify the right candidates for their job openings. However, the most effective way to assess problem-solving skills is with pre-employment skills assessments . 

That’s because skills tests provide an objective way to quantify a candidate’s problem-solving skills in a way that isn’t possible during an interview.

How problem solving skills tests work

Tests like TestGorilla’s problem-solving skills test assist organizations in finding candidates who are able to quickly identify the key elements of the problem and work through the problem at speed without making mistakes. 

By presenting candidates with a wide range of questions related to typical problem-solving scenarios, hiring teams can rank their candidates based on an intensive assessment of each candidate’s skill level.

screenshot of a sample question in TestGorilla’s pre-employment problem-solving test

The test specifically evaluates whether a candidate can perform problem-solving tasks like:

Creating and adjust schedules

Prioritizing items based on a given set of rules

Interpreting data and applying logic to make decisions

Analyzing textual and numerical information to draw conclusions

As you can see, even the best interviewer would have trouble assessing each of these skill areas while still covering all the other questions that they need to ask. 

If you’re convinced of the importance of problem-solving skills in the workplace and want to build a team of employees that can think independently and solve their own problems without constant supervision, assess problem-solving skills during the hiring process. 

Problem-solving skills tests like ours are an excellent way to achieve this – especially if you combine them with other skills tests. Check out our extensive test library for other tests you can use in your talent assessment process to hire the best talent. 

Sign up for our free plan to start building your first assessment – or schedule a demo with one of our experts to see how to evaluate applicants’ problem solving skills quickly, efficiently, and without bias. 

Related posts

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Top 11 pre-employment assessment tools you can use to hire the best talent

11 bookkeeping skills and how to assess them when hiring a bookkeeper featured image

11 bookkeeping skills and how to assess them when hiring a bookkeeper

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

How to write a trading assistant job description

Hire the best candidates with testgorilla..

Create pre-employment assessments in minutes to screen candidates, save time, and hire the best talent.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Latest posts

Coding Assessment Tools for Hiring the Right Developers featured image

The best advice in pre-employment testing, in your inbox.

No spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Hire the best. No bias. No stress.

Our screening tests identify the best candidates and make your hiring decisions faster, easier, and bias-free.

Free resources

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Anti-cheating checklist

This checklist covers key features you should look for when choosing a skills testing platform

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Onboarding checklist

This resource will help you develop an onboarding checklist for new hires.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

How to find candidates with strong attention to detail

How to assess your candidates' attention to detail.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

How to get HR certified

Learn how to get human resources certified through HRCI or SHRM.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Improve quality of hire

Learn how you can improve the level of talent at your company.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Case study: How CapitalT reduces hiring bias

Learn how CapitalT reduced hiring bias with online skills assessments.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Resume screening guide

Learn how to make the resume process more efficient and more effective.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Important recruitment metrics

Improve your hiring strategy with these 7 critical recruitment metrics.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Case study: How Sukhi reduces shortlisting time

Learn how Sukhi decreased time spent reviewing resumes by 83%!

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

12 pre-employment testing hacks

Hire more efficiently with these hacks that 99% of recruiters aren't using.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

The benefits of diversity

Make a business case for diversity and inclusion initiatives with this data.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

What Is Creative Problem Solving and Why Is It Important?

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Numerous studies, including ones from the US Department of Education , World Economic Forum , and Bloomberg indicate that tomorrow’s jobs will demand “creative problem solving skills.” But what exactly are creative problem solving skills? And are they being taught effectively to the next generation who will face competition for jobs from automation? To learn more about creative problem solving in the classroom, Adobe conducted a new study to understand how educators and policymakers think about creative problem solving skills, how critical these skills are to future jobs, and how they are currently being nurtured in schools today.

We asked educators and policymakers to talk to us about creative problem solving based upon the following definition: “Creative Problem Solving is the process of redefining problems and opportunities, coming up with new, innovative responses and solutions, and then taking action.” We wanted to know how skills like independent learning, learning through success or failure, and working with diverse teams are critical to a students’ ability to succeed in the future workforce.

