creative problem solving in accounting

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What Is Creative Problem-Solving & Why Is It Important?

• 01 Feb 2022

One of the biggest hindrances to innovation is complacency—it can be more comfortable to do what you know than venture into the unknown. Business leaders can overcome this barrier by mobilizing creative team members and providing space to innovate.

There are several tools you can use to encourage creativity in the workplace. Creative problem-solving is one of them, which facilitates the development of innovative solutions to difficult problems.

Here’s an overview of creative problem-solving and why it’s important in business.

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What Is Creative Problem-Solving?

Research is necessary when solving a problem. But there are situations where a problem’s specific cause is difficult to pinpoint. This can occur when there’s not enough time to narrow down the problem’s source or there are differing opinions about its root cause.

In such cases, you can use creative problem-solving , which allows you to explore potential solutions regardless of whether a problem has been defined.

Creative problem-solving is less structured than other innovation processes and encourages exploring open-ended solutions. It also focuses on developing new perspectives and fostering creativity in the workplace . Its benefits include:

• Finding creative solutions to complex problems : User research can insufficiently illustrate a situation’s complexity. While other innovation processes rely on this information, creative problem-solving can yield solutions without it.
• Adapting to change : Business is constantly changing, and business leaders need to adapt. Creative problem-solving helps overcome unforeseen challenges and find solutions to unconventional problems.
• Fueling innovation and growth : In addition to solutions, creative problem-solving can spark innovative ideas that drive company growth. These ideas can lead to new product lines, services, or a modified operations structure that improves efficiency.

Creative problem-solving is traditionally based on the following key principles :

1. Balance Divergent and Convergent Thinking

Creative problem-solving uses two primary tools to find solutions: divergence and convergence. Divergence generates ideas in response to a problem, while convergence narrows them down to a shortlist. It balances these two practices and turns ideas into concrete solutions.

2. Reframe Problems as Questions

By framing problems as questions, you shift from focusing on obstacles to solutions. This provides the freedom to brainstorm potential ideas.

3. Defer Judgment of Ideas

When brainstorming, it can be natural to reject or accept ideas right away. Yet, immediate judgments interfere with the idea generation process. Even ideas that seem implausible can turn into outstanding innovations upon further exploration and development.

4. Focus on "Yes, And" Instead of "No, But"

Using negative words like "no" discourages creative thinking. Instead, use positive language to build and maintain an environment that fosters the development of creative and innovative ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving and Design Thinking

Whereas creative problem-solving facilitates developing innovative ideas through a less structured workflow, design thinking takes a far more organized approach.

Design thinking is a human-centered, solutions-based process that fosters the ideation and development of solutions. In the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar leverages a four-phase framework to explain design thinking.

The four stages are:

• Clarify: The clarification stage allows you to empathize with the user and identify problems. Observations and insights are informed by thorough research. Findings are then reframed as problem statements or questions.
• Ideate: Ideation is the process of coming up with innovative ideas. The divergence of ideas involved with creative problem-solving is a major focus.
• Develop: In the development stage, ideas evolve into experiments and tests. Ideas converge and are explored through prototyping and open critique.
• Implement: Implementation involves continuing to test and experiment to refine the solution and encourage its adoption.

Creative problem-solving primarily operates in the ideate phase of design thinking but can be applied to others. This is because design thinking is an iterative process that moves between the stages as ideas are generated and pursued. This is normal and encouraged, as innovation requires exploring multiple ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving Tools

While there are many useful tools in the creative problem-solving process, here are three you should know:

Creating a Problem Story

One way to innovate is by creating a story about a problem to understand how it affects users and what solutions best fit their needs. Here are the steps you need to take to use this tool properly.

1. Identify a UDP

Create a problem story to identify the undesired phenomena (UDP). For example, consider a company that produces printers that overheat. In this case, the UDP is "our printers overheat."

2. Move Forward in Time

To move forward in time, ask: “Why is this a problem?” For example, minor damage could be one result of the machines overheating. In more extreme cases, printers may catch fire. Don't be afraid to create multiple problem stories if you think of more than one UDP.

3. Move Backward in Time

To move backward in time, ask: “What caused this UDP?” If you can't identify the root problem, think about what typically causes the UDP to occur. For the overheating printers, overuse could be a cause.

Following the three-step framework above helps illustrate a clear problem story:

• The printer is overused.
• The printer overheats.
• The printer breaks down.

You can extend the problem story in either direction if you think of additional cause-and-effect relationships.

4. Break the Chains

By this point, you’ll have multiple UDP storylines. Take two that are similar and focus on breaking the chains connecting them. This can be accomplished through inversion or neutralization.

• Inversion: Inversion changes the relationship between two UDPs so the cause is the same but the effect is the opposite. For example, if the UDP is "the more X happens, the more likely Y is to happen," inversion changes the equation to "the more X happens, the less likely Y is to happen." Using the printer example, inversion would consider: "What if the more a printer is used, the less likely it’s going to overheat?" Innovation requires an open mind. Just because a solution initially seems unlikely doesn't mean it can't be pursued further or spark additional ideas.
• Neutralization: Neutralization completely eliminates the cause-and-effect relationship between X and Y. This changes the above equation to "the more or less X happens has no effect on Y." In the case of the printers, neutralization would rephrase the relationship to "the more or less a printer is used has no effect on whether it overheats."

Even if creating a problem story doesn't provide a solution, it can offer useful context to users’ problems and additional ideas to be explored. Given that divergence is one of the fundamental practices of creative problem-solving, it’s a good idea to incorporate it into each tool you use.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a tool that can be highly effective when guided by the iterative qualities of the design thinking process. It involves openly discussing and debating ideas and topics in a group setting. This facilitates idea generation and exploration as different team members consider the same concept from multiple perspectives.

Hosting brainstorming sessions can result in problems, such as groupthink or social loafing. To combat this, leverage a three-step brainstorming method involving divergence and convergence :

• Have each group member come up with as many ideas as possible and write them down to ensure the brainstorming session is productive.
• Continue the divergence of ideas by collectively sharing and exploring each idea as a group. The goal is to create a setting where new ideas are inspired by open discussion.
• Begin the convergence of ideas by narrowing them down to a few explorable options. There’s no "right number of ideas." Don't be afraid to consider exploring all of them, as long as you have the resources to do so.

Alternate Worlds

The alternate worlds tool is an empathetic approach to creative problem-solving. It encourages you to consider how someone in another world would approach your situation.

For example, if you’re concerned that the printers you produce overheat and catch fire, consider how a different industry would approach the problem. How would an automotive expert solve it? How would a firefighter?

Be creative as you consider and research alternate worlds. The purpose is not to nail down a solution right away but to continue the ideation process through diverging and exploring ideas.

Continue Developing Your Skills

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, marketer, or business leader, learning the ropes of design thinking can be an effective way to build your skills and foster creativity and innovation in any setting.

If you're ready to develop your design thinking and creative problem-solving skills, explore Design Thinking and Innovation , one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses. If you aren't sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

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• Business Acumen & Operations

Creative Problem Solving: A Path to Efficient Innovation

May 04, 2023

By: Marsha M. Huber , CPA ; Loreal Jiles , CMA

This Statement on Management Accounting (SMA) demonstrates how creative problem solving (CPS) skills can be applied to management accountants’ most pressing business challenges. CPS offers a four-step process that leads to unique and novel solutions and enables management accountants to optimize creative thinking.

