How to Improve Creative Thinking Skills in 5 Steps

Creative skills are essential, but most organisations do not apply them well. Teams often work in fixed systems where following the process matters more than trying something new. These setups limit curiosity, innovation is frequently overlooked, and original thinking is dismissed as non-essential.

But the data tells a different story. According toMcKinsey, companies that prioritise innovation are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers. And the2023Future of Jobsreportconfirms that over 70% of companies now list creative thinking as a top skill to develop. The shift is clear: creative problem-solving is now critical to performance, speed, and resilience. 

In this post, we’ll share five actionable steps your organisation can take to build stronger creative thinking skills across your teams, without disrupting day-to-day operations.

What is Creative Thinking?

Creative thinking is the ability to break away from standard routines and approach problems from fresh perspectives. It’s about challenging assumptions, spotting inefficiencies, and uncovering better solutions through curiosity and exploration, not guesswork.

This mindset strengthens decision-making, adaptability, and innovation across teams. It reduces overreliance on rigid processes and opens space for more effective ways of working.

In fact,according to McKinsey, 77% of senior executives see creative thinking as essential for long-term business success.

Why is Creative Thinking Important?

While many organisations talk about innovation, few actively embed it into everyday decision-making. Teams that think creatively don’t just react better; they anticipate problems, solve them faster, and drive better outcomes.

Here’s how creative thinking improves performance across operations:

• Better Problem-Solving: Employees learn to explore multiple solutions instead of defaulting to the usual path, leading to more efficient, effective outcomes.
• Greater Flexibility: Teams that question old routines can adapt in real time, fixing inefficiencies and improving processes on the go.
• Increased Resilience: In times of change, creatively trained employees can shift focus, think independently, and stay productive.

But developing these skills takes more than encouragement. The next section outlines five proven steps for your organisation to strengthen creative thinking across teams.

5 Steps To Improving Creative Thinking Skills

Improving creative thinking skills doesn’t mean starting from scratch; it starts with small, intentional changes. In this section, we outline five practical steps your organisation can take to help employees build stronger creative thinking habits. 

Each step is designed to be actionable, workplace-friendly, and aimed at embedding creative problem-solving into everyday tasks and decisions.

Step 1: Clarify Learning Objectives and Challenges

To build real creative capacity, teams need clear direction. Vague goals like “be more innovative” rarely lead to action. But when learning objectives are specific and tied to actual business challenges, employees can focus their thinking where it matters most.

How to put this into practice:

• Set outcome-based goals:Identify areas where teams need better thinking, such as improving customer response time, resolving recurring delivery issues, or redesigning internal workflows.
• Assess current gaps:Use feedback, performance reviews, or short assessments to pinpoint where teams fall into routine patterns or avoid trying new approaches.
• Connect training to real outcomes:Instead of abstract learning, tie sessions to measurable goals. For example, if a design team struggles with speed, frame the goal as reducing turnaround time without compromising quality.

Once teams have a clear sense of direction, the next step is helping them break away from routine thinking.

Also Read:Emerging Leadership Trends: The Role of Vision and Strategy in Corporate Training

Step 2: Encourage Broader Thinking Through Learning Exercises

Most employees stick to what’s familiar, especially under pressure. To shift this mindset, organisations need to introduce low-risk ways for teams to experiment, make mistakes, and think beyond routine solutions. Creative thinking improves when learning exercises challenge existing habits and invite fresh perspectives.

How to put this into practice:

• Host cross-functional problem-solving sessions:Bring together employees from different departments to tackle a shared challenge. Use a common digital board or template to collect everyone’s ideas. This encourages diverse input and surfaces solutions one team might miss on its own.
• Use quick, low-pressure mock-ups:Have teams create simple, early-stage versions of their ideas. Emphasise learning over perfection—what worked, what didn’t, and why. This builds confidence and reduces fear of failure.
• Create safe zones for raw ideas:Set clear expectations that early thoughts and half-formed suggestions are valued. When employees feel safe to share unfiltered input, they’re more likely to offer novel ideas that can be refined and developed later.

These exercises improve immediate problem-solving and cultivate a long-term mindset of curiosity and adaptability.

To support this shift in thinking, Corpoladder’sDesign Thinking and Business Transformationcourse helps teams turn creativity into tangible business outcomes. The program blends proven frameworks with hands-on projects, allowing participants to tackle real challenges using structured innovation tools. It’s especially useful for professionals leading change or navigating process improvement. The course is available in both live online and in-person formats and includes certification upon completion.

As teams begin to explore broader thinking, how their learning is structured becomes more important. 

Also Read:Overcoming Common Challenges in Leadership Training

Step 3: Improve Creative Thinking Through Better Learning Design

When teams are faced with unfamiliar challenges, they often fall back on routine solutions. To shift this behavior, organisations must rethink how learning is designed. Effective training doesn't overwhelm; it creates space for reflection, encourages experimentation, and challenges assumptions without confusing.

What organisations can do:

• Use scenario-based exercises: Design realistic challenges where the answer isn’t obvious. For example, ask teams to respond to a sudden client demand that contradicts standard policy and see how they adapt.
• Apply reverse case studies: Present past decisions that led to poor outcomes and pause the story midway. Have teams reimagine the scenario with fresh approaches and justify their choices.
• Encourage decision reflection: After solving a case, ask participants to walk through how they made their decision. Then, introduce a new lens—like customer experience or cost-saving—and repeat the exercise to explore different outcomes.

