A continuación, te explicamos cómo puedes mantener un equilibrio entre la innovación y la practicidad en la resolución creativa de problemas.

Innovation is a long-term objective, whereas practicality refers to the day-to-day actions. Following them based on their needs keeps you balanced in both ways.

Balance comes through diverse skill sets. Creative problem solving is a project. Freelancers establish proposals by understanding their abilities, but also their limits. Discovering a solution needs formation, Practicalities may dictate that; ensure goals are achievable. Creativity uses logic, analysis & curiosity for problem solving. An analytical mind is driven by curiosity to think deeper, rationally, and sparks desire to uncover knowledge—the foundation for decision-making and generating innovative ideas. Scaled-up projects use diverse teams—PMs as shepherds to protect a project, keep the herd together and moving toward fertile grassland. Grounded by budget, time, market, logistics, all based on available resources, innovation thrives.

It's critical to understand what limits are requirements or constraints and which ones have more flexibility. The former are the "box" you might need to innovate within while the latter can be looked at as design factors that can be turned up or down like knobs.

Time is the most consistent and unforgiving constraint in any creative endeavor. We are also limited by our personal our own blind spots and biases. Given these challenges, we must first understand the importance of whatever challenge we are working to solve, along with any important timelines we need to meet, whether externally or self-imposed. Clint Eastwood once said, "A man needs to know his limitations." This points to a need for self-reflection and assessing our strengths and weaknesses to the best of our abilities. It is also valuable to have a good support system of people who are willing and able to point out our potential blind spots and help us better gauge our limitations in a professional and constructive manner.

Yes. You have some limits but you could change something with creativity if you are practical, ofc. It is important to know limits of your clients. Why? They pay you for your work but that is not the end. Lean on their etics and values- you can't change people, but you could try to change their perspective. Go with your power: knowledge, creativity, experience, ex falure, future trust and magic of HERE AND NOW KNOW HOW. Make research and make presentation.

La diversidad en un equipo es una poderosa fuente de innovación. Diferentes perspectivas aportan ideas frescas y enfoques únicos a la resolución de problemas. En una de mis experiencias liderando un equipo multicultural, descubrimos que combinar nuestras variadas experiencias nos permitió diseñar campañas más inclusivas y efectivas. Herramientas como Microsoft Teams facilitaron la comunicación entre miembros de diferentes ubicaciones y backgrounds. También recomiendo usar plataformas como Miro para brainstorming colaborativo, donde todos pueden contribuir visualmente sus ideas. La clave es fomentar un ambiente donde todas las voces se sientan valoradas y escuchadas, promoviendo así una creatividad rica y diversa.

Embracing diversity in problem solving teams helps balance innovation with practicality. Diverse backgrounds and skills bring fresh ideas and the wisdom to spot what will work. Encouraging open conversations and placing value on all contributions to create an environment where creative thoughts meet practical insights, leading to unique and effective solutions.

At work I often find that a great range of diversity within a problem solving or project team leads to the greatest results. Diversity of experience, generation, age, origin, ideas, culture are always exponential idea multipliers. Extreme perspectives seem to cancel each other out or moderate, and in the margins is where great progress and ideas emerge.

Story Time from Jen’s Eternal Pursuit of The Muse: I’m reminded of planning my first large event. A young volunteer made a suggestion that was so astute I not only implemented it right away but hired them when I started a nonprofit. I am so thankful I asked all the volunteers to “anticipate need” and empowered them to offer their suggestions as we planned and organized. Now, that former volunteer has worked with me for three years and I consider them a friend. Some of the best ideas (and people!) I have sourced have been from openness to input from as many perspectives (and varied experiences) as I can seek out. I also find the more I allow for diverse perspectives, the more my mind overflows with ideas and my own creatively ignites.

Absolutely let me explain to you how: Fresh perspectives: People from different backgrounds have different experiences and ways of thinking. When you brainstorm together, it's like having more flavors and techniques to consider. Someone might suggest a spice you've never thought of, or a way to decorate that's totally unique! Better solutions: With more ideas on the table, you're more likely to find a solution that's both creative and practical

Innovators often fear that practicality stifles creativity. However, rapid prototyping and iterative testing allow for creative exploration while maintaining a practical focus. Fail fast, learn, and adapt. Google’s “20% time” policy, where employees dedicate a portion of their workweek to personal projects, exemplifies this balance.