The CPS methodology provides an efficient and effective framework for companies to tackle a single challenge by taking teams through four problem-solving steps:

• Clarifying a challenge
• Ideating solutions
• Developing a proposed solution
• Planning for implementation

Other IMA resources on this topic include:

Online Course:  IMA Creative Problem Solving

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IMA teaches accountants innovative problem-solving

The Institute of Management Accountants released a pair of reports on how accountants can use design thinking and creative problem-solving to find innovative ways to address issues in their organizations.

Both reports, released last week in conjunction with International Management Accounting Day,  are considered Statements on Management Accounting.

Creative Problem Solving SMA describes a four-step process that leads to unique solutions within a matter of hours by optimizing creative thinking and building upon business partnerships. The methodology provides a framework for companies to identify a challenge, brainstorm solutions, and plan for implementation. Addressing accounting and finance-related challenges through creative problem-solving can help accountants generate ideas in a more inclusive and efficient way, strengthen their strategic decision-making skills and add competitive value to their organizations.

"Creative problem solving  provides a really efficient path to solutions," said Loreal Jiles, vice president of research and thought leadership at the IMA, who co-authored the reports with Marsha Huber, an accounting educator, researcher and IMA member-at-large. "It's only a few hours to employ the process ... . Going through those steps, the goal is to walk out of that session with a real feasible solution identified, and a plan for how to implement that solution, and it takes us a step beyond the traditional solutions or ideas that we might have come up with in the past."

To come up with more creative ideas, accountants should engage with outside groups who may not be obvious stakeholders to hear a different perspective. 

"It's this notion of being able to intentionally get creative," said Jiles. "In the past, we thought you just had to be a creative person naturally; it's accepting the school of thought that creativity can be taught and fostered. It's engaging diverse stakeholders to understand what's needed. But the ideation step is beyond traditional brainstorming. You use these unique techniques that force out-of-the box ideas to be generated, which may mean you're combining ideas that multiple people have, or you're using things like roleplaying to come up with an idea that you might not have ordinarily thought of. And then the conclusion of it is how do we develop these ideas and evaluate them, narrow them down to the one we think would be best, and how do we identify what steps we need to take to implement them."

Design Thinking SMA teaches a five-step methodology for finance and accounting teams to develop new strategies, systems, processes and products. Management accountants can leverage design thinking to define challenges, ideate solutions and evaluate prototypes to quickly generate, converge and test new innovations.

"Design thinking is not something that you can do within a few hours," said Jiles. "It's something that typically takes weeks or months. That's primarily because design thinking includes development and implementation of the solution. While the beginning of the design thinking steps are quite similar to what you'll see in creative problem-solving, the key difference is you'll go through executing that plan that will develop in your initial discussions, and you go through this almost circular process of prototyping and testing the solution itself."

The problem-solving methodologies can be applied to issues like sustainability. "With sustainable business information, there's such an increased demand for being able to generate that data and provide assurance for it in the way that we do for finance," said Jiles. "We have spoken with chief accounting officers, chief financial officers, and partners. What they have to figure out is how do we prepare this information? How do we report sustainable business information? That's something that can be attacked using the design thinking methodology."

One step involves empathizing with various stakeholders' needs. "That's where we understand all the different stakeholders and put ourselves in their shoes," Jiles explained. "In this instance, you've got so many different stakeholders — you've got external from a regulatory perspective, and you've got internal goals within the organization to meet certain objectives from an environmental perspective. It's about empathizing and understanding what each of those stakeholders needs, and then as you progress with ideation and brainstorming, you're going through that same process to go past the traditional ideas that come to mind."

To come up with a solution, management accountants may need to go into multiple systems at the company and collect a number of pieces of data and other information, decide how to consolidate it, automate it, and then develop a prototype of what a report might look like for internal or external use. 

"Coming up with that prototype is a formal step in the design thinking process, re-engaging stakeholders to iterate that prototype, and ultimately coming up with a plan to test it and implement it and put it into production," said Jiles. "Something that's growing in popularity is this notion of sustainable business information in the first place. And you could see something similar with performance reporting, for planning or forecasting,, a new approach to some of those things have been forecasted off on a regular basis. And FP&A financial planning and analysis teams might leverage design thinking to rethink how we approach the forecast. How do we get it more accurate? And you would go through this similar iterative process where you're prototyping, testing and delivering."

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, inducing creativity in accountants’ task performance: the effects of background, environment, and feedback.

Advances in Accounting Education: Teaching and Curriculum Innovations

ISBN : 978-1-78756-540-1 , eISBN : 978-1-78756-539-5

Publication date: 4 January 2019

Over the past 30 years, increasing use of technology has created a global business environment leading to the changed role of a professional accountant. In response, accounting organizations and employers have demanded professionals who are creative and innovative, with strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, yet accounting firms and prior research continue to identify creativity as one of the most important yet most lacking traits of their newly hired employees. This study experimentally examines whether accounting students are indeed less creative than other students, a potential cause for differences in creativity, and a potential intervention to enhance creativity. Our results indicate that, on average, accounting students are not less creative than other students, but rather when performing an accounting task, they are initially less creative, suggesting that the accounting context may be partially contributing to the perceived lack of creativity. However, providing accounting students with process-oriented feedback significantly improves their future creativity, as differences between accounting and non-accounting students are eliminated. The authors contribute to the accounting and creativity literature and discuss implications for accounting education and the profession.

• Accounting education
• Critical thinking
• Problem solving

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgment.

We appreciate tremendous support and advice from Elizabeth Almer, Cynthia Blanthorne, Gary Hecht, and Den Patten.

Birkey, R. and Hausserman, C. (2019), "Inducing Creativity in Accountants’ Task Performance: the Effects of Background, Environment, and Feedback", Calderon, T.G. (Ed.) Advances in Accounting Education: Teaching and Curriculum Innovations ( Advances in Accounting Education, Vol. 22 ), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 109-133. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1085-462220190000022006

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How accountants can use creative thinking at work

At a glance.

• Innovation was once considered the domain of a small group within a workplace, but this view is changing rapidly.
• Creativity is listed as one of the top five skills required to thrive at work, but many professionals tend to have a dysfunctional relationship with their latent creativity due to unfair stereotypes about those who work in typically creative fields.
• Encouraging creativity now features on the list of priorities for many organisations that have identified a culture of innovation as being key to developing competitive advantage.

Innovation and analytical thinking  will be the top skills needed to thrive in the world of work by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum .

Aligned with these skills, creativity  and initiative also feature in its top five.

Mykel Dixon, author of Everyday Creative: A Dangerous Guide for Making Magic at Work and adviser to companies on how to unlock creativity among their ranks, would argue that these skills are already in demand right now.

“The world we live in used to value those who could ace the test, the ones who could memorise information, master instructions... Now we have machines for that, and they don’t need to be fed or need a break…What the world values now are those of us who can dream, those who can reinterpret and reinvent the world in new and exciting ways,” he says.

Unhelpful stereotypes portraying artists and creatives as flaky and self-absorbed, coupled with reductionist myths about people having either left-brained or right-brained capabilities, have served to encourage a dysfunctional relationship with our latent creativity, says Dixon.

He is not the only one who believes that creativity and innovation can be cultivated.

Christy Forest, CEO and executive director of LiveHire and former member of the Business Council of Australia Innovation Taskforce, says: “It used to be that innovation was the task of a small development team in the corner of an office, but now innovation happens in an environment that taps the entire workforce. You have to harness soft skills and hard skills, and have a lot of precision around process and reward.”

Risk of failure

Encouraging or reawakening creativity among employees has become key to a company’s competitive advantage.

