Creative Problem Solving – The Business Skill Your Team is Missing
If you ask most leaders what core skills they want to build in their teams, you’ll hear the usual list; leadership, communication, collaboration, adaptability. But there’s one that rarely makes the list, even though it underpins all of the above: Creative Problem Solving (CPS).
Why does it matter? Because every team, at every level of your organisation, faces challenges that require them to think differently, make decisions under uncertainty, and move from ideas to action. Yet very few people have ever been taught how to do that well.
Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is the missing link.
Creative Problem Solving (CPS), developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes in the 1950s, is the first modern, general-purpose problem-solving process designed to help anyone—regardless of role or background—tackle challenges creatively and effectively.
While humans have solved problems for millennia, CPS was the first process to make creativity teachable and accessible through a structured, repeatable, and research-backed approach. Unlike methods rooted in specific disciplines like science, engineering, or design, CPS was created as a universal framework for solving any kind of challenge—strategic, operational, social, or creative.
Benefits of Creative Problem Solving (CPS)
CPS is a practical, proven process that helps people:
• Clarify the real challenge, not just the symptoms.
• Frame better questions that unlock new thinking.
• Generate options before jumping to conclusions.
• Evaluate and strengthen ideas to turn them into real solutions.
• Create clear action plans that get results.
Divergent and Convergent Thinking – Creative Problem Solving (CPS)
But what really sets CPS apart is the way it builds the team’s thinking discipline through two essential modes of thinking—divergent and convergent thinking. CPS introduced the critical discipline of balancing divergent and convergent thinking, a foundational skill that underpins all modern innovation methods. It helps individuals and groups move from ambiguity to clarity, from ideas to action, in a way that is inclusive, flexible, and energising.
Because of this, CPS stands as the first and foundational process that should sit at the heart of every creative toolkit—building the thinking skills that make other methods work better.
• Divergent thinking helps teams open up, generate possibilities, and explore without fear of judgment.
• Convergent thinking helps them narrow down, evaluate, and choose the best way forward.
Learning when—and how—to separate these two modes is what makes CPS so powerful. It allows teams to fully explore possibilities without shutting down ideas too early, and then focus and prioritise with confidence. This structure isn’t just effective—it builds psychological safety.
Why Creative Problem Solving is a Must for Teams
When teams know there is a dedicated space for ideas to be heard without immediate critique, people feel safer to contribute. When they know there will be a clear process to make decisions without wasting time, they stay engaged and productive. This balance is what makes teams not just more creative, but more trusting, collaborative, and resilient.
In today’s world of constant change and complexity, the ability to solve the right problems creatively, inclusively, and decisively isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a business-critical capability.
If you’re serious about building the skills your organisation needs to thrive, especially in leadership, strategy, and innovation, CPS deserves a place alongside your investments in leadership and team development.
Because when your people know how to think together better, they work together better. And that’s good for your culture, your customers, and your business.
Creative Problem Solving (CPS) gives teams something rare: a common way of thinking. It channels quick minds and diverse viewpoints toward clear, collective progress. When teams think together, they not only solve more problems, they build the relationships that make every future challenge easier to overcome. Get in touch with Make Happy to schedule a CPS course / workshop for your organisation.
Here’s to happier, more collaborative problem-solving from the Make Happy team.