'Growth through iteration' should be the motto for every aspiring innovator. Taking the smallest executable step allows you to check the impact of a change before you drain resources or overstep boundaries. No one can build a 'Grand Design' from scratch. It takes hundreds of small failures to create something that is built to last. Iteration allows you to push your creative boundaries without putting your organisation at risk.

In the simplest process improvement terms: Plan, Do, Study, and Act (unknown author). It is constant and cyclic process and approach. The improvement is found in the commitment and fidelity to these principles.

La iteración frecuente es clave para el desarrollo de soluciones creativas y efectivas. He comprobado que probar, evaluar y ajustar continuamente permite mejorar y perfeccionar ideas. Un ejemplo claro fue una campaña de marketing digital donde realizamos pruebas A/B constantes en anuncios y contenidos. Esto nos permitió identificar qué estrategias funcionaban mejor y optimizarlas rápidamente. Herramientas como Google Analytics y Hotjar son excelentes para recopilar datos y feedback en tiempo real. Además, plataformas como Asana nos ayudaron a gestionar el flujo de trabajo iterativo, asegurando que cada ciclo de prueba y mejora fuera bien documentado y eficiente.

Risk assessment sounds complicated and intimidating but is a practical math problem. Here is my very simple (I did not invent) approach: Give numerical value to impact on a scale, and give numerical value to likelihood on a scale of a potential risk. Multiply the values and rank the scores from highest to least to stratify the risk. Lastly make decisions to deal, mitigate, or not deal with the identified risks.

Assessing risks is key to ensuring your ideas are feasible. By anticipating potential issues and planning for them, you can choose the best ideas to pursue. This strategy helps you stay creative while being realistic about implementation.

The risk assessment including but not limited to initial identification of risks , analysing risks,prioritising risks,development & implementation of mitigation plan review and update, iterate and continuous improvement at each stage of creative problem solving is key to achieve optimum outcomes.

It requires a blend of vision and grounded thinking. Start by defining clear goals and constraints. Encourage brainstorming to generate fresh ideas, but evaluate them through practical lenses. Prioritize solutions that are feasible and impactful. Iterate continuously, testing and refining concepts. Stay open to feedback and adapt as necessary. By combining bold ideas with pragmatic steps, you can drive meaningful, sustainable innovation.

Evaluar los riesgos es esencial para equilibrar innovación y practicidad. Un análisis de riesgos bien hecho puede prevenir contratiempos y garantizar el éxito del proyecto. Cuando dirigí una campaña de lanzamiento de producto, realizamos una exhaustiva evaluación de riesgos que incluía posibles fallos técnicos y reacciones del mercado. Usamos herramientas como SWOT para identificar fortalezas, debilidades, oportunidades y amenazas, y monitorizamos para mitigar riesgos potenciales. Esta preparación nos permitió adaptar rápidamente nuestras estrategias ante cualquier imprevisto, asegurando un lanzamiento fluido y exitoso.

It is very important point because: Feedback helps you identify what's not working in your solution. It's like noticing your cake is lopsided, so you can adjust the baking pan. By incorporating feedback, you can make your solutions more innovative and practical. It's like adding more frosting to a tasty cake to make it even better. Feedback helps you ensure your solution is still addressing the original problem. It's like checking if your cake is the right flavor you intended

StoryTime from a Jen Success So You Can Be Encouraged: When developing a new course, I always beta test with happy, repeat customers as much as possible. Because I have established trust with them, I am confident that they will give constructive feedback. Once I receive that feedback, I update as soon as possible. If I am unable to update due to limits or the idea isn’t feasible, I explain to the respondent the reason so that they can learn and rest assured they are heard. They leave having learned about my process while feeling valued, and they remain open to providing more feedback in the future.

Great feedback loop challenges your team. Having the right KPIs is the juggernaut. Being fast, iterating quickly, and solving customers needs and problems drives innovation. Be the leader in your problem solving area and be obsessive. Finding a work life balance is determined on the profundity of the problem you’re solving. If it’s so existential, it won’t feel like work. It bleeds into the reasoning for having a mission statement in the first place. Find employees that want to be there. That want to grow a culture. That want to build something lasting. That’s when you’ll find the crossroads of profitability and happiness.