Just take a look at the Creativity Index measure, developed by management consultants McKinsey, which shows that businesses that score highly outperform their competitors in two areas, an appetite and aptitude for innovation and shareholder return – in other words, growth and profit.

Despite this, there is a perception that a culture of innovation is hard to instil in traditional accounting and finance firms. Bureaucracy and a methodical approach conducive to compliance-based work are sometimes seen as roadblocks to creativity.

"I can afford to fail fast, as long as I have clear vision, a broad innovation portfolio and a mix of short, medium and long-term goals."

At professional services firm EY , Darren Chua leads innovation for the Oceania region.

The risk-taking that accompanies experimentation can be much harder to swallow in large organisations, he says, exacerbated by the focus on short-term performance and individuals’ fear of failure.

“In finance and accountancy, we are by nature very precise individuals. So, being allowed the ‘right to fail’ is typically incongruous with the way business is organised and run. If you are trying to hit your quarterly goal, how lenient can you be about failure?”

Chua’s advice is to be smart and deliberate in how companies frame innovation.

“I can afford to fail fast, as long as I have a clear vision, a broad innovation portfolio and a mix of short, medium and long-term goals. In that context, if we fail fast and have some space to shoulder occasional losses, we can then learn and move on quickly to the next opportunity.”

Support from the top

No enterprise is going to get creative without buy-in and support from the CEO – that is the consensus among experts.

“At a level or two removed from the CEO, it never really gets any traction, and organisations including EY and the big banks have struggled with that,” says Chua.

Any budget and resources ring-fenced for innovation should also have a clear agenda.

Chua recalls a major client who invested over A$2 million in a state-of-the-art innovation hub that, within a couple of years, became a place for good coffee meetings but not much else.

“There wasn’t true ownership of why they needed the space and how innovation would be ingrained into the core business.

The question – about whether this was a place for brainstorming or was it a fundamental way of changing the business model and processes – wasn’t asked or key leaders weren’t fully sold on it.”

Big ideas, small gains

“ Disruptive innovation ” is a concept developed by the late Harvard academic and management guru Clayton Christensen , and it is embodied by companies such as Netflix, which began as a humble DVD mail order business.

The Big Four accounting and consulting firms all pay homage to Christensen’s ideas about innovating, often giving employees licence to consider the unconventional.

PwC Ventures calls this “internal creative destruction”.

Incremental innovation is a more common approach, used by many companies to improve business-as-usual processes and performance.

This ranges from deploying Zoom or Microsoft Teams, through to automating timesheets and expenses, and encouraging employees to adopt new processes and solutions to make work more efficient and streamlined.

The question for many firms is, do they pull together a special innovation team or is creativity open to everyone?

“I think you need a bit of both,” says Chua. “

A central innovation team that is a bit different, run by people in jeans not suits; but also have a firm-wide culture, where everyone gets a chance to be creative and play a part.”

The “jeans and T-shirt brigade” is highly visible in workplaces such as Atlassian and Google, where “innovation days”, “personal projects” or a “genius hour” are set up to foster creativity within employee ranks.

The idea is to detach employees from their day-to-day work and allow them to work on a project of their choice, creating the space for out-of-the-box thinking.

For an established business in a non-technology sector, it is much harder to draw a link between innovation and investment, says Chua.

“At the end of the day, the CEO wants to know, what is my ROI? Innovation accounting is vital, yet not something that is easily measured, let alone done well.”

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Innovation in the regions.

Small accountancy firms have it even tougher.

Lacking the big budgets, resources and diversity of staff skills, they have to be more efficient in cultivating creativity and quicker in putting good ideas into practice.

Kirsty Meredith is an associate lecturer in accounting at the University of the Sunshine Coast and has researched creativity in small accountancy firms in regional and rural Australia.

“Most accountants now recognise that creativity is important. But stepping back from the job at hand to ask ‘How could I do this job better?’ takes time.”

Add to this the strict regulatory environment in which the profession operates – it all serves to dampen creativity, says Meredith.

In her experience, an excessive focus on adhering to current year budgets can also cause accountants to avoid innovations that may “waste time”.

“By changing the focus from short-term budget pressure to long-term efficiency, we reduce that deterrent to creativity and innovation,” says Meredith.

Recent years have seen an increase in competitiveness and reduction in collegiality between finance and accounting firms. Meredith suggests that creative solutions to common problems go begging as a result.

“In my research, I hear common complaints in small firms, particularly around new technology applications, as if they were the only ones struggling with these problems.

But when talking to older professionals, they recount how people from other firms would get together at the end of the week for drinks and share knowledge. Today, it is very competitive, and firms are really working against each other,” says Meredith.

Her advice, not surprisingly, is “collaborate, collaborate, collaborate”.

“We can’t be experts in everything ourselves; we need to work out how to leverage expertise from others. Can we find IT experts who are willing to take the time to understand accounting? Can we share ideas with other small firms? Can we identify opportunities to network digitally?”

Meredith says it pays to maximise idea sharing by giving all staff a forum to contribute ideas – including junior accountants and receptionists – and to offer opportunities to upskill through short courses in IT and data science, for example.

The new creatives

Training to encourage creative thinking among accountancy students has become a key component of university courses, says Kirsty Meredith, lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The shift of emphasis is in response to professional demands for graduates with competencies alongside technical knowledge, such as design thinking and problem-solving skills.

“I think the view of creativity being at odds with accounting is largely gone. With the increased focus on technology innovation and customer focus, creativity has become even more recognised as something we need to embrace,” she says.

Within professional services firms themselves, keeping employees up-to-date with the speed of technological change is an ongoing task, but an essential one, to give them the tools they need to innovate.

Last year, for example, all of EY’s 300,000 global employees were offered the chance to enrol in the world’s first completely digital corporate technology MBA, free of charge.

Amid the global pandemic, it is important to recognise that ideas and innovation depend on human imagination and ingenuity.

The shift to remote working  poses new challenges to how creative collaboration will work in the future, says EY’s Darren Chua.

“You can’t do innovation really well unless people are together. Nothing ever beats that feeling and level of intensity and collaboration when you are physically together.”

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Creative Problem Solving (CPS)

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Part of the book series: Advances in Creativity and Giftedness ((ACAG,volume 2))

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Was this easy? Some parts of it probably seemed obvious. For example, it makes sense to choose a solution after you generate possible solutions, so however else you ordered these steps, you probably put Idea-Finding before Solution- Finding.

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Baer, J., Kaufman, J.C. (2012). Creative Problem Solving (CPS). In: Baer, J., Kaufman, J.C. (eds) Being Creative Inside and Outside the Classroom. Advances in Creativity and Giftedness, vol 2. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-840-7_4

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March 01, 2023

By: Marsha Huber , Ph.D., CPA ; Loreal Jiles , CMA

Creative problem solving enables accounting and finance teams to work together in new ways to overcome challenges in a short amount of time.

Management accountants are increasingly tasked with developing innovative solutions to time-sensitive business problems. Prompted by the dynamic environment within which many organizations find themselves, the rise in demand for an efficient path to business solutions translates into accounting and finance teams acquiring new skills to implement novel approaches to problem solving. One such method they can use is creative problem solving (also known in this context as CPS).

