Encouraging creative thinking

In order to develop more innovative products, process and services, organisations must encourage their employees to think more creatively. One method of achieving this is to encourage teams to utilise creative problem‐solving (CPS) techniques. There are a variety of different CPS techniques. Perhaps the most common technique utilised is that of brainstorming. This, however, does not necessarily produce novel and innovative solutions. The purpose of this article is to explore creative problem solving and to present a model that can help facilitators and team members choose an appropriate technique for their situation. The model has divided creative problem solving into three categories, namely paradigm preserving techniques, paradigm stretching techniques and paradigm breaking techniques. The article discusses these three categories and presents some examples of their use.