Improve Problem Solving in 3 Steps – For Teams and Leaders
How a Shared Language Supercharges Problem Solving
Most organisations are fluent in strategy but struggle with broken problem-solving. Teams have their own dialects: marketers brainstorm, engineers analyse, and leaders decide.
Everyone talks, but rarely do they truly think together. Instead of collaboration, miscommunication and missed opportunities often slow innovation.
Creative Problem Solving (CPS) offers a way to align conversations. Rather than another framework, CPS is the grammar that underpins them all—a deliberate rhythm of diverging and converging thinking that ensures people fully explore options before making decisions. When everyone shares this rhythm, ideas travel faster, meetings become clearer, and solutions stick.
3 Simple Steps to Solving Problems with CPS
Why Leaders Need Process—Not Just Instinct
Modern business rewards decisiveness, but quick answers can lead teams off course. As psychologist Daniel Kahneman reminds us, our fast-thinking brains crave tidy solutions, even when they’re wrong. True leadership means knowing when to pause, switching gears to ask: Are we solving the right problem?
CPS builds this deliberate discipline into daily practice. Rather than jumping from symptom to solution, leaders move through three simple steps:
- Clarify the situation
- Gather facts and feelings
- Frame the problem worth solving
Only then do you generate options, develop solutions, and take action. This clarity, though seemingly slow, accelerates everything that follows.
Psychological Safety and Conflict Resolution
Human Foundations of Better Thinking
No process works if people don’t feel safe speaking up. Amy Edmondson’s research shows top-performing teams aren’t perfect; they’re simply more willing to admit mistakes. A shared process like CPS reduces the risk of disagreement: instead of contradicting a colleague, you’re simply exploring a step together.
It also tackles team conflict head-on. One of Patrick Lencioni’s classic Five Dysfunctions is fear of conflict. CPS solves this by separating challenge and decision: teams critique ideas safely during one phase, and commit together in the next. The result? More candour and cohesion, less drama.
Collaboration, Creativity and Systems Thinking
The Skills You Need—And Already Have
The World Economic Forum ranks analytical and creative thinking as top business skills for the future. Systems thinking—connecting causes and consequences—is among the world’s fastest-growing leadership skills. CPS gives your teams daily opportunities to flex these muscles, turning abstract competencies into real habits.
And while collaboration may not rank as a “core” skill on the latest lists, CPS weaves it into every meeting. Structured thinking brings people together quickly and effectively, with fewer personality clashes or endless debates.
Leaders Respect Process
“But We Don’t Have Time for a Six-Step Process…”
We hear this all the time—especially from busy leaders under pressure. Yet jumping straight to solutions is what causes time-consuming rework. Sid Parnes, co-founder of CPS, addressed this by inventing a six-minute CPS exercise—for when you need clarity, fast.
At Make Happy, we regularly help teams use this ultra-short CPS cycle to spotlight assumptions, find fresh options, and reboot blocked projects—in less time than it takes for a coffee break.
Try the Six-Minute CPS for your next challenge; download our quick guide.
An Organisational Culture of Solving Problems
Making CPS Part of Your Culture
Embedding CPS isn’t about sweeping reform. It’s about encouraging visible, everyday habits:
- Open meetings with a quick diverge–converge round rather than going straight to decisions.
- Restate challenges as “I wish…” or “It would be great if…” before proposing fixes.
- Recognise that disagreement shows engagement, not dysfunction.
Over time, these habits create a culture of curiosity and rigour, a shared language for thinking together, even under pressure. Leaders who model this show that slowing down to think isn’t indulgent, it’s responsible.
Collaborative Creativity for Leaders and Teams
The Bottom Line
When everyone in your organisation tackles problems the same way, collaboration doesn’t depend on titles or personalities. Ideas flow, decisions stick, and innovation becomes natural. That’s the power of a common language for creative thinking.
So before your next big decision, take six minutes. Diverge. Converge. Clarify.
You may be surprised how quickly you can move forward when you start by slowing down.
Wishing you happy and productive problem-solving from all of us at Make Happy.