CPS offers a four-step process that leads to novel solutions and enables management accountants to optimize creative thinking to find solutions in a matter of a few hours. The methodology provides an efficient and effective framework for companies to tackle a single challenge by taking teams through four problem-solving steps (see Figure 1 ):

1. Clarifying a challenge 

2. Ideating solutions

3. Developing a proposed solution 

4. Planning for implementation

The CPS process requires teams to look at a problem from many different perspectives and to brainstorm numerous options before selecting the best solution. CPS empowers accountants to generate ideas in an inclusive and efficient way that can strengthen their contribution to strategic decision making, enabling delivery of incremental value to their organizations.

Employing the CPS process can position management accountants to make even greater contributions to organizational performance and competitive advantage during the most critical times. By understanding the four steps of CPS, accounting and finance teams can work together in new ways, allowing for increased collaboration and innovative thinking.

WHEN TO USE CPS

CPS is most effective when tackling a challenge that requires innovative thinking for questions such as “How might we improve a process?” or “How might we reduce costs?” The following real-world examples show how CPS has helped organizations in the business and nonprofit sectors.

General Motors used CPS at a plant in upstate New York to reduce manufacturing costs. During a CPS training session at the plant, the operations team wanted to tackle the problem of ring gears (which are critical components in manufacturing) sticking in the dies (which are cast or mold-like tools that enable manipulation of a material into a specific shape and size) and breaking during the manufacturing process. During the brainstorming session, one of the team members suggested spraying something like a nonstick cooking spray on the dies before casting. Another team member suggested using a spray bottle (cost $1) with a nonstick solution ($0.50) to apply the solution on ring gears before production to prevent sticking. Plant operators now spray the dies before making ring gears. Thus, within a CPS session of 45 minutes, a solution was developed that saves the plant $40,000 per week.

Another example is the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Youngstown State University. The SBDC had both limited funding and staff and therefore needed to narrow its strategic priorities to what could be accomplished in the next six months. The director decided a collective effort would be better than any plan she might create independently, so she decided to hold a CPS session with her staff. The session focused on setting priorities and brainstorming the tasks needed for completion in the immediate future. 

As a group, the team decided to redesign the SBDC’s service offerings to both showcase its strengths and maximize benefits for the local economy. Staff brainstormed ideas for: How might we find time to do this? How might we develop content? How might we select the services that would have the greatest impact? After a three-hour session, the director was satisfied with the ideas generated, and the group developed a six-month implementation plan with deadlines and personnel assignments. The team also delegated responsibility to different staff members who would oversee the plan to ensure it was being implemented as intended.            

At West Los Angeles College, the college president asked a faculty member to write a proposal to convert a 2,000-square-foot multipurpose space into a Creativity Studies Lab. The faculty member, also the future director, wanted to write a persuasive grant proposal. She assembled a CPS team to help her improve the proposal.

The team brainstormed suggestions recommending ideas such as discussing stakeholder value, calculating return on investment, and adding the use of a flex space to the report. The group also helped her identify “assisters,” those who would serve as her allies, and “resisters,” those from whom she should try to garner support. After the two-hour session and asking various individuals to read her draft, the faculty member submitted her proposal for the new Creativity Studies Lab and received a seed grant to fund its creation. 

Consistent with these examples, management accountants can use CPS for similar challenges such as brainstorming strategic perspectives, setting priorities, or preparing business cases. The beauty of CPS is its simplicity if a creative solution is needed in less than a day. 

Not all problems require CPS: Some problems have obvious solutions, such as booking an accrual to recognize revenue for a sales transaction that has already occurred but for which cash will be received in the future. CPS, however, should be used by a person who needs a creative solution and has the authority to bring about change.

BEFORE THE CPS SESSION

To hold effective CPS sessions, preparation is necessary. Ismet Mamnoon, a CPS consultant and former accountant, says, “For creative methodologies to be effective, certain preliminary steps should be followed to support an optimal experience.” The principles of CPS are based on the flow of ideas from nurturing a creative environment that allows for humor, mutual respect, reflection, excitement, idea incubation, and effort, and providing a stage that allows for the use of sticky notes and permanent markers or a virtual whiteboard. There are six essential prerequisites to beginning the CPS session to increase the likelihood of success (see Figure 2).

Assemble the CPS team. Ideally, a team includes the client, a facilitator, the resource group, and a process buddy. The facilitator, an expert in CPS, guides the process. The client is the person who owns the challenge. The resource group—usually three to seven people—are those who can add energy, enthusiasm, and relevant knowledge to the process by generating and evaluating ideas. Finally, a process buddy is an assistant who helps the facilitator manage the logistics and tasks during the session, freeing the facilitator to focus on leading the group through the four steps in the CPS process.

Secure adequate meeting space. The meeting space for the CPS session can be physical or digital. Physical creative thinking environments provide whiteboards and flip charts in a room with enough space for participants to stand and move around. In the digital world, companies provide online whiteboards that operate similarly to a physical space, where participants can type on sticky notes and arrange them in a digital platform.

Prepare for divergent and convergent thinking. Each step in CPS includes the movement between divergent thinking (generative thinking) and convergent thinking (evaluative thinking ), as first identified by Alex Osborn, the father of brainstorming. Without this movement, the process can’t move forward. For example, during a brainstorming session, participants present many ideas to address a challenge—divergence—and then cluster those ideas and decide which one should be developed—convergence. The guidelines for divergent and convergent thinking are presented in Figure 3, which should be posted in the room prior to the session for the team to see and review during the process.

Acquire proper supplies. The proper supplies for a meeting in a physical space include sticky notes (like Post-it notes ), small paper sticky dots of different colors, and markers. A few tips of the trade include:

• Consider the use of 3" x 5" sticky notes, as typical 3" x 3" sticky notes might be too small.
• Encourage participants to use markers rather than ink pens to write on the notes so that all participants can read what is written.
• For added creativity and engagement, some facilitators bring toys, such as Legos, interlocking plastic bricks, or stress balls, for participants to fiddle with and snacks for breaks.

Interview the client. Prior to the CPS session, the facilitator meets with the client to explain the process, agenda, and support needed, and to confirm that CPS is the appropriate methodology to address the client’s challenge. This session takes about an hour to complete and is usually conducted a few days ahead of the CPS session.

In the preparation session, the facilitator will interview the client to clarify the challenge, posing a series of probing questions (see “Preparation Session Questions” ). The facilitator will record responses as the client speaks to aid in freeing up the client’s mind to gain new perspectives about the challenge. 

After recording the answers, the facilitator will ask the client to highlight the answers that best speak to the challenge, present new insights, or are important to consider for a CPS session. Then, the facilitator will ask the client to put a check mark by the statements they have influence over. Next, the client is asked to put a check mark after statements that require imagination. Lastly, they’re asked to put a check mark by statements that need immediate attention.

After reviewing what appear to be the most important statements, the facilitator will ask the client to complete the following visionary statements:

• I wish…
• It would be great if…
• Wouldn’t it be nice if…?

The facilitator asks the client which visionary statement they would like to present to the resource group, then makes a poster that lists the visionary statement and key data points to take to the CPS session.

Warm up. Like physical exercise, a warm-up is best to ready the brain for creative thinking. Warm-ups should be used at the beginning of any session or after a long break, such as lunch. Another goal of a warm-up is to loosen people up, adding the “silly” factor. Facilitators can use a simple exercise such as “What might be all the uses for a brick—be as creative as possible?” or “How might we improve an airplane seat?” 

The goal of this warm-up exercise is for the group to come up with 30 to 50 ideas in a few minutes. If the group slows down, the facilitator can use a technique called forced connections, which asks an additional question to the original one to prompt more ideas. For example, the facilitator could ask the group, “If you were an animal, how would you use a brick?” or “If you were a child, what would you like to add to an airplane seat?” Using forced connections teaches participants to view challenges from different perspectives, thereby leading to increased ideation.