People's feedbacks often serve as a way to solve problems. There are some solutions in the comments and it is possible to ensure that any problem is solved by using your own creativity and judgment.

Los bucles de retroalimentación son fundamentales para la mejora continua en cualquier proyecto. Fomenta una cultura de feedback constante. Durante una campaña de marketing, implementamos reuniones semanales de retroalimentación utilizando herramientas como Zoom, Google Meet o Teams. Escoge la herramienta mas apropiada. Esto permitió al equipo compartir insights y ajustar estrategias en tiempo real. Plataformas como SurveyMonkey nos ayudaron a recopilar feedback de los clientes, lo cual fue invaluable para entender sus necesidades y expectativas.

When breaking down a complex or challenging issue, it becomes clear for you and your team. At this point innovative ideas and simple one emerge. The best approach for that, from my experience, is to have one of your team as an observer. This person must be curious and raises questions while observing the team tackling the issues in hand. The observer, even is part of the team, should poses as an outsider of the problem. He/she listing to the dialogues between the team, look at the way they are trying to solve the issue. Normally after 2 to 3 failure attempts from the team, this person will “kick in” and start coming up with very obvious and simple solution.

To gain a better understanding of an issue or problem, start by writing down everything you know about the problem. Put it on paper. By going thru this exercise, you will gain a clearer picture and you will find that the solution may be right in front of you, or at least you will have a better direction to proceed for a solution.

Simplifying ideas in creative problem-solving is essential for balancing innovation and practicality. By distilling complex concepts into more accessible forms, you make them easier to implement, communicate, and focus on essential elements. This approach ensures that your solutions remain realistic and achievable without compromising on innovation.

Sometimes we can solve complex problems by thinking in a simple way. By thinking in a simple way, it is possible to avoid complications and find quick and effective solutions. Creative solutions are possible from a pragmatic mind-set with thoughtfulness.

Simplify, always simplify, but never oversimplify. It is important to have different paths and criteria for projects that are easier to explain, and other paths for those projects that require deeper understanding, more technical knowledge, stronger scientific background from the evaluators. Otherwise a company can stay only with shallow ideas because they are more easily understandable by everyone.

At first glance, innovation and practicality seem at odds. Innovators dream big, envisioning radical transformations, while pragmatists focus on feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and real-world constraints. Yet, the tension between these forces is where true breakthroughs occur. Innovation thrives at the intersection of disciplines. Encourage collaboration between engineers, designers, marketers, and domain experts. The fusion of diverse knowledge leads to breakthroughs. Practicality, in turn, ensures that these interdisciplinary efforts yield tangible results. For example, Apple’s success lies in combining design aesthetics with functional usability.

As per my understanding, innovation remains elusive unless it permeates from top to bottom within an organization. Unfortunately, in many traditional organizational structures, practicality often overshadows innovation. While it’s evident that new approaches can streamline processes, reduce repetitive work, and enhance productivity, management decisions frequently prioritize profitability for the benefit of shareholders. The board, as the highest governing body, bears the responsibility of striking a delicate balance. By doing so, management can then delegate the task of innovating practical solutions to operational-level employees.

To balance innovation and practicality in creative problem-solving, start by exploring new ideas and thinking outside the box. Then, assess each idea's feasibility, sustainability and cost-effectiveness. Choose solutions that are both groundbreaking, sustainable and realistic. Test and adjust as needed to ensure the idea works well in the real world.

My personal approach... 1. Set Clear Goals: Make sure everyone knows what I am aiming for so that creative ideas stay grounded in real-world needs. 2. Work Together : Bring together people with different skills and viewpoints to find a sweet spot between wild ideas and doable solutions. 3. Test Ideas Early: Create simple versions of my ideas to see if they work in practice before going all in. 4. Keep Refining: Gather feedback regularly and tweak my approach to keep both innovation and practicality in balance. 5. Use Resources Wisely: Make sure I am using my time, money, and people smartly to support both creative thinking and practical implementation.

You have to be a little bit “crazy” to be creative. Yet, it’s the crazy that brings about new innovation. This is why testing is so important and can range from a simple mental exercise of thinking it through in practical terms, to testing a hypothesis in experimental conditions. What will be right will depend on the nature and circumstances of the problem being solved. PS don’t let the issue of “practicality” get in the way of the creative component in problem solving. Do the practicality after the creativity!