What we discovered was extremely illuminating. Three quarters of the educators surveyed believe that students need to develop these skills to protect their futures, as the professions that require creative problem solving are less likely to be impacted by automation. However, it isn’t just job-protection where creative problem solving makes a difference. Almost 90 percent of respondents believe students who excel at creative problem solving will have higher-earning job opportunities in the future, and 85 percent agreed that these same skills are in high demand by today’s employers for senior-level and higher-paying careers.

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

Knowing that 90 percent of educators believe creative problem solving should be integrated across all curricula, and that policymakers are in vehement agreement, it’s reasonable to assume that schools are already providing opportunities for students to develop these skills. Alarmingly though, this critical skillset is not emphasized enough in schools today due to the barriers educators face – from tight budgets and lack of resources to outdated testing requirements. Coupled with the fact that more than half of educators explain that they do not have the training or knowledge to help students develop creative problem solving skills, the challenge that educators and students face is vast.

Adobe believes that we need to support educators who are teaching creative problem solving, get technology into the hands of schools and students, and inspire young people to create. While technology alone is not the answer, it plays a key role. That is why Adobe is working to update its licensing models, so students – including those under the age of 13, consistent with U.S children’s privacy regulations – can access Creative Cloud in the classroom and at home using just their school I.D. to log in. This will reap benefits for the users, as the educators surveyed who use Creative Cloud in the classroom report that their students are more prepared for the jobs of the future .

Adobe is also constantly developing new storytelling tools like Spark, so students can easily create high quality, visually compelling reports, research papers, posters, writing assignments, presentations and so much more. Lastly, Adobe recognizes that it is critical to challenge students and encourage them to create and to have a positive social impact. That is why we created Project 1324 , which works with emerging creatives and leading youth arts organizations around the world to showcase artists who create the art and change they want to see in their communities.

To read the full study findings, and to learn more about how Adobe is working to get much-needed technology into the hands of students and educators, support educators in teaching creative problem solving skills, and inspire students to create, please visit Creative Problem Solving .

Why is problem solving an important workplace skill?

why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

In this article

Screenshot of HiPeople candidate screening dashboard

Streamline hiring withour effortless screening.

Optimise your hiring process with HiPeople's AI assessments and reference checks.

The course of work never did run smooth. From time to time, we all run into trouble in our workplace, coming across challenges which can’t be solved with a quick Google. That’s why it’s important to hire people who have good problem solving skills, with the ability to think creatively and strategically about any unexpected issue that comes their way.

In this article, we’ll break down what’s meant by the umbrella term “problem solving skills”. We’ll give you examples of problem solving skills and talk about why problem solving is so important in the workplace. Creating the best environment for team problem solving requires hiring skilled candidates, so read on for everything you need to know about problem solving skills and how to find them in the recruiting world!

What are problem solving skills?

The definition of problem solving skills is the ability to first identify problems, then strategically brainstorm and implement solutions. As you can see, problem solving skills are basically a three step process:

  • Spot the problem
  • Analyze and brainstorm answers
  • Execute the solution

Problem solving skills therefore are an umbrella term for a lot of smaller and equally important skills which go together to create a whole. As a recruiter, you’ll be looking for candidates who display great analytical and creative thinking, as well as the ability to take the initiative and launch themselves into solving a problem without being explicitly directed that way. Attention to detail is another skill that complements problem solving, as someone paying close attention to every tiny element of work is likely to spot problems sooner than others.

What are some examples of problem solving skills?

Because problem solving skills are such a broad field, it’s useful to look at examples of specific types of problem solving skills and how they enhance the workplace.

Listening skills

Problem-solvers are independent, but not solitary. Rather, they recognize how important other people’s input is, and there’s no better place to showcase this than in their active listening skills. People with good problem solving skills listen actively to their colleagues, take onboard other people’s opinions and ideas and listen to everyone around them to get a full picture of the scenario. That means that they have a good sense of the entire context surrounding an issue before they start coming up with solutions, ensuring they have no blind spots.

Analytical thinking

Someone with good problem solving skills will analyze each issue in order to design a specific and effective solution for the problem. They use analytical thinking to identify the reasons why a problem occurred and what the problem’s long-term effects might be. They apply the same analytical thinking to brainstorming a solution, considering how different solutions might be effective and selecting the most practical one.

