Creative Problem Solving in Action

Maggie Ellis

Hey everyone, welcome back to Being Disruptive! I’m Maggie Ellis, and I’m here with the one and only Darren Colby. Darren, you ready to get a little messy with some creative problem solving today?

Darren Colby

Messy is my middle name, Maggie. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. I love this topic because, honestly, most problems aren’t as simple as they look at first glance. You gotta dig in, right?

Maggie Ellis

Totally. And I think that’s where people get tripped up—they see a problem, and they just wanna slap a Band-Aid on it. But if you don’t actually break it down, you’re just, like, treating the symptoms, not the cause. So, let’s talk about clarifying the issue. I always go back to the 4 W’s: Who, What, When, and Where. It’s like, if you can’t answer those, you’re probably not seeing the whole picture.

Darren Colby

Yeah, and then you gotta ask “Why?”—not just once, but, like, five times. The old “5 Whys” trick. It sounds simple, but it’s wild how often you realize the real problem is three layers deeper than you thought. I remember this story—there was a farm owner who wanted to build a horse shelter, but the council denied the permit. Instead of giving up, he realized, wait, you don’t need a permit for a table and chairs. So, he built a table and chairs, and—problem solved. It’s all about reframing, right?

Maggie Ellis

That’s such a good one. It’s like, sometimes the solution is hiding in the rules, you just have to look at it from a different angle. And, honestly, when a team really digs into the problem—like, fully identifies it—it totally shifts the mindset. Suddenly, it’s not “Ugh, we have a problem,” it’s “Okay, what’s actually going on here, and what can we do about it?”

Darren Colby

Exactly. And I think it also takes the blame out of it. When you’re focused on the facts—who, what, when, where, and why—it’s not about pointing fingers, it’s about understanding. That’s when people start to open up and actually contribute ideas, instead of just defending themselves.

Maggie Ellis

Yeah, and I mean, sometimes you realize the problem isn’t even what you thought it was. Like, you think it’s a people issue, but it’s actually a process thing, or vice versa. I always say, if you’re not a little surprised by what you find, you probably haven’t dug deep enough.

Darren Colby

So, once you’ve got the problem nailed down, it’s time for my favorite part—brainstorming. And I mean, real brainstorming, not just “let’s list the obvious stuff.” I love those exercises where you have to get a ball off a roof, and people start throwing out ideas like, I dunno, using a monkey or a slingshot or even dynamite. Not that I recommend dynamite, but you get the point.

Maggie Ellis

Oh my gosh, yes! I did one of those in college. We had to figure out how to get a rubber duck out of a locked server room—don’t ask why there was a rubber duck in there, it’s a long story. Anyway, everyone was stuck on, like, “find the key” or “call security.” But my team, we ended up using a bunch of rubber ducks to trigger the motion sensor and open the door. It was so weird, but it worked! Sometimes the wildest ideas are the ones that spark something actually useful.

Darren Colby

That’s brilliant. And it’s why open-mindedness is so crucial at this stage. If you start shooting down ideas too early, you miss out on the stuff that could lead to a breakthrough. I always tell my teams, “Never criticize input during brainstorming.” You never know which idea is gonna be the springboard for the real solution.

Maggie Ellis

Totally. And honestly, sometimes the most impractical ideas are the ones that get you thinking differently. Like, no one’s actually gonna train a pigeon to get a ball off a roof, but maybe it makes you realize you could use a drone, or something else you hadn’t considered. It’s all about keeping the energy up and letting people feel safe to be a little ridiculous.

Darren Colby

Yeah, and I think that’s where leadership comes in. You gotta create that space where people aren’t afraid to sound silly. Because, let’s be real, the first idea is rarely the best one. It’s the tenth or twentieth that starts to get interesting.

Maggie Ellis

Exactly. And, like, if you’re not laughing a little during brainstorming, you’re probably doing it wrong. I mean, not everything has to be a joke, but a little humor goes a long way in getting people to loosen up and think creatively.

Darren Colby

Alright, so you’ve got your wild ideas, you pick the best one, and then—here’s the hard part—you actually have to do something. Implementation is where a lot of teams stumble, honestly. You gotta follow through, monitor if it’s working, and be ready to tweak things if it’s not.

Maggie Ellis

Yeah, and I think people forget that just because you tried something doesn’t mean you’re done. Like, you have to check if your solution actually fixed the problem, or if you just made a new one. That’s where the whole Kaizen thing comes in—continuous improvement, right?

Darren Colby

Exactly. I had this case at work—classic quality issue, kept popping up every quarter. We’d fix it, it’d come back. Finally, we started really following up on our countermeasures, like, actually checking if they worked, not just assuming. And, surprise, it turned out the root cause was something totally different than we thought. Once we fixed that, the problem stopped coming back. But it took persistence, and a lot of, uh, humble pie.

Maggie Ellis

I love that. And I think it’s so important to remember that problems don’t define your value. Like, just because something went wrong doesn’t mean you’re a failure. If anything, it’s an opportunity to learn and get better. I mean, if you’re not making mistakes, you’re probably not trying hard enough.

Darren Colby

Couldn’t agree more. Problems are just opportunities with thorns. And if you can standardize what works, share it with the team, and keep improving, that’s where real growth happens. It’s not about never having problems—it’s about what you do with them.

Maggie Ellis

Alright, I think that’s a good place to wrap for today. Creative problem solving isn’t just a process, it’s a mindset. And, hey, if you’re out there facing a thorny problem, just remember—you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not defined by it.

Darren Colby

Absolutely. Thanks for hanging out with us, everyone. We’ll be back with more leadership adventures next time. Maggie, always a pleasure.

Maggie Ellis

Right back at you, Darren. See you all next episode—keep being disruptive!