Problem Solving

Posts under Problem Solving focus on an overall category of understanding as much as possible about the problem, including reframing and repositiooning the problem in advance of strategy or brainstorming sessions. Please use the Search bar to scan for other relevant words or tags.

What’s the Difference Between Strategic and Creative Thinking?

I was asked recently by a communications agency in Sydney to answer some questions about the similarities and differences of Strategic and Creative Thinking as they began their annual planning

By Andy Eklund

What To Do If They Say No

The word NO is the simplest form of negativity. We’ve heard the word countless times growing up, working in business, dealing with personal issues. Despite how many times we get

By Andy Eklund

Being Strategic vs. Being Creative

At a recent meeting, a senior leader used strategic or creative in ways that I instantly knew he did not know the difference between the two words. Later, when I was alone with our

By Andy Eklund

Reframing for Better Creativity

Reframing is a creative technique used to shift an initial or existing mindset to be able to look at a situation, problem or idea from a different perspective. If that definition

By Andy Eklund

Understanding the Problem

So much of creativity – if not business overall – is understanding the problem enough to be able to eliminate it. And if not get rid of it, then either

By Andy Eklund

Defining the Problem

Every class I teach, whether it’s about any topic of business or generally about creativity, comes down to one word: the problem. In short, understand the problem, create an idea

By Andy Eklund

Alexander the Great and his creative solution to the Gordian knot

Problem Solving and the Gordian Knot

Fun problem solving stories are all over history. One of my favourites concerns a poor peasant named Gordias who decided to sell simple wares from his ox cart in the

By Andy Eklund

How To Write SMART Objectives

First outlined by George T. Doran in his 1981 article in Management Review, the system of SMART objectives is one of the most well-known method for writing objectives. Yes, there’s

By Andy Eklund

The Creative Brief

Jump to Instructions Jump to Download The creative brief is one of the most useful and adaptable tools in marketing and communications. Known by different names, the basic idea is this: one

By Andy Eklund

Organising Information: The Force Field Analysis

Jump to Instructions Like its sister the SWOT Analysis, the Force Field Analysis is a familiar tool to organise information to extract its insights. The original model was developed in

By Andy Eklund

Strategic Communications Planning

Jump to Model and Questions All successful communications initiatives start with strategic communications planning. The question is which planning system to use? Happily, there are as many different planning processes

By Andy Eklund

Out of the Box? Or In the Box?

Curious about where the phrase out of the box comes from? There is no singular person who researchers and historians have been able to pin-point definintively as its author. One of the

By Andy Eklund

Problem Solving

What’s the Difference Between Strategic and Creative Thinking?

What To Do If They Say No

Being Strategic vs. Being Creative

Reframing for Better Creativity

Understanding the Problem

Defining the Problem

Problem Solving and the Gordian Knot

How To Write SMART Objectives

The Creative Brief

Organising Information: The Force Field Analysis

Strategic Communications Planning

Out of the Box? Or In the Box?

BRAINSTORM Topics

SIGN UP FOR UPDATES

Topics

Resources

Subscribe