Effective business leaders make things happen.  One of the attributes they possess is creativity, which is often seen in their ability to solve problems.  Most of the time creativity is thought of as making something out of nothing.  My observation is that the most common creativity emerges from identifying a problem, and assembling solutions from other experiences.

As I spend time with business owners, I inquire about products or services they offer and where their ideas originated.  Most often I hear that it was created because of a problem they couldn’t solve with existing technology or know how.  They took that problem and began to innovate and imagine, spending hours thinking about how to solve it.  This attribute drives entrepreneurs to develop new products or services.

In my business, creativity is the focus of our services.  Our teams are challenged to bring insight and solutions every month to our clients.  Our core principles don’t change, but the way we look at business problems is innovative and fresh.  Businesses that don’t invest in adding creative problem solvers to their team will not last.  Evaluate your team to determine if you have problem solvers and innovators.  The best team members will find solutions to problems, with a motivation to provide additional value.  In a competitive business environment, there is no substitute for creativity.