The Coach’s Guide To Creative Problem Solving

Introduction There are many approaches to coaching. This pack explores one aspect. It focuses on how to help people to find solutions to challenges. There are also many approaches to creative problem solving. This pack focuses on the 3C model. It explores how to help people to find solutions by focusing on clarity, creativity and concrete results. The pack can be used by mentors, coaches, trusted advisors and people in all walks of life. It offers practical tools that can help individuals and teams to achieve their picture of success. Imagine that you are facilitating such a session. You will start by helping the person or the group of people to feel welcome and at ease.

Creative Problem Solving There are many models for creative problem solving. One approach is to focus on clarity, creativity and concrete results. You can then work through the stages that are described on the following page. Clarity Concrete Results Creativity

Clarity Creativity Concrete Results Challenges. The specific challenge I want to tackle is: ‘How to …?’ Clarity. The real results I want to achieve are: Controllables. The specific things I can control in the situation are: Creativity Choices. The possible options for achieving the results are: Consequences. The pluses and minuses of each option are: Creative Solutions. The other possible creative solutions are: Concrete Results Conclusions. The specific route I want to follow is: Contracts. The contracts I need to make to achieve the results are: Concrete Results. The specific action plan for achieving the results is:

The next step will be to invite them to describe the challenges or themes they want to explore. Different people will want to explore different questions. Here are some of the questions that individuals and teams have asked explored when I have been facilitating such sessions. “How can I take the next step in my career? How can I feel more in control of my life and work? How can I get on better with my manager?” “How can I deal with a specific illness? How can I help my son to deal with school, even though his interests lie elsewhere? How can I set up and run my own business?” “How can we turn around a difficult team? How can we get our people to take more responsibility? How can we introduce a new approach across the business?”

“How can we manage our head office so we can get on with our jobs “How can we manage our head office so we can get on with our jobs? How can we build a values driven organisation? How can we continue to be pacesetters and stay ahead of the game?” Imagine that a person has asked for your help to tackle a particular challenge. They may want to do satisfying work, build a successful team, shift an organisation’s culture or whatever. The following pages show how it is possible to help them by focusing on clarity, creativity and concrete results. Each person will, of course, adapt the model in their own way. The 3C approach can be used with individuals, teams and organisations. When helping teams, for example, the word ‘I’ is simply changed to ‘We’. You can then encourage people to channel their ideas towards achieving the picture of success.

Clarity

Introduction Clarity is crucial. Peak performers clarify the real results they want to achieve – the real ‘What’ – before moving on to the ‘How’. Dare to spend a long time on this stage. You can go through the following steps to help a person establish their goals. Challenges - the specific challenges they want to explore before settling on the first challenge they want to tackle. Clarity - the real results they want to achieve and the picture of success. Controllable - the specific things they can control in the situation. Let’s explore each of these stages.

Challenges Invite the person to start by listing the various challenges or themes they may want to explore. You can then focus on the first topic they want to tackle. Invite them to frame the challenge in positive terms. For example: “How to stay healthy?” rather than “How to stop smoking?” It can also be useful to frame the challenge in terms of “How to …?” or ‘How can I …?” For example: “How can I do fulfilling work?” rather than “I want to change my career.” The “How to …?” phrase also encourages them to begin using their imagination to generate solutions. You can also invite the person to give more background about the situation. Invite them to complete the following sentences.

The specific challenges I want to explore are: * How to …

The first of these specific challenges that I want to explore is: * How to … Here is some more information about the situation and the specific goals I want to achieve: *

Clarity Clarify the real ‘What’ before moving on to the ‘How’. A person often starts by presenting their view of ‘How’ they can tackle an issue. But it is useful to clarify the real results they want to achieve and translate these into a clear picture of success. Sometimes the person may want to achieve lots of things related to this topic. If so, clarify all their goals and list these in order of priority. The person may, for example, have both short and long term aims. You can work to help them to achieve these goals. Bearing this in mind, start by looking at the first challenge the person wants to tackle. Ask them: “What are the real results you want to achieve?”

