Creative Thinking and Problem Solving Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Managers and Team Leaders, Innovation and Change Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-IC-006

Before you join: Participants should have experience working on business, service, policy, operational or customer problems and be comfortable contributing to group discussions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Creative problem solving is required when established processes, familiar expertise and standard improvement methods no longer produce an acceptable answer. Leaders and specialists must define ambiguous problems accurately, uncover the needs behind stated requests, generate options beyond first ideas, and make sound choices under time, budget and regulatory constraints. This course addresses the practical discipline behind creative work: moving from a poorly framed challenge to a tested, workable proposal.

Participants learn a structured set of methods for divergent thinking, problem reframing, user-centred inquiry, idea development, option selection and experimental testing. They use tools including SCAMPER, Double Diamond, Six Thinking Hats, TRIZ, weighted decision matrices and assumption mapping. The course also examines how to run productive idea sessions, manage constructive disagreement, avoid premature judgement and convert promising concepts into evidence-based actions.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with case analysis, facilitated group work, simulations and structured application to realistic business and public-service challenges. Participants work with problem statements, customer or stakeholder evidence, operational constraints and decision criteria similar to those found in banking, government, healthcare, NGOs and large corporate teams. They leave with a personal application plan and a set of reusable templates for framing challenges, generating ideas, selecting options and testing assumptions. Successful participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits professionals who contribute to service improvement, operational change, product development, policy design, customer experience or cross-functional problem solving. It is particularly useful for people expected to bring new options to persistent problems while retaining clear accountability for cost, risk, feasibility and results.

What you will be able to do

  • Frame ambiguous challenges using Is–Is Not analysis, Five Whys and SMART problem statements
  • Generate varied solution options using SCAMPER, brainwriting and forced connections
  • Reframe entrenched problems through How Might We questions, analogy transfer and reverse brainstorming
  • Investigate user needs using empathy maps, personas, journey maps and problem interviews
  • Select ideas using weighted decision matrices, feasibility screens and explicit decision criteria
  • Apply TRIZ and morphological analysis to develop alternatives for conflicting requirements
  • Design low-fidelity prototypes and minimum viable experiments to test critical assumptions
  • Produce an action plan linking a live challenge to owners, measures, milestones and review dates

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A repeatable method for moving from vague concerns to defined problem statements
  • Greater confidence contributing original options during meetings and improvement work
  • Practical techniques for challenging assumptions without creating unproductive conflict
  • Stronger judgement when comparing imaginative ideas against feasibility and evidence
  • A documented plan for applying creative problem solving to a current work challenge

For your organisation

  • Better-defined improvement problems before time is committed to solution development
  • More varied options for service, process, customer and policy challenges
  • Earlier testing of risky assumptions before major budget or implementation commitments
  • More productive cross-functional workshops with clearer participation and decision rules
  • Documented rationale for selected ideas, experiments, owners and review measures

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a problem boundary, distinguish symptoms from causes and write a decision-ready challenge statement.

  • Problem framing separates symptoms, constraints, stakeholders and desired outcomes
  • Is–Is Not analysis defines boundaries before idea generation
  • Five Whys traces visible failures to testable root causes
  • Stakeholder maps reveal conflicting needs, authority and adoption barriers
  • SMART problem statements specify evidence, scope, measures and decision owners
  • Assumption mapping ranks beliefs by uncertainty and consequence

Participants can produce a broad range of relevant ideas without premature evaluation.

  • Osborn's brainstorming rules separate idea quantity from early judgement
  • Mind mapping expands associations from a central challenge statement
  • SCAMPER prompts substitutions, combinations, adaptations, modifications, alternative uses, eliminations and reversals
  • Forced connections combine unrelated stimuli with defined problem elements
  • Brainwriting 6-3-5 produces written ideas without dominant voices
  • Random word stimulation deliberately breaks habitual category associations
  • Incubation periods use attention shifts to support remote associations

Participants can challenge default perspectives and create more productive routes into difficult problems.

  • How Might We questions turn constraints into generative prompts
  • Six Thinking Hats separates facts, feelings, cautions, benefits and possibilities
  • Reverse brainstorming identifies ways to cause failure before prevention
  • Analogy transfer imports principles from unrelated products, services or systems
  • Question-storming produces exploratory questions before proposing premature answers
  • Constraint removal tests which rules are real, negotiable or assumed

Participants can use user evidence to identify unmet needs and define more relevant opportunities.

  • Double Diamond distinguishes discovery, definition, development and delivery decisions
  • Empathy maps organise user statements, actions, thoughts and feelings
  • Personas distinguish user goals, contexts, frustrations and decision criteria
  • Journey maps expose handoffs, waiting points and moments of truth
  • Jobs to Be Done identifies functional, social and emotional progress
  • Problem interviews test behaviours, workarounds and unmet needs without selling

Participants can compare ideas transparently and select options using agreed evidence and criteria.

  • Impact-effort matrix sorts options by expected value and delivery burden
  • Weighted decision matrices make selection criteria and trade-offs explicit
  • Nominal Group Technique combines independent ranking with structured discussion
  • Six Thinking Hats tests proposals through distinct critical perspectives
  • Feasibility screens assess technical, financial, operational and regulatory constraints
  • Selection rationale records rejected options, evidence gaps and decision assumptions

Participants can apply structured inventive methods where requirements conflict or conventional solutions fail.