These methods push teams to pause, analyse their thought process, and develop new habits that lead to more thoughtful, flexible problem-solving.

To reinforce these learning approaches, Corpoladder’sEffectively Managing a New Teamcourse helps managers build critical thinking into everyday team leadership. Through scenario planning, communication drills, and reflection-based exercises, this 5-day program prepares new or transitioning managers to make confident decisions, delegate smartly, and lead with clarity. It's ideal for leaders looking to reshape habits, gain trust quickly, and turn team challenges into learning opportunities.

After teams are introduced to new thinking styles, it's important to make creativity easier to apply. This means offering a structure that supports creative thinking without making the process feel forced.

Step 4: Incorporate Structured Creativity Frameworks

Most teams don’t need more ideas; they need better ways to explore them. With the right tools, creative thinking becomes easier to practise and apply. Simple methods give structure to team discussions, especially when problem-solving feels stuck or repetitive. Used regularly, they help teams approach problems more clearly and generate options they can act on.

Practical methods to try:

• SCAMPER method: Ask your team to explore changes using prompts like Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, or Rearrange. These questions help them examine the same problem from different perspectives.
  • Example:Your product team is redesigning a customer feedback form. Using SCAMPER, they decide tocombinethe feedback form with a short satisfaction rating scale andeliminateopen-ended fields to improve response rates.
• Visual idea mapping: Use basic diagrams to sort and connect ideas. This helps teams step back and see broader patterns. It makes complex problems easier to understand and illustrates how different parts of a process relate to one another.
  • Example:Your operations team is troubleshooting recurring delays in delivery. They create a mind map that breaks down every touchpoint—from order intake to dispatch—to identify where bottlenecks are happening and how issues connect across teams.
• Thinking roles exercise: Assign clear thinking roles, with one person focusing on facts, another on risks, and another on new ideas. This makes team discussions easier to manage and ensures that different perspectives are heard and considered before a decision is made.
  • Example:During a new service planning meeting, your team splits into thinking roles: one person suggests new offerings (Optimist), another highlights client pain points (Critic), and a third checks feasibility and costs (Analyst). This helps them agree on a solution that’s both creative and practical.

As teams consistently apply these frameworks, they begin to solve problems with greater clarity and control.

Also Read:Building a High-Performance Culture: Corpoladder's Blueprint for Success

Step 5: Strengthen Critical Thinking Through Follow-Up Questions

Most teams stop thinking once they’ve found one good answer, but strong decision-making doesn’t end at the first good idea. Critical thinking means pausing to ask: Is this the best option? What else could work? What are we missing? 

Building this habit helps teams make sharper, more resilient choices, especially in fast-changing situations.

Try this:

• Ask for evidence:In meetings, don’t just accept ideas at face value. Ask: “What information backs this up?”, “Have we seen this work before?”, or “How will we measure success?”
• Use clear, constructive questions:Questions like “What risks could this create?”, “Is there another way to approach this?” or “What would we do if this fails?” help challenge assumptions without discouraging input.
• Make it routine:During weekly check-ins or project reviews, pick one key decision and ask the team a follow-up question about it. For example: “If we had to choose a completely different solution—what would it be?” This keeps thinking sharp and adaptable.

These small moments of reflection help teams move from reactive to intentional. Over time, they learn to pressure-test ideas before execution, leading to smarter problem-solving, stronger collaboration, and better results.

Improving creative thinking at the team level is one thing, but scaling it across functions and roles requires the right systems, tools, and support. 

How Corpoladder Helps You Build Creative Thinking at Scale?

Many organisations struggle to scale creative thinking because existing systems reward routine, not reflection. Teams are often stuck in reactive problem-solving, pressured by deadlines, and rarely given time or tools to explore alternative approaches. Training, when available, is either too generic, too theoretical, or disconnected from daily work.

Corpoladderhelps organisations overcome these barriers with structured, practical programs that embed creative habits into real work. From improving team workflows to driving innovation, our approach makes creative thinking repeatable, actionable, and scalable.

Here’s why organisations partner with Corpoladder:

• Built for Real Work:Every program tackles day-to-day challenges—not just theory—so employees can immediately apply what they learn.
• Future-Ready Curriculum:Focused on high-impact areas like AI adoption, ESG integration, innovation, and adaptive leadership.
• Flexible Learning Options:Available through live virtual classes, in-person training, or self-paced modules to suit any schedule.
• Role-Relevant Content:Tracks are tailored to specific functions and experience levels, from front-line teams to senior leadership.
• Practical Certification:Participants earn certificates recognised by industry standards, adding credibility to learning outcomes.

Whether you’re equipping teams to solve problems faster or helping leaders drive smarter decisions, Corpoladder gives your people the mindset, tools, and confidence to apply creative thinking where it matters most: at work.

Conclusion 

Creative thinking is a practical skill. When applied consistently, it helps employees solve problems faster, respond to change more effectively, and contribute with more clarity across functions. The five steps above give your organisation a structured way to embed this thinking into daily work.

AtCorpoladder, we support organisations in making creative thinking a core part of workforce development.Get in touchto explore how Corpoladder can help you scale creative thinking across teams, roles, and functions.