Facilitators should encourage the group by saying, “You’re doing well. I like these ideas. Keep them coming!” Be wary about praising certain types of ideas or specific individuals as it might send a message to the group that the facilitator is looking for certain types of ideas or is encouraging ideas from certain individuals.

THE CPS SESSION

As a session begins, the facilitator presents the agenda. The facilitator will also share the guidelines for divergent and convergent thinking. These rules should be restated each time the group uses divergent and convergent thinking.

Each step in the CPS process—clarify, ideate, develop, and implement—is critical to leveraging the methodology effectively. Following the key activities in each will contribute to the efficient development of tailored solutions.

Step 1: Clarify. At the session’s onset, background information—the organization’s industry, culture, and disruptions—is shared with the resource group. The key data points on the poster created at the client interview will be read by the client to the team, with the team asking questions. The client’s “I wish” statement will also be shared.

In the CPS process, step 1 typically takes the most time. After introductory remarks and a warm-up exercise, the team will help the client clarify the challenge by reframing it into a problem statement. Using phrasing such as “How to…” or “How might…” is key to advance to step 2. Participants should be encouraged to write their ideas on sticky notes and place them on a whiteboard or flip chart. Examples of problem statements used by accounting and finance teams include:

• How might we set strategic priorities for the finance function that most effectively deliver value to the operational teams supported?
• How might we grant real-time access to our financial data that meets the needs of our business partners?
• In what ways might we measure the most relevant sustainable business information to our business?
• What might be all the ways we can streamline our procurement operations for efficiency and cost-effectiveness?

After coming up with 20 to 25 problem statements, the group can mark the statements that interest them the most, clustering similar statements together and ultimately naming clusters with new problem statements by theme.

Step 2: Ideate.  In step 2, the team generates ideas and converges on a solution. One of the most common ideation techniques is brainstorming. Without proper training, however, the ideas generated at most brainstorming sessions aren’t unique but rather represent a collection of ideas already in participants’ heads. In many instances, people can’t seem to get to new ideas until existing ideas are out of the way. Research shows that it takes a few rounds of brainstorming for the best ideas to emerge (Paul Paulus, Jubilee Dickson, Runa M. Korde, Ravit Cohen-Meitar, and Abraham Carmeli, “Getting the Most out of Brainstorming Groups,” in Arthur Markman, ed.,  Open Innovation , 2016).  

The two most common ideation techniques in CPS are “stick ’em up brainstorming” and “brainwriting.” Facilitators should consider using both to give extroverts and introverts a chance to ideate in a way that speaks to their preferences.  

As the name suggests, stick ’em up brainstorming involves the team generating ideas, writing them on sticky notes, and posting the notes on a whiteboard. When team members say what they write, others can hear the idea so they don’t duplicate it, and that idea can spark new thinking. The order of sharing an idea is “write it, say it, and stick ’em up.” When working in a group, following a different order can be distracting, and some team members may not speak at all. Thus, at times, the facilitator may need to remind team members to follow the guidelines. If the group slows down when it comes to ideation, the facilitator can use techniques, such as forced connections, or can show pictures—nature, people, or food—and ask the group what new ideas they get from looking at the pictures. Another useful technique is role-playing, during which team members can take on roles of fraudster, CFO, auditor, government official, or even a superhero to spur ideation.

The other ideation technique is brainwriting, which is done in silence. This should be done after stick ’em up brainstorming, not before. Each member is given a brainwriting sheet containing nine squares with a sticky note placed in each square with an idea on it (see Figure 4). Each person writes three ideas on the brainwriting sheet. When completed, the team members pass their brainwriting sheets to someone else. This way, people can think of new ideas in silence by reading others’ ideas and building on them.

There are four key steps in the brainwriting process, which should be read out loud to team members before brainwriting begins:

• Participants write the problem statement/creative question at the top of each grid.
• They use the guidelines for generating ideas: defer judgment, strive for quantity, seek wild and unusual ideas, and combine and build on other ideas.
• Participants write three ideas on the first open row of the brainwriting grid—one idea per sticky note placed in each box.
• After writing three ideas, participants place the form in the middle of the table and pick up a different grid that another participant has started. If there are none, they start with another blank grid. With extras in the middle, no one has to wait for other members of the group. A grid will always be waiting for them.

After using both ideation techniques for around 20 minutes each, the facilitator should see if the client is satisfied with the quantity and quality of ideas. If so, then it’s time for the group to converge on the best ideas. The facilitator will give each team member three to five dots to place on the most promising or intriguing ideas. The group should consider the need for novelty when converging on the best ideas, clustering similar ideas together and labeling them, using a verb in the label.

For example, the problem statement for an accounting class was “How might we engage students to learn without thinking about grades?” After generating 75 ideas, the resource group (made up of students) labeled clusters with statements such as:

• Relate accounting to superpowers.
• Create new types of class projects (i.e., video ).
• Add play/competition with prizes to classes.

After renaming the clusters, the resource group and client will decide what ideas they want to pursue. At this time, the facilitator should check the client to see if the team is on the right track. If the client agrees, the facilitator will ask the client to complete the following statement and write it on the flip chart for the team to see: “What I see myself doing is…”

In the example of creating an “engaged” classroom, the client (a faculty member) developed a model of peer learning, constructed with the help of the resource group. She could see herself implementing this peer learning model of teaching in future classes, using ideas from the resource group.

Step 3: Develop. Step 3 takes what the client envisions doing and turns promising ideas into workable solutions. This includes evaluating the pros and cons of the proposed solution with intentions of strengthening it by using techniques such as “assisters and resisters” or POINt (Pluses, Opportunities, Issues, and New Thinking).

“Assisters and resisters” ask questions to help the client strengthen their ideas. Assisters represent the people who might assist the client with the proposed solution, and resisters are those who might resist it. The team will create a list of stakeholders and categorize them as supporting or opposing the solution. The group will then brainstorm ideas for the following questions: How might we utilize or gain their support? How might we overcome resistance?

Bob Eckert, CPS consultant and CEO of New and Improved, said, “ When a group is embedded in the creative process, and they want to move things forward, they are unstoppable. Resistance is welcomed as input to strengthen their efforts; assisting them wins you allies for your own future challenges .”

Similar to the assisters and resisters technique, POINt works to strengthen the proposed solution. The facilitator instructs the group to complete a POINt sheet (see Figure 5):

• List at least three pluses related to the promising idea.
• Next, list three opportunities (e.g., spin-offs, gains) for the idea.
• If the idea works, what are new opportunities? Use the statement “It might…”
• Finally, list the issues you have with the idea. Be sure each issue uses the wording “How to…?” These questions will allow the team to address the statement with new thinking to overcome any issues. For each issue, write 10 ideas to overcome each concern.

After completing that exercise, the facilitator should ask the team to converge, and the client will write a single statement on how to strengthen their solution: “To strengthen my solution, I will…”

Step 4: Implement. In the final stage of the CPS process, the facilitator asks the client if they feel they have an effective, actionable solution to their challenge. If so, then the group will create an implementation plan, designed to fuel commitment by having the client commit to actions, dates, people, and accountability. Before filling out the action grid (see Figure 6 ), the facilitator will ask the team to generate at least 15 actions needed to bring the solution to reality and write them on sticky notes. 

The action grid has columns for the specific action steps that need to take place: Who is going to do it? When will it be completed? Who will check to make sure it’s done? 

