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The Carpenter's Guide to Creative Problem Solving: Why Your Workshop Beats Your Boardroom
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Three months ago, I was standing in my mate's garage watching him fix a busted alternator with nothing but a coat hanger, some electrical tape, and what appeared to be pure bloody-mindedness. Meanwhile, back at the office, my corporate clients were spending weeks in committee meetings trying to decide which consultant to hire to tell them how to make decisions faster.
That moment changed everything I thought I knew about creative problem solving.
For fifteen years, I've been running workshops on creative thinking and problem-solving techniques. I've taught the standard frameworks - the six thinking hats, the five whys, design thinking methodologies. All good stuff. But here's what I've realised: the best problem solvers I know learned their skills in sheds, not seminar rooms.
The Shed Advantage
Walk into any Australian tradesperson's workshop and you'll see creative problem solving in action. No fancy flipcharts or sticky notes. Just practical solutions to real problems with limited resources and tight deadlines.
Take my neighbour Barry. Last summer, his pool pump died the day before his daughter's birthday party. Replacement parts would take a week. Barry didn't call a meeting. He didn't brainstorm alternative solutions on a whiteboard. He grabbed his toolbox, diagnosed the issue, and fashioned a temporary fix using parts from an old washing machine motor. Problem solved in two hours.
Compare that to the pharmaceutical company I worked with last year. They spent four months and $50,000 on consultants to solve a production bottleneck that could have been fixed by moving one machine three metres to the left. The solution was obvious to anyone who'd actually worked on the factory floor, but nobody thought to ask them.
Why Constraints Create Innovation
Here's something that might ruffle some feathers: unlimited budgets kill creativity. Give someone all the resources in the world, and they'll overthink everything. Give them nothing but a paperclip and a deadline, and they'll surprise you.
I learned this the hard way during my corporate days at a major telecommunications company. We had budget for everything - external consultants, expensive software, team retreats to "think outside the box." The result? Paralysis by analysis. We'd spend so much time evaluating options that we'd miss the opportunity entirely.
Contrast that with the small businesses I work with now. Limited cash flow forces them to be resourceful. They can't afford to hire specialists for every problem, so they develop broad skill sets. They can't waste time on lengthy approval processes, so they make decisions quickly and adjust as needed.
The Real Creative Problem Solving Process
Forget the textbook models for a minute. Here's how actual problem solving works in the real world:
Step 1: Accept that the problem exists. Sounds obvious, but you'd be amazed how many organisations spend months denying reality. The alternator is dead. The machine is broken. The customer is angry. Stop pretending otherwise.
Step 2: Get your hands dirty. Literally or figuratively. You can't solve problems from a conference room. Go to where the problem is happening. Talk to the people dealing with it daily.
Step 3: Try the obvious solution first. Corporate culture loves complexity, but sometimes the fix is embarrassingly simple. Is it plugged in? Have you tried turning it off and on again? Is the door actually locked?
Before you roll your eyes, I once spent a day helping a restaurant "optimise their customer flow" only to discover their main issue was that half their menu items weren't actually available. They'd removed items from their kitchen prep but never updated the printed menus. Customers were ordering food they couldn't get, causing delays and frustration. The solution? Print new menus. Cost: $47. Time: One afternoon.
Step 4: Combine existing resources creatively. This is where the magic happens. Instead of buying new solutions, look at what you already have. Could that marketing budget help solve the HR problem? Could the logistics team's expertise apply to customer service challenges?
The Innovation Paradox
Here's where I'm going to contradict myself slightly. While I believe constraints drive creativity, I also think most businesses are too constrained by conventional thinking. They'll spend thousands on new equipment but won't consider rearranging their workspace. They'll hire expensive consultants but won't listen to suggestions from their own staff.
I worked with a manufacturing company in Adelaide that was struggling with quality control issues. Management was ready to invest in new automated inspection systems. Turned out, the problem wasn't the equipment - it was the lighting. Workers couldn't see defects clearly because the overhead fluorescent lights created shadows on the inspection area. Solution cost: $200 for better task lighting. Savings: about $80,000 they would have wasted on unnecessary automation.