Creative thinking

Often, solving a problem means thinking outside the box. Creative thinkers don’t rely on pure analysis or how problems have been solved in the past: they are ready to embrace new ideas, try new techniques and come up with unexpected solutions to typical problems. A creative thinker values innovative and progressive solutions that will be useful in more ways than one. Imaginative and experimental answers make them great problem solvers!

Communication skills

Because no employee is an island, someone with good problem solving skills also has great communication skills to back them up. They’ll be able to explain the problem and the solution to their colleagues, coordinate a team response, and make sure that no one is left out of the loop. They’ll be able to break down a complex problem and solution into a succinct explanation that everyone can understand and implement.

Decision-making skills

A good problem solver tends to be confident and bold in their decision making. Solving the problem often means taking the initiative, acting independently and implementing solutions quickly, so you want someone with smart and assured decision-making skills who is ready to make a call when needed.

A lot of problem-solving requires independent work and taking the initiative. But it’s crucial that someone with good problem solving skills also works well as part of a team, to ensure that the solution is fitting for the entire organization and that it’s communicated well. Creating the best solution often requires collaboration and you need a candidate who recognizes that.

Why is problem solving important in the workplace?

These problem solving examples show all the different ways problem solving can help a workplace. But more than that, a candidate with good problem solving skills can handle anything their jobs throw at them. They can spot flaws, help you optimize your organization and adapt as your organization changes over the years. They observe, judge and act quickly when you need them to. And most of the time, they will do this without direct supervision, making them an asset to every team!

Let’s look at some examples of why problem solving is so important in the workplace.

The gift of time

People with good problem solving skills organize their time intelligently and have great time-management skills, making them a gift to any company. They organize their priorities and focus on the most important problems in a workplace. And they also save the time and capacity of other people around them, because good problem solvers don’t go running to their manager with every little issue.

High-level strategies, day-to-day detail

People with good problem solving skills keep an overview of both the day-to-day problems and tasks coming their way and of the higher level strategy and direction of the company. They are able to easily assess customer, client and colleague’s needs as well as planning, prioritizing and executing strategies to meet them. They are the ideal mix of a high-level thinker who keeps on top of everyday tasks!

Creative thinking under pressure

A problem solver thinks outside the box, always, in order to come up with unexpected and imaginative solutions to long-term problems. But they’re also skilled at working under pressure and to meet deadlines, ensuring that your company’s workflows are both efficient and thorough.

Risk-takers, risk-thinkers

Any business venture has a certain amount of risk built into it. People with good problem solving skills embrace this risk. They expect problems, so they’re not phased by issues coming their way, but then they work hard to solve them, sometimes in unexpected and innovative ways. That means they are people accustomed to both taking and thinking through risks, ensuring that every move they make is calculated, bold and strategic.

How do I assess problem solving skills?

Now that we understand why problem solving skills are so important, it’s time to consider how to assess them. Lots of organizations use problem-solving interview questions to assess a candidate’s problem solving skills. But often, the most effective way of assessing this skillset is via a pre-employment problem-solving skills test . These problem-solving skills tests give you the best idea of a candidate’s existing skills and are one of the most important indications of how well a candidate will perform in the future.

Assess problem solving skills and more with HiPeople’s smart hiring technology to ensure you hire the right candidate, every time. Book a free demo today .

You may also like

Best Staffing and Temp Agencies in Miami, Florida

5 Best Staffing and Temp Agencies in Miami, Florida

Top Staffing & Recruiting Agencies in Chicago, Illinois

Top 5 Staffing & Recruiting Agencies in Chicago, Illinois

Best Staffing & Temp Agencies in Charlotte North Carolina

5 Best Staffing & Temp Agencies in Charlotte, North Carolina

Unlock the next level of your recruiting workflows.

Why Problem Solving is Important in the Workplace

profile picture ben schwencke

Ben Schwencke

Ben is responsible for talent analytics at Test Partnership and is often who you will speak to if you book a demo .

What is problem solving?

What is an example of problem solving, why problem solving is important, how to improve problem solving, how to assess candidates on their problem solving, our recommended test partnership assessments for measuring problem solving.

image description

Problem solving in the workplace refers to a person’s ability to handle difficult or unexpected situations and find solutions to complex business challenges. Employees with exceptional problem solving ability will carefully analyse the problem, identify a range of potential solutions, and correctly identify the most effective of the available solutions to remedy the situation. This ensures that employees in complex work who are relied upon to find effective solutions to key business issues are maximally equipped to deal with modern problems that face 21st century businesses.