  • TRIZ contradiction matrix identifies inventive principles for conflicting requirements
  • Function analysis distinguishes useful, harmful and insufficient system interactions
  • Ideal Final Result describes desired benefits without presuming a solution
  • 40 Inventive Principles generate technical and service-process alternatives
  • Value engineering separates required functions from unnecessary cost drivers
  • Morphological analysis combines parameter options into novel solution concepts

Participants can create simple representations of ideas that expose assumptions and support early feedback.

  • Low-fidelity prototypes make assumptions visible before expensive development
  • Storyboards show user actions, service moments and expected responses
  • Paper prototypes test workflow, language, hierarchy and error handling
  • Wizard of Oz tests service concepts using manual backstage delivery
  • Minimum viable experiments define a hypothesis, measure and decision threshold
  • Prototype feedback distinguishes preference comments from observed behaviour

Participants can design proportionate tests that convert uncertainty into evidence for the next decision.

  • Test cards state assumptions, methods, success criteria and next decisions
  • Learning cards record results, interpretation, confidence and follow-up actions
  • A/B tests compare alternatives using one controlled variable
  • Pre-mortems identify likely failure modes before committing resources
  • Riskiest assumption tests target uncertainty with minimal time and cost
  • Evidence ladders distinguish anecdotes, signals, validated learning and proof

Participants can structure collaborative sessions that produce participation, useful ideas and clear decisions.

  • Psychological safety supports dissent, unfinished ideas and constructive challenge
  • Creative brief templates align purpose, audience, constraints and decision rights
  • 1-2-4-All routine structures equal participation before group convergence
  • Yes, and prompts build ideas before evaluating their limitations
  • Affinity mapping groups observations into themes without premature conclusions
  • Dot voting exposes preferences while preserving minority concerns
  • Facilitation scripts manage divergence, convergence, timeboxes and decision records

Participants can plan a controlled application of creative problem solving to a live workplace challenge.

  • Opportunity solution trees connect outcomes, opportunities, solutions and experiments
  • Action plans assign owners, milestones, resources, measures and review dates
  • RACI matrices clarify decision authority, consultation and accountability
  • Change storylines explain the problem, proposal, evidence and practical impact
  • After-action reviews capture results, causes, lessons and revised practices
  • Personal application plans identify a live challenge and first experiment

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Problem-framing canvas
  2. SCAMPER ideation prompt sheet
  3. Stakeholder and assumption map
  4. Weighted decision matrix template
  5. Test card and learning card set
  6. Creative problem-solving application plan

Who should attend

  • Managers and Team Leaders — need better options for recurring operational and people challenges
  • Innovation and Change Managers — need repeatable methods for progressing uncertain opportunities
  • Product and Service Managers — need to test customer-focused concepts before major investment
  • Project Managers — need structured approaches when delivery issues lack obvious solutions
  • Policy and Programme Professionals — need to develop practical responses to complex stakeholder needs
  • Business Analysts and Process Improvement Specialists — need creative methods alongside analytical diagnosis

Skills and tools covered

Problem framingCreative ideationUser-centred researchOption evaluationExperiment designInnovation facilitation

Tools and standards

SCAMPER, Double Diamond, TRIZ, Six Thinking Hats

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each method, followed by case work, group exercises, facilitated simulations and individual reflection. Participants practise framing ambiguous challenges, generating options, evaluating proposals and planning tests with realistic constraints. Cases draw on service delivery, operations, customer experience, change and programme work. Facilitators model constructive challenge, timeboxed ideation and evidence-based decisions. Application planning helps participants translate the methods into a current workplace problem and identify a first experiment after the course.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working on business, service, policy, operational or customer problems and be comfortable contributing to group discussions. Familiarity with basic project work, process improvement or stakeholder engagement is useful, but not essential. Participants should bring awareness of one current challenge they may wish to use during application planning. No prior training in design thinking, innovation methods, facilitation, psychology, statistics, product management or TRIZ is required. The course does not require specialist software, technical drawing skills or responsibility for formal innovation programmes.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need experience of workplace problems, projects, services or processes, but no formal innovation training. The course introduces each method from first principles before applying it to realistic challenges.

Bring details of a current problem, opportunity or recurring issue that would benefit from fresh thinking. You do not need to prepare a formal business case, although relevant background information can help with your application plan.

It suits managers, project professionals, analysts, service designers, change practitioners and specialists who need to develop better options with others. It is appropriate for public, private and non-profit sector participants.

Design thinking focuses strongly on user needs and iterative concept development, while project management focuses on planning and delivering agreed work. This course combines those elements with structured ideation, reframing, inventive problem solving and option selection.

Participants can use the templates to frame a live issue, facilitate an idea session, compare options and test a high-risk assumption. The final application plan identifies a first action, relevant stakeholders and measures for reviewing results.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group exercises, simulations, reflection and application planning across the ten modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

Related courses in Innovation & Creativity