The group also will use the action grid to place the tasks into the proper time frame: what needs to be done in the next 24 hours, in the short term (i.e., 30 days ), midterm (31 to 90 days ), and the long term (beyond 90 days ).  

The facilitator will ask the client if they’re satisfied with the action grid and the session. The client and resource group may feel tired after all the hard work, but they’re usually very satisfied with the plan they collectively developed to address the client’s challenge.

CREATIVELY DESIGNING TOMORROW

CPS can shift a group from focusing on obstacles to creating solutions. Key principles include balancing divergent and convergent thinking, reframing problems into questions, deferring judgment of ideas, building on each other’s ideas, and getting things done. While brainstorming, deferring judgment allows for potentially implausible ideas to turn into innovative ideas worth further exploration. 

The CPS process can serve as a valuable strategic tool in the management accountant’s toolbox. No matter the role, developing proficiency in CPS equips professionals with an effective skill to foster creativity, leading to greater innovation for the finance function and business teams. Well beyond business professionals, CPS offers an efficient path to novel solutions to problems of nearly any type. Upskill today to tap into and develop your creativity.

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The top 10 soft skills for successful accountants

Soft skills for accountants: 10 traits and abilities to develop as an accounting professional.

What skills do you need to become a successful accountant?

If you answered ‘accounting skills’ or ‘solid mathematics skills’ you would only be half right.

While it’s true that knowledge of accounting principles is essential, succeeding in our line of work takes more than formal education and technical knowledge. To build a thriving business, you must also develop a number of soft skills that would enable you to better serve your clients.

This is exactly what you'll discover in this post. We’ve compiled a list of 10 essential soft skills for accountants to help you provide more value to clients.

Let’s check them out!

1. Accounting communication skills

Never underestimate the importance of communication skills in accounting . Remember that as a financial expert, you rely on the ability to effectively convey critical information to your clients. This includes educating them on tax laws, recapping the performance of their business, and informing them about their financial obligations.

In many cases, the information you present involves a lot of facts and figures that can go over people’s heads if they don’t have a financial background. To that end, you must be able to communicate complex information in a way that’s interesting and relatable to your clients.

When you have strong accounting communication skills, your clients will be able to easily understand important information, which in turn will help them stay on top of their books.

2. Relationship-building skills

The importance of building client relationships cannot be overstated. As a service-based business, your ability to connect with clients over the long term has a direct impact on your success.

For this reason, accountants must hone their relationship-building skills.

The first step to doing that is to get to know your clients better. Gather more information about each individual and their business, and build client profiles that let you track their history.

Also, bear in mind that relationship building isn’t a one-time only activity; it’s something you do over the long term. To that end, keep your client profiles updated and make a point of checking in regularly to ensure each client has their specific needs covered.

3. Time management skills

Time is of the essence when you’re running an accounting firm. There are a lot of important dates to track, including tax filing schedules, license renewal periods, and document submission deadlines. You may also need to juggle multiple clients and tasks, so it’s a must that you budget your time and ensure that everything gets done.

Staying on top of all these tasks requires strong time management skills. Be mindful of the time you have and your daily or weekly capacity, and then structure your days in such a way that you’re able to meet all your deadlines and obligations.

To make time management easier, you can leverage time-tracking apps and client engagement software such as Ignition , which streamlines tasks like sending proposals and billing customers.

4. Customer service skills

Prioritizing customer service is critical for any accounting business. Ensuring your approach to this is client-centric will help make client retention efforts more seamless and can strengthen your new and existing client relationships.

So, how exactly do you serve clients better?

Industry data suggests that serving as a strategic advisor or consultant to your clients greatly increases your value to them.

Research by CPA.com found that accounting companies may increase their revenue by up to 50% by offering strategic advisory services. According to the survey, businesses that purchase advisory services from their accountants spend around 43% more per month, compared to companies that don’t buy these services.

CPA.com's survey also found that businesses are willing to pay accountants more for helping them address challenges such as planning for growth and improving cash flow.

Keep these insights in mind when serving your clients. Carefully consider positioning your firm as an advisor or service provider so you can help them run and grow their businesses. Rebecca Mihalic, Ignition’s Head of Accounting and also a practice owner, does most of her client engagements at tax planning time, and finds this is an ideal time to also focus on growth.

“This is when we discuss with clients what’s going on in their business. They may need more help freeing up cash flow or even securing funding for an acquisition. Having that conversation tied to an existing project is more natural than cold calling a client and trying to sell them something,” she says.

5. Analytical skills

As an accountant, you’ll be doing a lot of analyses. You may need to pour over financial documents to determine how to optimize cash flow for a client. In some instances, you’ll need to analyze metrics such as sales, margins, and expenses to be able to propose measures that can make your clients more profitable.

All of these things require strong analytical skills. You need to look beyond the surface of basic reports to spot trends and surface useful insights.

6. Organizational skills

Successful accountants are highly organized. Having solid organizational skills will enable you to do your best work and establish a higher level of trust and professionalism with your clients.

As such, you must hone your organizational skills and develop the ability to track the many moving parts of your business (and your clients’ businesses). Part of doing this lies in creating systems for tracking and organizing information . Adopt a digital filing system that keeps your documents organized and consider using a client management platform that keeps all of your customer details in check.

In doing so, you can make sure that files and documents are always in the right place, and you can quickly and easily retrieve the right information when the need arises.

7. Tech skills

Amy Vetter, CPA/CITP, said it best when she wrote in the Journal of Accountancy that "advanced tech is no longer optional" for accounting firms.

Financial services are increasingly becoming more digitized, with major initiatives such as Making Tax Digital in the UK, and the COVID-19 pandemic reshaping businesses globally. Tasks such as filing taxes, renewing business licenses, and paying fees or penalties can now be done online.

As an accountant serving businesses today, keeping up with these developments is essential. Being set in your ways and insisting on paper-based processes will not serve you well.

So, strive to develop your tech skills. Learn the fundamentals of accounting and tax software and keep yourself up to date with the digital initiatives of states and government agencies.

8. Creative problem-solving

Creativity in the realm of accounting has little to do with being artistic. Rather, it’s all about being creative with your problem-solving and business strategies.

When meeting the needs of your clients for example, you’ll sometimes need to think outside the box. Let’s say one of your clients wants to lower their tax bill every year. In this scenario, you can work with them to find creative ways to legally deduct certain business expenses .

9. Attention to detail

There’s no room for guesswork when you’re preparing your clients’ taxes or performing bookkeeping services such as categorizing expenses. These things must be done to letter; otherwise, you risk serious consequences. For example, overstating business expenses can trigger an audit, which is a major pain to deal with.

As such, you must develop a keen eye for detail. When going over your client’s tax forms for instance, you need to be able to effectively review it line by line to make sure all figures are correct.

Being detail-oriented allows you to guarantee the accuracy of your work, thus ensuring that your clients stay compliant with business and tax regulations.

10. Love of learning

The financial industry doesn’t stay stagnant. Laws are constantly evolving, plus there are always fresh tools and solutions that enter the market.

CPAs are also required to go through ongoing training and improvement activities. In the United States, there’s Continuing Professional Education (CPE), and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in Australia, Canada and the UK. Both activities are designed to help accountants maintain and develop their industry competencies.

All this to say that learning and education are constant in the accounting profession. Being appreciative of the learning process will serve you well in this regard. If you love learning new things, you’ll find it easier to keep up with the latest developments in your field. Not to mention, regularly acquiring new knowledge and skills will allow you to stay relevant with the times.