Those with good problem solving ability will move the business forward more effectively.

Those lacking problem solving ability will inevitably recommend ineffective solutions to key business issues, solutions which will either fail to resolve the underlying issue or indeed exasperate it. For example, they may misinterpret the information presented to them, fail to identify effective solutions to problems, or provide solutions which are unsuitable or indeed counterproductive. Employees with poor problem solving ability cannot be relied upon when the unexpected happens, shifting the burden on other staff. As a result, problem solving ability is a common core competency when hiring professional, managerial, or technical roles, and highly prized by HR professionals and hiring managers.

Problem-solving refers to the ability to identify and resolve problems in an effective and efficient manner. An example of problem-solving can be seen in the role of a customer service representative. A customer service representative is responsible for handling customer complaints and issues, and finding a solution that will satisfy the customer.

Problem solving ability is essential to performance in any role where issues need to be dealt with quickly, or where the issues that employees face are particularly complex. Employees skilled in problem solving contribute to a more adaptable and productive work environment. It promotes teamwork, critical thinking, and strategic decision-making, leading to improved outcomes and organisational success.

Watch a video instead?

If you would prefer to watch a video, here Ben outlines why problem solving is important in the workplace:

For example, management consultants are expected to solve particularly complex issues that their clients may be facing, and within very specific time-frames. Should a consultant fail to provide a solution within the specified timeframe, this will inevitably look bad in the eyes of the client, sullying the relationship and potentially negatively impacting the consultancy’s reputation. However, a consultant with exceptional problem solving ability will most likely provide effective solutions to the client’s problems and provide them within the requisite time period.

"As a competency, problem solving is a common performance criterion for roles that require staff to solve urgent or complex problems." Ben Schwencke Consultant

As a competency, problem solving is a common performance criterion for roles that require staff to solve urgent or complex problems. These include, but are not limited to: management consultants, IT professionals, finance professionals, legal professionals, data scientists, managers, and executives. As a general rule, the more the role involves employees providing solutions to complex or urgent problems, the more important problem solving ability will be, and the more damage employees could potential cause if they lack those essential problem solving abilities in the workplace.

When a customer contacts a company with a problem, the customer service representative must first listen carefully to the customer's complaint and understand the issue. They then need to gather information and assess the situation to determine the cause of the problem.

They must evaluate different options and choose the best course of action to resolve the problem.

Next, they must evaluate different options and choose the best course of action to resolve the problem. Finally, they must implement the chosen solution and follow up to ensure that the problem has been fully resolved.

Problem solving as a psychological construct is underpinned predominantly by specific cognitive abilities. The ability to solve quantitative problems for example, is underpinned by a person’s level of numerical reasoning , and their ability to solve qualitative problems is underpinned by their verbal reasoning . Indeed, the academic research in this field suggests that the predictive validity of ability tests is largely attributable to problem solving abilities. Aptitude test questions are essentially just cognitive problems, and a candidate’s ability to solve them serves as a very useful proxy for their overall problem solving ability.

Other assessments may also measure problem solving to some degree, particularly certain assessment centre exercises, such as case study exercises. Here, candidates will be presented with a particular workplace relevant problem and told to generate solutions to that problem. Although this can be an effective method of assessing problem solving ability, assessment centre exercises are quite resource intensive, and are thus only suitable for the later stages of the recruitment process. Ability tests, however, can be used early in the recruitment process, ensuring that all subsequent candidate hold the requisite level of problem solving ability.

  • Insights numerical reasoning
  • Insights verbal reasoning
  • Insights inductive reasoning
  • Concepts critical thinking
  • Concepts data analysis
  • MindmetriQ Series of Gamified Assessments

Discover why thousands of companies love our modern assessment platform. Fresh new assessments built with the latest science.

Other articles you may be interested in

measure quality of hire

How to Measure Quality of Hire

Learn of our 5 great ways to measure quality of hire which makes organisations make informed decisions about future hires.

candidate selection

Candidate Selection: A Definitive Guide

Learn of candidate selection to improve your candidate selection process and build a high-performing workforce.

women working

Skills Based Hiring: An Ultimate Guide

Learn what skills-based hiring is and why it's an important innovation.

what is a sten score

What is a sten score?