Sometimes this process takes a little time, but it is a vital step in creative problem solving. Here are some examples of how a person’s original topic can change during the process of exploring the real results they wanted to achieve. Person A originally said: “How can I get promotion in my company?” They settled on: “How can I build a satisfying career where I do stimulating work and get a good salary?” Person B originally said: “How can I as a leader turnaround difficult people in my organisation?” They settled on: “How can I build a successful organisation?”

Person C originally said: “How can I deal with my manager who insists on micro-managing me every day? They settled on two things: “How can I deal with the present situation by behaving professionally towards my manager and delivering positive results? How can find a rewarding role where I work with a manager whom I respect?” Imagine you are helping a person to tackle a specific challenge. Invite them to do two things. First, to clarify the real results they want to achieve. If appropriate, brainstorm all these goals. Second, to list these results in order of priority.

Clarity The real results I therefore want to achieve - in order of priority - are: * To …

Controllables Let’s assume the person is clear on the results they want to achieve. Before pitching into finding solutions, however, it is good to do a reality check. Peak performers control the controllables. They can, for example, control their attitude, professionalism and other things. They can’t necessarily control the outcome of their efforts. They can, however, do their best to influence it. Peak performers build on what they can control and manage what they can’t. The same rule applies to your client. Returning to the results they wants to achieve, invite them to describe the things they can control in the situation. It will then be time to move on to the next stage.

Controllables The specific things I can control in the situation are: *

Creativity

Introduction So far the person has clarified the challenge, the results to achieve and the controllables. It is then time to move on to exploring possible solutions. This will involve going through the following stages. Choices - the potential options for tackling the challenge. Consequences - the pluses and minuses involved in pursuing each option together with the attractiveness of each option. Creative Solutions - the other possible creative solutions. Let’s consider these stages.

Choices Bearing in mind the goals they want to achieve, invite the person to explore all the possible options they can pursue. These can range from the obvious options – such as maintaining the status quo and doing nothing – to the more outlandish ones. It’s important to list all the options, even the ones they are not going to pursue, to consider the whole picture. This provides the whole context for choosing their way forward. So invite them to outline the following choices. Option A is: To … Option B is: To … Option C is: To … Etc.

Consequences Looking at each option in turn, invite the person to consider what they see as the pluses and minuses of each route. Great decision makers often base their decisions on the consequences of each option, rather than the options themselves. They then build on the pluses and minimise the minuses. Bearing this in mind, invite the person to outline the various options. They can then rate the attractiveness of each option on a scale 0 – 10. The overview of the potential options may look something like the illustration on the next page. The pages that follow the illustration provide a framework that the person can use to describe these options in more detail.

A B C Choices and Consequences The possible options are: Pluses: … * To … B * To … C * To … Pluses: … Minuses: … ____ / 10 Pluses: … Minuses: … ____ / 10 Pluses: … Minuses: … ____ / 10 The attractiveness of each option is:

The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10 Option A Is: * To … The pluses are: * The minuses are: The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10

The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10 Option B Is: * To … The pluses are: * The minuses are: The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10

The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10 Option C Is: * To … The pluses are: * The minuses are: The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10

Creative Solutions Looking at the goals the person wants to achieve, are there any other possible creative solutions? This is where trusted advisors earn their corn. They pass on knowledge in a way the client can accept and use. You may want to begin by recapping what has been covered so far in the session. When appropriate, however, you can ask the person: “Is it okay for me to share some ideas?” They will probably say: “Yes.” Let’s assume the person would welcome your ideas. It can be important to move from the concept to the concrete and offer practical tools that work. You can share these in a way the person can use in their daily life and work. Look for the suggestions that resonate.

Imagine you are helping a person to explore their potential options Imagine you are helping a person to explore their potential options. You may say something like the following in your own way. “Let’s start by re-establishing your goals. What are the real results you want to achieve? “Let’s look at the different options you have outlined. Which is the most attractive option? How could you build on the pluses and minimise the minuses? “Looking at the various options, is it possible to take the best parts of each route and create a new road? “Sometimes it can be useful to learn from our own successes. Looking back, have you ever been in a similar situation before and managed it successfully? What did you do right then? Is it possible to follow any of these principles to achieve the goals?