Over to you

Being good with numbers and having knowledge of accounting principles will only get you so far. If you want to stand out in your market, serve clients better, and ultimately run a thriving accounting firm, you also need to hone the soft skills discussed above.

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Creative approaches to problem solving

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Written by Andrea Parness, CPA, CTC

• Modified Aug 22, 2023

In our office, we say, “It’s not a problem; it’s an opportunity.” When issues arise, we take the time to evaluate the situation to determine the cause. Did we break an office rule, step around a procedure or was it a case of not being careful?

At times, solving our clients’ problems definitely requires a creative approach, but the real creativity lies in truly listening to their needs and understanding their situation before finding a solution.

When a client has a problem or concern, it may be eating at them for some time before they are ready to share or even ask for help. During our tax return exit appointments, we take the time to talk with, and listen to, our clients to determine if they have any non-tax related financial concerns that are keeping them up at night.

In a recent client meeting, I asked, “How is work going for you?” and “Have either of you considered selling one of your New York City apartments?” The discussion progressed and indicated two concerns:

• Could the working spouse afford to retire?
• Would the tax on the capital gains be so large that it would not pay to sell, based on the recent rise in the apartment’s value?

After holding a discovery session with this couple, I used the tax planner feature in Intuit® ProConnect™ ProSeries ® to calculate several different scenarios. I held a video conference, sharing my screen to show that using retirement funds, pension distributions and Social Security benefits would yield a very small monthly difference in available funds. I was also able to show the estimated tax consequence of the sale of the second apartment, and again reminded the client that this, too, would free up cash based on no longer paying for a mortgage, real estate tax and maintenance. The couple was so relieved that I could actually see and hear their reaction during our meeting.

We all know that tax simplification is anything but simple, and that our tax clients still have concerns about a number of issues. These include paying down student loans , paying for college , planning for retirement , paying off mortgages and/or refinancing existing debt, and figuring out if they can itemize deductions on federal and/or state tax returns. Clients are even confused as to what now constitutes an itemized deduction . Among other issues, our corporate clients are concerned with sales tax nexus , succession planning and product lines.

As accounting professionals, we are still relevant – event for those clients who now file using the standard deduction!

For a good portion of 2018, I worked with a corporate client and several tax attorneys regarding sales tax and corporation entity nexus. I realized that if they were to form a new entity, they would also have the opportunity to institute a tax advantaged succession plan and offer additional employee benefits. I was able to hold a discovery session with all the officers to determine each of their personal needs and goals. We set up a subcommittee to review scenarios I am currently working on in order to take all tax options and shareholder goals into account before taking action.

When we can help evaluate the situation, many times we can clear up the confusion or concern, putting the client at ease. With the help of technology through ProSeries and a video conference, we can communicate effectively, offer advice or solutions regarding the problem, ease the client’s concerns, and help create new long and short term goals.

Editor’s note: Andrea was recently featured in a tax practice profile on the Intuit ProConnect Tax Pro Center.

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Andrea Parness, CPA, CTC, owner of A. Parness Company, a small CPA firm based in Belle Harbor, Queens, N.Y., has been in public accounting for more than 30 years. Prior to starting her own firm in 1985, she was a partner in a small firm in Great Neck, N.Y., and worked as an internal auditor and financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company. Andrea is a member of the Intuit® ProConnect™ Tax Council. Find Andrea on Twitter @AndreaCPAQueeens. More from Andrea Parness, CPA, CTC

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26 Expert-Backed Problem Solving Examples – Interview Answers

Published: February 13, 2023

Interview Questions and Answers

Actionable advice from real experts:

Biron Clark

Former Recruiter

Contributor

Dr. Kyle Elliott

Career Coach

Hayley Jukes

Editor-in-Chief

Biron Clark , Former Recruiter

Kyle Elliott , Career Coach

Hayley Jukes , Editor

As a recruiter , I know employers like to hire people who can solve problems and work well under pressure.

 A job rarely goes 100% according to plan, so hiring managers are more likely to hire you if you seem like you can handle unexpected challenges while staying calm and logical.

But how do they measure this?

Hiring managers will ask you interview questions about your problem-solving skills, and they might also look for examples of problem-solving on your resume and cover letter. 

In this article, I’m going to share a list of problem-solving examples and sample interview answers to questions like, “Give an example of a time you used logic to solve a problem?” and “Describe a time when you had to solve a problem without managerial input. How did you handle it, and what was the result?”

• Problem-solving involves identifying, prioritizing, analyzing, and solving problems using a variety of skills like critical thinking, creativity, decision making, and communication.
• Describe the Situation, Task, Action, and Result ( STAR method ) when discussing your problem-solving experiences.
• Tailor your interview answer with the specific skills and qualifications outlined in the job description.
• Provide numerical data or metrics to demonstrate the tangible impact of your problem-solving efforts.

What are Problem Solving Skills? 

Problem-solving is the ability to identify a problem, prioritize based on gravity and urgency, analyze the root cause, gather relevant information, develop and evaluate viable solutions, decide on the most effective and logical solution, and plan and execute implementation. 

Problem-solving encompasses other skills that can be showcased in an interview response and your resume. Problem-solving skills examples include:

• Critical thinking
• Analytical skills
• Decision making
• Research skills
• Technical skills
• Communication skills
• Adaptability and flexibility

Why is Problem Solving Important in the Workplace?

Problem-solving is essential in the workplace because it directly impacts productivity and efficiency. Whenever you encounter a problem, tackling it head-on prevents minor issues from escalating into bigger ones that could disrupt the entire workflow. 

Beyond maintaining smooth operations, your ability to solve problems fosters innovation. It encourages you to think creatively, finding better ways to achieve goals, which keeps the business competitive and pushes the boundaries of what you can achieve. 

Effective problem-solving also contributes to a healthier work environment; it reduces stress by providing clear strategies for overcoming obstacles and builds confidence within teams. 

Examples of Problem-Solving in the Workplace

• Correcting a mistake at work, whether it was made by you or someone else
• Overcoming a delay at work through problem solving and communication
• Resolving an issue with a difficult or upset customer
• Overcoming issues related to a limited budget, and still delivering good work through the use of creative problem solving
• Overcoming a scheduling/staffing shortage in the department to still deliver excellent work
• Troubleshooting and resolving technical issues
• Handling and resolving a conflict with a coworker
• Solving any problems related to money, customer billing, accounting and bookkeeping, etc.
• Taking initiative when another team member overlooked or missed something important
• Taking initiative to meet with your superior to discuss a problem before it became potentially worse
• Solving a safety issue at work or reporting the issue to those who could solve it
• Using problem solving abilities to reduce/eliminate a company expense
• Finding a way to make the company more profitable through new service or product offerings, new pricing ideas, promotion and sale ideas, etc.
• Changing how a process, team, or task is organized to make it more efficient
• Using creative thinking to come up with a solution that the company hasn’t used before
• Performing research to collect data and information to find a new solution to a problem
• Boosting a company or team’s performance by improving some aspect of communication among employees
• Finding a new piece of data that can guide a company’s decisions or strategy better in a certain area

Problem-Solving Examples for Recent Grads/Entry-Level Job Seekers

• Coordinating work between team members in a class project
• Reassigning a missing team member’s work to other group members in a class project
• Adjusting your workflow on a project to accommodate a tight deadline
• Speaking to your professor to get help when you were struggling or unsure about a project
• Asking classmates, peers, or professors for help in an area of struggle
• Talking to your academic advisor to brainstorm solutions to a problem you were facing
• Researching solutions to an academic problem online, via Google or other methods
• Using problem solving and creative thinking to obtain an internship or other work opportunity during school after struggling at first

How To Answer “Tell Us About a Problem You Solved”

When you answer interview questions about problem-solving scenarios, or if you decide to demonstrate your problem-solving skills in a cover letter (which is a good idea any time the job description mentions problem-solving as a necessary skill), I recommend using the STAR method.

