Let's bring everything together that we've learned then in my final thoughts on problem solving and decision making creatively. With rapid change in the business world, we cannot continue to solve problems in the way that we always have done, a better approach is needed. If we keep thinking in the way that we've always thought, we'll always get the same old solutions that we always had before. We all have different thinking styles, but we tend to congregate around those who think like us, problems are best solved by a group of people with different thinking styles. A structured approach to problem solving and decision making will help ensure that we don't become a victim to lazy thinking, but analyze a problem from all angles, analyze the problem in detail and from many aspects with different thinking styles in order to create better quality ideas. And remember, it's all about communication.

The key to successful decision His engagement with the solution. Communicate, train address concerns, communicate again, what are my six Top Tips then for creative problem solving? Well, number one, ask your customers what they don't like about doing business with you. That will give you ideas for problems to solve that have an immediate customer impact. Number two, ask your staff what they don't like about your processes that will identify more problem points for attention. Number three, draw a high level process map and mark the handoffs between teams, handoffs and rekeying points are likely to be the main points of error in the process.

Number four, look at companies that you admire, particularly in your region. How do they solve their problems? Number five, join a local enterprise agency's benchmarking or company visit program to get an insight into problem solving and decision. Making in other organizations. And number six, think out of the box. What could you do that is radically different.

And on the subject of thinking out of the box, here's a slide of ideas to help you because it's easy to get stuck in a rut in our thinking. This course has provided a structure that will help you look at aspects of the business from different angles. But it's also useful to shake up your thinking style from time to time, in order to create a greater range of ideas for consideration. Here are some ideas on how to do it. Number one, define the problem in 10 different ways. This is a tool that we had earlier in the course, and working as a group to create 10 different definitions of the problem or issue that you want to resolve will really make you think differently.

Try thinking of the issue from the point of view of customers, of employees of shareholders and so on. Number two, act it out and this is a good one roleplay the problem assigned roles to different members of the group, customers, employees, suppliers, etc. This is lively and a good fun way to get the creative juices flowing and get everyone involved in the problem and seeing it from different points of view. Number three, change your viewpoint. When you change the space where you do your thinking, you can often change your thinking itself. Take the team out of the office to somewhere completely different.

Do some team activities to relax everyone, and then start brainstorming. And don't wear work clothes. even try fancy dress. This is an approach that I often use to get new thinking on the problem or to come up with new ideas. For example, for what I'm going to include in these courses, I'll often go out for a walk to get ideas or even sit in a different chair in my little office here because that gives me a different perspective often. My fourth idea for thinking outside the box is to visit a business that has already reputation for creativity and innovation.

See how they do their thinking to close them before we come to the tester knowledge section? What have we learned? Well, we've learned that markets and business practices are changing faster than ever. And that creative approaches to problem solving and decision making are becoming evermore vital for survival. We've learned that the key to creative problem solving is a team with a variety of different thinking styles. And we've learned that a simple structure provides a framework for creative problem solving and decision making.

And that structure comprises five elements. First, define the problem. Second, analyze the problem. Third, generate ideas. Fourth, test the solutions. Fifth, decide, select and implement a solution.

And there's a wide range of tools that can help you solve problems creatively. And we've presented many of those in this course. But sometimes it can Help not to focus on the problem to be solved at all, but to take a wider view of the issue, looking at the benefits required for stakeholders. So that's us time to wrap up. Thank you very much for your time. I hope this course has been of benefit.

I am Ross may not. And I hope you will listen to some of my courses in the future. Thank you for your time. I look forward to speaking to you again. Goodbye.