Why Most Brainstorming Sessions Fail
Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Traditional brainstorming is broken. Not because the concept is bad, but because most people do it wrong.
The rules say "no criticism" and "quantity over quality," but then everyone sits around politely suggesting variations of the same safe ideas. Real creative thinking is messier than that. It involves arguments, false starts, and moments of frustration.
The best problem-solving sessions I've facilitated felt more like garage conversations than formal meetings. People interrupted each other, built on half-formed ideas, and weren't afraid to say when something sounded stupid.
The Technology Trap
Another unpopular opinion: technology often makes problem solving worse, not better. Don't get me wrong - I'm not anti-technology. But I've seen too many teams get distracted by finding the perfect app or software solution when what they really needed was to change their approach.
I remember working with a logistics company that was convinced they needed a sophisticated tracking system to improve delivery efficiency. After spending three days riding with their drivers, the real issues became clear: poor route planning, inconsistent vehicle maintenance, and drivers who didn't know the local area well. No amount of GPS technology was going to fix those fundamental problems.
The company ended up implementing a simple buddy system where experienced drivers mentored new ones, created standardised maintenance checklists, and invested in basic route optimisation training. Results improved by 23% without spending a cent on new technology.
Learning from Failure (Including Mine)
About five years ago, I made a classic mistake. A retail client was losing customers to online competitors, and I immediately jumped to solutions involving social media marketing and e-commerce platforms. We spent months developing an online strategy.
Turns out, the real problem was much simpler. Their store was hard to find because the signage was blocked by tree growth, their opening hours didn't match what was posted online, and their phone number had changed without updating their Google listing. Customers weren't choosing competitors - they just couldn't find the store in the first place.
That failure taught me the importance of understanding the actual problem before falling in love with clever solutions. Sometimes the most creative thing you can do is step back and question your assumptions.
The Australian Advantage
We've got something special here in Australia when it comes to problem solving. Maybe it's our isolation that forced us to be self-reliant. Maybe it's our "she'll be right" attitude that makes us willing to try unconventional approaches. Whatever it is, we shouldn't lose it to corporate bureaucracy.
I've seen this firsthand working with companies across different states. The Melbourne businesses often surprise me with their willingness to experiment. Brisbane companies excel at collaborative solutions. Perth teams are incredibly resourceful, probably because they're used to being so far from everything else.
But here's what worries me: I'm seeing more businesses adopt overseas management practices that actually discourage the kind of creative thinking that made them successful in the first place. They're trading flexibility for process, innovation for compliance.
Practical Applications
So how do you actually implement this stuff? Start small. Pick one recurring problem in your business and apply the shed mentality to it.
Don't form a committee. Don't hire consultants. Just get the people who deal with the problem daily together in a room with a whiteboard and see what happens. Give them permission to try weird solutions. Better yet, encourage them.
One manufacturing client started holding monthly "MacGyver sessions" where teams had to solve operational challenges using only materials they could find around the facility. Sounds silly, but it's generated dozens of practical improvements and saved them serious money.
Another service business implemented "failure Fridays" where staff could spend an hour trying solutions that probably wouldn't work. The rule was simple: if it fails, document why and move on. If it works, implement it immediately. The fear of failure was holding back more good ideas than actual failure ever could.
The Future of Problem Solving
Looking ahead, I think we're going to see a split. Companies will either embrace this hands-on, experimental approach to problem solving, or they'll get buried under their own processes and procedures.
The businesses that thrive will be the ones that combine the resourcefulness of the shed with the resources of the boardroom. They'll have the courage to try simple solutions before complex ones, the wisdom to listen to their own people before external experts, and the flexibility to change course quickly when something isn't working.
Most importantly, they'll remember that creative problem solving isn't about following a prescribed method. It's about developing a mindset that sees obstacles as puzzles to be solved rather than barriers to be avoided.
And if you're still not convinced, spend an afternoon in a workshop with someone who fixes things for a living. Watch how they approach problems. Notice how they think. Then ask yourself: what would Barry do?
The answer might just transform your business. Or at least save you a few consultancy fees.
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