STAR stands for:

It’s a simple way of walking the listener or reader through the story in a way that will make sense to them. 

Start by briefly describing the general situation and the task at hand. After this, describe the course of action you chose and why. Ideally, show that you evaluated all the information you could given the time you had, and made a decision based on logic and fact. Finally, describe the positive result you achieved.

Note: Our sample answers below are structured following the STAR formula. Be sure to check them out!

EXPERT ADVICE

Dr. Kyle Elliott , MPA, CHES Tech & Interview Career Coach caffeinatedkyle.com

How can I communicate complex problem-solving experiences clearly and succinctly?

Before answering any interview question, it’s important to understand why the interviewer is asking the question in the first place.

When it comes to questions about your complex problem-solving experiences, for example, the interviewer likely wants to know about your leadership acumen, collaboration abilities, and communication skills, not the problem itself.

Therefore, your answer should be focused on highlighting how you excelled in each of these areas, not diving into the weeds of the problem itself, which is a common mistake less-experienced interviewees often make.

Tailoring Your Answer Based on the Skills Mentioned in the Job Description

As a recruiter, one of the top tips I can give you when responding to the prompt “Tell us about a problem you solved,” is to tailor your answer to the specific skills and qualifications outlined in the job description. 

Once you’ve pinpointed the skills and key competencies the employer is seeking, craft your response to highlight experiences where you successfully utilized or developed those particular abilities. 

For instance, if the job requires strong leadership skills, focus on a problem-solving scenario where you took charge and effectively guided a team toward resolution. 

By aligning your answer with the desired skills outlined in the job description, you demonstrate your suitability for the role and show the employer that you understand their needs.

Amanda Augustine expands on this by saying:

“Showcase the specific skills you used to solve the problem. Did it require critical thinking, analytical abilities, or strong collaboration? Highlight the relevant skills the employer is seeking.”  

Interview Answers to “Tell Me About a Time You Solved a Problem”

Now, let’s look at some sample interview answers to, “Give me an example of a time you used logic to solve a problem,” or “Tell me about a time you solved a problem,” since you’re likely to hear different versions of this interview question in all sorts of industries.

The example interview responses are structured using the STAR method and are categorized into the top 5 key problem-solving skills recruiters look for in a candidate.

1. Analytical Thinking

Situation: In my previous role as a data analyst , our team encountered a significant drop in website traffic.

Task: I was tasked with identifying the root cause of the decrease.

Action: I conducted a thorough analysis of website metrics, including traffic sources, user demographics, and page performance. Through my analysis, I discovered a technical issue with our website’s loading speed, causing users to bounce. 

Result: By optimizing server response time, compressing images, and minimizing redirects, we saw a 20% increase in traffic within two weeks.

2. Critical Thinking

Situation: During a project deadline crunch, our team encountered a major technical issue that threatened to derail our progress.

Task: My task was to assess the situation and devise a solution quickly.

Action: I immediately convened a meeting with the team to brainstorm potential solutions. Instead of panicking, I encouraged everyone to think outside the box and consider unconventional approaches. We analyzed the problem from different angles and weighed the pros and cons of each solution.

Result: By devising a workaround solution, we were able to meet the project deadline, avoiding potential delays that could have cost the company $100,000 in penalties for missing contractual obligations.

3. Decision Making

Situation: As a project manager , I was faced with a dilemma when two key team members had conflicting opinions on the project direction.

Task: My task was to make a decisive choice that would align with the project goals and maintain team cohesion.

Action: I scheduled a meeting with both team members to understand their perspectives in detail. I listened actively, asked probing questions, and encouraged open dialogue. After carefully weighing the pros and cons of each approach, I made a decision that incorporated elements from both viewpoints.

Result: The decision I made not only resolved the immediate conflict but also led to a stronger sense of collaboration within the team. By valuing input from all team members and making a well-informed decision, we were able to achieve our project objectives efficiently.

4. Communication (Teamwork)

Situation: During a cross-functional project, miscommunication between departments was causing delays and misunderstandings.

Task: My task was to improve communication channels and foster better teamwork among team members.

Action: I initiated regular cross-departmental meetings to ensure that everyone was on the same page regarding project goals and timelines. I also implemented a centralized communication platform where team members could share updates, ask questions, and collaborate more effectively.

Result: Streamlining workflows and improving communication channels led to a 30% reduction in project completion time, saving the company $25,000 in operational costs.

5. Persistence 

Situation: During a challenging sales quarter, I encountered numerous rejections and setbacks while trying to close a major client deal.

Task: My task was to persistently pursue the client and overcome obstacles to secure the deal.

Action: I maintained regular communication with the client, addressing their concerns and demonstrating the value proposition of our product. Despite facing multiple rejections, I remained persistent and resilient, adjusting my approach based on feedback and market dynamics.

Result: After months of perseverance, I successfully closed the deal with the client. By closing the major client deal, I exceeded quarterly sales targets by 25%, resulting in a revenue increase of $250,000 for the company.

Tips to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills

Throughout your career, being able to showcase and effectively communicate your problem-solving skills gives you more leverage in achieving better jobs and earning more money .

So to improve your problem-solving skills, I recommend always analyzing a problem and situation before acting.

 When discussing problem-solving with employers, you never want to sound like you rush or make impulsive decisions. They want to see fact-based or data-based decisions when you solve problems.

Don’t just say you’re good at solving problems. Show it with specifics. How much did you boost efficiency? Did you save the company money? Adding numbers can really make your achievements stand out.

To get better at solving problems, analyze the outcomes of past solutions you came up with. You can recognize what works and what doesn’t.

Think about how you can improve researching and analyzing a situation, how you can get better at communicating, and deciding on the right people in the organization to talk to and “pull in” to help you if needed, etc.

Finally, practice staying calm even in stressful situations. Take a few minutes to walk outside if needed. Step away from your phone and computer to clear your head. A work problem is rarely so urgent that you cannot take five minutes to think (with the possible exception of safety problems), and you’ll get better outcomes if you solve problems by acting logically instead of rushing to react in a panic.

You can use all of the ideas above to describe your problem-solving skills when asked interview questions about the topic. If you say that you do the things above, employers will be impressed when they assess your problem-solving ability.

More Interview Resources

• 3 Answers to “How Do You Handle Stress?”
• How to Answer “How Do You Handle Conflict?” (Interview Question)
• Sample Answers to “Tell Me About a Time You Failed”

About the Author

Biron Clark is a former executive recruiter who has worked individually with hundreds of job seekers, reviewed thousands of resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and recruited for top venture-backed startups and Fortune 500 companies. He has been advising job seekers since 2012 to think differently in their job search and land high-paying, competitive positions. Follow on Twitter and LinkedIn .

Read more articles by Biron Clark

About the Contributor

Kyle Elliott , career coach and mental health advocate, transforms his side hustle into a notable practice, aiding Silicon Valley professionals in maximizing potential. Follow Kyle on LinkedIn .

About the Editor

Hayley Jukes is the Editor-in-Chief at CareerSidekick with five years of experience creating engaging articles, books, and transcripts for diverse platforms and audiences.

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