“Sometimes it can be useful to learn from how other people have succeeded. Are there any other people, teams or organisations that have tackled this kind of issue successfully? What did they do right? How can you follow these principles in your own way? “Is it okay for me to share some ideas? If so, looking at the goals you want to achieve, here are some options you may wish to consider: “Option D could be to: … “Option E could be to: … “Looking at all the options, which are the ones that make sense? Which of these would you like to explore further? Looking at your chosen options, let’s consider how these might look in practice.

“Looking at all the things we have explored, let’s summarise things before moving on to the next stage. “Looking at the goals you want to achieve, let’s consider the following question. “What do you believe are the three things you can do to give yourself the greatest chance of success?” Keep going until the client feels they have explored all the possible options. If appropriate, they can complete the following page. It will then be time to move on the next stage.

creative solutions are: The other possible creative solutions are: * To …

Concrete Results

Introduction It is then time to translate the ideas in action. The person can do this by going through the following stages. Conclusions - the specific route they want to follow to do their best to achieve the results. Contracts - the specific contracts they may need to make with people to do the work involved on the way to achieving the results. Concrete Action Plans - the specific action plans for achieving the results. Let’s consider these stages.

Conclusions Sometimes it can be useful for a person to take time out to reflect before settling on the way forward. Sometimes they may also need to cross over an emotional threshold before committing to their chosen way forwards. Imagine that the person is ready to take this step. Looking at the various ways forward, they can settle on the route they want to follow. Sometimes they will choose to pursue one main option; sometimes they will want to pursue multiple options. Imagine they have settled on their chosen route. What will be the pluses and minuses involved? How can they build on the pluses and minimise the minuses? Looking at the results they want to achieve, invite them to complete the following sentence.

Conclusions The route – or combination of routes – I want to follow for tackling the challenge and achieving the results is: * To …

The pluses of following this route will be: * The minuses of following this route will be: The specific things I can do to build on the pluses and minimise the minuses are:

Contracts Looking at the road ahead, invite the person to consider if they need to make any contracts with people. Their main contract, of course, is with themselves. Looking at the whole package – the pluses and minuses involved – do they want to make the commitment to achieving the goals? They may also need to make clear working contracts with other people who can help them to reach the goals. If so, it is important to consider the following themes. How can they make sure everybody is clear on the picture of success? How can they make sure people have the required support? How can they ensure people will proactively keep them informed about their progress toward achieving the agreed goals? Invite them to complete the following sentence.

Contracting The specific things I can do to make clear contracts with people are: * To …

Who will be responsible for delivering certain specific results Concrete Results The person can then make a clear action plan and build in some early successes. Different people make action plans in different ways. Some people focus on the following themes. Who will be responsible for delivering certain specific results What - what they will actually deliver in terms of specific results. How - how they will aim to deliver the specific results. When - when they will actually deliver the specific results. Each person will, however, have their approach to action planning. Bearing this in mind, invite the person to complete the following step.

Who will be responsible for delivering the specific results Concrete Results The person can then make a clear action plan. It is also good if they build in some early successes. Different people make action plans in different ways, but many focus on the following themes. Who will be responsible for delivering the specific results The What - The specific results they will aim to deliver. The How - The strategies they will follow to deliver the specific results. The When - The specific times when they will deliver each of the specific results. If appropriate, you can invite the person to follow their preferred style of doing their action plan.

Concrete Results My specific action plan for delivering the results is: * To …

Conclusion To This Section On Creative Problem Solving With Individuals This section has looked at how you can use the creative problem solving model when working with individuals. As mentioned earlier, this approach can also be adapted to work with teams. The following section provides a framework you can use when helping teams to find solutions to challenges.

Creative Problem Solving With Teams

Introduction Imagine that a team has asked you to help them to find solutions to several challenges. The following pages provide a framework you can use to make this happen. During the session people will form small groups to tackle the various challenges. They will work on the respective challenges and then present back their suggestions to the whole team. Bearing this in mind, before the session you can prepare several sets of Flip Charts. There should be one set per small group. For example, if you expect the team to want to tackle three challenges, there should be three sets of Flip Charts. These should replicate the pages described later in this pack that cover the stages of Clarity, Creativity and Concrete Results. This is a lot of work, but it will make it easier for people to work through the stages.

