A creative person can come up with better ideas and select people who are better at helping him in his plans. He can see things from a new perspective, have a different vision and is better at inspiring people by their talents. Some of the most frequently used skills of a manager are −

●      Making efficient use of the time at hand.

●      Addressing a prospect’s needs and desires.

●      Improving a product’s appeal for the customers.

●      Use cost-cutting methods to increase working efficiency.

●      Improve the focus, motivation and productivity of the staff.

●      To identify new, profitable ventures and business opportunities.

While many managers will be able to address the demands of the first 5 responsibilities, it is the last point which makes it so tough for the managers to function. That is exactly where creative problem solving steps in. A creative manager will be able to observe the areas in which people need services.

Using that observation, they can find innovative ways to market products and motivate their customers to take decisions. Problems that need creative problem solving are ‘open-ended’ in nature, i.e. these problems have more than one solution. Executives nowadays need creative problem solving to help them in managing their organizations in four critical points −

Planning                                                                                        

Planning consists of the following objectives.

●      Finalizing the mission of the organization.

●      Finalizing the organizational objectives.

●      Gauging the organizational behavior and strategies against that of its competitors.

●      Doing an effective SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.

Organizing

Organizing consists of the following pointers.

●      Deciding the roles and responsibilities in an organization.

●      Grouping different but mutually complementing jobs in an organization.

●      Deciding the level of authority and clearance to be given to different designations.

Leading

Leading consists of the following objectives.

●      Boosting productivity in the workplace.

●      Providing the best training to people for better performance in their jobs.

●      Being a good listener and offering good alternative approaches to roadblocks.

Controlling

Controlling consists of the following pointers.

●      Deciding the tools of control, such as policies and deadlines.

●      Setting performance standards and periodic performance reviews.

●      Checking whether objectives are being met and standards achieved.

In the next chapter, we will discuss the various conditions in which creative problem solving is required.