{"id":6502,"date":"2026-04-27T21:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T19:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/?page_id=6502"},"modified":"2026-05-18T12:03:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:03:05","slug":"creative-problem-solving","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/methodology\/creative-problem-solving\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Problem Solving"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Methods<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problem solving workshops: unlock your team’s creative thinking<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Creativity is not just for artists. Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is a structured method that allows any team to generate new ideas, tackle complex challenges and move from intention to action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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THE METHOD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creative Problem Solving: creativity as a process, not a talent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes in the 1950s in the United States, CPS is today one of the most rigorously tested creativity methods in the world, continuously enriched by practitioners and researchers across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its principle: combining a structured 6-step process with creativity techniques to stimulate the imagination, break out of habitual patterns and produce solutions that are genuinely new and achievable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn’t just “brainstorming”. It’s a rigorous mechanism that guarantees workshops that are both creative and productive. We use it as a core tool in our collaborative workshops<\/a> and across our facilitation offer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Diverge, then converge:<\/span>
the creative breath<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The key to a creative process that is both rich and effective is to clearly separate the opening phase from the selection phase. You don’t evaluate an idea the moment you generate it: breathe in first, breathe out after.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Divergence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Open up the field of possibilities<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seek quantity before quality<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome “wild” ideas<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defer judgement<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combine and cross-pollinate ideas<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Convergence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Look for what’s genuinely novel<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evaluate objectively, without bias<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep the objective in sight<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exploit every possible avenue<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Develop and refine the ideas selected<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Practising “yes, and” rather than “yes, but” means opening up the field of possibilities before making a choice.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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WHEN TO USE IT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CPS adapts to a wide variety of challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As useful in product innovation as in project management<\/a>, Creative Problem Solving works whenever a team needs to generate fresh ideas or find a creative way out of a deadlock.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u2192 Imagining new products or services based on real user needs<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2192 Solving a recurring problem that conventional approaches have failed to crack<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2192 Re-energising a team that keeps going around in circles on a complex topic<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2192 Running a strategic meeting in a participative and productive way<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2192 Driving innovation within a collaborative workshop<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The process<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 steps from problem to solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Clarification<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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01. Explore the vision<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Set the context, identify aspirations and map the data around the problem \u2014 so the whole group starts from the same point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

02. Frame the challenge<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Reframe the challenge in an open, stimulating way: a well-posed question is already half answered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ideation<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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03. Generate ideas<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Produce as many ideas as possible without judgement, activating varied creativity techniques to break out of habitual thinking<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

04. Develop solutions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Select, enrich and transform raw ideas into concrete, evaluable and actionable solutions.
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Implementation<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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05. Build buy-in<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We co-build with the team and the sponsor a methodological and operational summary \u2014 consolidating what was produced and giving the team the tools to keep cooperating effectively without us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

06. Build the action plan<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Turn solutions into concrete commitments: who does what, by when, with what resources. The session doesn’t end without an action plan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A challenge to tackle as a team? Let’s surface solutions together.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about your context and objectives:
we’ll design a bespoke ideation workshop, calibrated to produce actionable ideas and a shared action plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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REQUEST A QUOTE \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Also explore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other PROPULSIO facilitation methods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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LEGO\u00ae Serious Play\u00ae<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thinking with your hands to surface what words can’t express.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Design thinking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Putting people at the centre to design solutions that are desirable and feasible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Agile project management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scrum, Lean Startup, Kanban: running your projects in iterative mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":2342,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6502","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6502"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7907,"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6502\/revisions\/7907"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/propulsio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}