Sten scores are standardised 1-10 scores commonly used in psychometric testing...

IMAGES

  1. Creative Problem Solving

    why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

  2. 15 Importance of Problem Solving Skills in the Workplace

    why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

  3. The importance of problem solving skills in the workplace

    why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

  4. Creative Problem Solving and Decision Making

    why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

  5. What Is Creative Problem-Solving and How to Master It with These 8

    why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

  6. The Importance of Problem-Solving Skills in the Workplace

    why is creative problem solving important in the workplace

VIDEO

  1. Smart Methods To Creative About Improving Problem Solving- FM Lunch Hour

  2. Thoughts on Work Qualities related to the tuition industry (Part 1)

  3. Creative Problem Solving At Work || ViralHog

  4. Workplace Restorative Practices

  5. kcs201 solved question paper

  6. Emplyoo Training: Mastering Essential Workplace Skills

COMMENTS

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

    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.

  2. Why Is Creative Problem Solving Important

    3. Encourages Innovation: Innovation is important for businesses to stay ahead of the competition. And it let them be able to offer new products and services. Creative problem-solving can help encourage innovation. It allows businesses to develop new ideas and find new ways to do things.

  3. The importance of creative problem-solving in the workplace

    The importance of creative problem-solving in the workplace. Creativity in working life can be approached as a learning process. Researchers Soila Lemmetty and Kaija Collin from the University of ...

  4. Why Problem-Solving Skills Are Essential for Leaders

    4 Problem-Solving Skills All Leaders Need. 1. Problem Framing. One key skill for any leader is framing problems in a way that makes sense for their organization. Problem framing is defined in Design Thinking and Innovation as determining the scope, context, and perspective of the problem you're trying to solve.

  5. The Importance of Creativity in Business

    Learning skills such as design thinking and creative problem-solving can help job seekers set themselves apart when applying to roles. Creativity and Design Thinking. While creativity is highly important in business, it's an abstract process that works best with a concrete structure. This is where design thinking comes into play.

  6. Creative Problem Solving

    Creative problem solving (CPS) is a way of solving problems or identifying opportunities when conventional thinking has failed. It encourages you to find fresh perspectives and come up with innovative solutions, so that you can formulate a plan to overcome obstacles and reach your goals. In this article, we'll explore what CPS is, and we'll ...

  7. 7 Problem-Solving Skills That Can Help You Be a More ...

    Although problem-solving is a skill in its own right, a subset of seven skills can help make the process of problem-solving easier. These include analysis, communication, emotional intelligence, resilience, creativity, adaptability, and teamwork. 1. Analysis. As a manager, you'll solve each problem by assessing the situation first.

  8. What is problem solving? And why is it important at work?

    A good problem-solving definition might be finding solutions to difficult or complex issues. In practice, however, solving problems in the workplace is a little more immersive than that. In the workplace, problem-solving includes a variety of tools, resources, and techniques to: Identify what's not working. Figure out why it's broken.

  9. 10 Ways To Improve Your Creative Problem-Solving Skills

    9. Practice creative problem-solving. The best way to learn a skill is to practice it. The more issues presented that need creative solutions, the easier it will become to hone a problem-solving process. Try regularly exposing yourself to new scenarios that require different thinking.

  10. 10 Creative Skills for Problem-Solving and How to Improve Them

    5. Ask for feedback. Collaboration and teamwork are key when developing creative solutions in the workplace. You can ask teammates or superiors for feedback on your ideas to gain insight into potential flaws in your reasoning and streamline your solutions. 6.

  11. Why Creativity in the Workplace Is So Important

    The value of creativity in the workplace. Creativity in the workplace brings many benefits, including: Developing innovative solutions: Innovation is fueled by creativity. Creative problem-solving can foster actionable solutions to existing problems or help generate new ideas and opportunities to grow. Fostering productivity: Creativity begets ...

  12. The importance of creativity at work and 9 ways to improve it

    Here are 9 ways to make your company more creative. 1. Effective brainstorming. Brainstorming is a perennially popular technique for generating ideas, and most people are familiar with it. But it still requires a bit of preparation to make a brainstorming session as useful as possible.