Imagine that the whole team is gathered together at the start of the session. You can start by explaining the 3C Model. Give examples of how this works by talking people through the stages of Clarity, Creativity and Concrete Results. You may wish to underline the importance of establishing clarity - the real results to achieve - before going on to explore solutions. If possible, give relevant examples to bring the model to life. You can then go through the following stages. First, you can invite people to brainstorm the challenges they want to tackle. Second, you can then invite people to settle on the challenges they want to explore.

Creative Problem Solving In Teams People can work through the stages that are described on the following page. Clarity Concrete Results Creativity

Clarity Creativity Concrete Results Challenges. The specific challenge we want to tackle is: ‘How to …?’ Clarity. The real results we want to achieve are: Controllables. The specific things we can control in the situation are: Creativity Choices. The possible options for achieving the results are: Consequences. The pluses and minuses of each option are: Creative Solutions. The other possible creative solutions are: Concrete Results Conclusions. The specific route we want to follow is: Contracts. The contracts we need to make to achieve the results are: Concrete Results. The specific action plan for achieving the results is:

Third, you can invite people to form small groups Third, you can invite people to form small groups. Each group is to be made up of people who want to tackle that particular challenge. Fourth, you can then give the following instructions to the small groups. One person in each group is to act as a facilitator. This person can also share their own ideas for tackling the challenge, but their main role is to guide the team through the process. Fifth, you can explain that each team can then go through the following steps. They can focus on the challenge they want to tackle and work through the stages of clarity, creativity and concrete results. They can use the pre-prepared flip charts for making this happen. This process may seem laborious, but it can be good practice for internalising the model and applying it more quickly in the future.

Some of the potential options they considered. Concrete Results Finally, you can invite each group to present back to the whole group their suggestions for tackling the challenges. When making these presentations, people are to present a summary of the following things. Clarity The specific challenge they chose to tackle and the real results they finally decided they wanted to achieve. Creativity Some of the potential options they considered. Concrete Results Their suggested action plan for moving forward and delivering the required results.

The exercise can take up to 2 hours to do properly The exercise can take up to 2 hours to do properly. This includes time for presenting back. But the exercise provides people with a tool for life. People can use this approach: - To be even more self managing. - To make good decisions. - To find creative solutions to challenges. They can then continue to develop both as individuals and as a team in the future. Here are the Flip Charts that you can prepare before the session. There should be one set per group. People can then work through these before making their presentations.

Creative Problem Solving The Team Flip Charts For Doing Creative Problem Solving

Clarity

Challenge The specific challenge that we have chosen to explore is: * How to … Here is some more information about the situation and the specific goals we want to achieve: *

Clarity The real results we therefore want to achieve - in order of priority - are: * To …

Controllables The specific things we can control in the situation are: *

Creativity

A B C Choices and Consequences The possible options are: Pluses: … * To … B * To … C * To … Pluses: … Minuses: … ____ / 10 Pluses: … Minuses: … ____ / 10 Pluses: … Minuses: … ____ / 10 The attractiveness of each option is:

The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10 Option A Is: * To … The pluses are: * The minuses are: The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10

The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10 Option B Is: * To … The pluses are: * The minuses are: The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10

The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10 Option C Is: * To … The pluses are: * The minuses are: The attractiveness of this option is: ____ / 10

creative solutions are: The other possible creative solutions are: * To …

Conclusions

Conclusions The route – or combination of routes – we want to follow for tackling the challenge and achieving the results is: * To …

The pluses of following this route will be: * The minuses of following this route will be: The specific things we can do to build on the pluses and minimise the minuses are:

Contracting The specific things we can do to make clear contracts with people are: * To …

Concrete Results The specific action plan for delivering the results is: * To …

Conclusion This pack has described one approach to helping individuals and teams to find creative solutions to challenges. There are, of course, many dimensions to the themes that have been described in this pack. You can discover more about the background and practical tools on the following website. http://www.thepositiveencourager.global/ There is lots of material on the website. If you want to explore a particular theme further, it may therefore be best to contact me directly. You can reach me at the following address. mike@thepositiveencourager.global