  13. WHY PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS MATTER IN THE WORKPLACE

    The importance of problem solving skills in the workplace. Problem solving is a vital skill in the workplace. The ability to think logically and creatively empowers individuals to tackle challenges and seize opportunities in all levels of business. This in turn helps to achieve the following benefits of problem solving skills in the workplace ...

  14. Why Creativity Is the Key to a Successful Workplace

    5 Ways to Foster Creativity on Your Team. Create opportunities for employees to share their experiences. Promote an inclusive environment. Lead with trust and accountability. Create opportunities for cross-functional collaboration. Encourage creative team bonding. By fostering a place of emotional intelligence, employees can build trust with ...

  15. Why is problem-solving important in the workplace? (And tips)

    By using problem-solving, you may effectively determine the course of action or prioritise work. It also helps you strategise solutions, helping others recognise and use their strengths and potential to contribute to projects. Problem-solving abilities are especially useful when a team is experiencing a high volume of work, for example, a ...

  16. How to Be a More Creative Problem-Solver at Work: 8 Tips

    8 Creative Problem-Solving Tips. 1. Empathize with Your Audience. A fundamental practice of design thinking's clarify stage is empathy. Understanding your target audience can help you find creative and relevant solutions for their pain points through observing them and asking questions.

  17. Why Problem Solving Skills are Important in the Workplace

    A problem solver can confidently find and manage solutions for complex and unexpected situations. Problem-solving skills involve a balance of analytical thinking, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills. Analytical thinking skills are crucial when it comes to identifying a problem, and creativity is key in finding methods to solve it.

  18. Why creativity isn't just for creatives and how to find it anywhere

    2. Creativity reduces workplace stress. Studies have shown that engaging in creativity induces positive health effects in people. Benefits include a reduction in cortisol levels. Cortisol is the human body's main stress hormone. It works with your brain to control fear, motivation, and mood.

  19. The Importance of Problem Solving Skills in the Workplace

    1. Ability to organize their time intelligently. Time management skills can often be underlooked as one of the benefits of problem-solving skills in the workplace. However, those with problem-solving abilities also typically possess stellar time-management skills. The ability to manage their time wisely and laser-focus on what's important to ...

  20. What Is Creative Problem Solving and Why Is It Important?

    We asked educators and policymakers to talk to us about creative problem solving based upon the following definition: "Creative Problem Solving is the process of redefining problems and opportunities, coming up with new, innovative responses and solutions, and then taking action.". We wanted to know how skills like independent learning ...

  21. Why is problem solving an important workplace skill?

    These problem-solving skills tests give you the best idea of a candidate's existing skills and are one of the most important indications of how well a candidate will perform in the future. Assess problem solving skills and more with HiPeople's smart hiring technology to ensure you hire the right candidate, every time. Book a free demo today.

  22. How to Prevent Burnout in Creative Problem Solving Roles

    3 Encourage breaks and balance. Another cause of burnout is working too long or too hard without taking breaks or having a balance between work and personal life. If your employees are constantly ...

  23. Why Problem Solving is Important in the Workplace

    Problem solving ability is essential to performance in any role where issues need to be dealt with quickly, or where the issues that employees face are particularly complex. Employees skilled in problem solving contribute to a more adaptable and productive work environment. It promotes teamwork, critical thinking, and strategic decision-making ...

  24. The science behind creativity

    4. Go outside: Spending time in nature and wide-open spaces can expand your attention, enhance beneficial mind-wandering, and boost creativity. 5. Revisit your creative ideas: Aha moments can give you a high—but that rush might make you overestimate the merit of a creative idea.

  25. What Is Analytical Thinking and How Can You Improve Your ...

    Analytical thinkers can better understand information and come to a sensible conclusion by breaking it into parts. For instance, once analytical thinkers identify a problem, they typically gather more information, develop possible solutions, test them, and analyze which works best. Solving complex problems often requires analytical reasoning ...

  26. What is Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing?

    Evidence-based practice in nursing involves providing holistic, quality care based on the most up-to-date research and knowledge rather than traditional methods, advice from colleagues, or personal beliefs. Nurses can expand their knowledge and improve their clinical practice experience by collecting, processing, and implementing research findings.