Solving Problems with Creative and Critical Thinking

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Solving Problems with Creative and Critical Thinking

This course is part of People & Soft Skills: Essential for Professional Success Specialization

Instructor: IBM Skills Network Team

77,830 already enrolled

Included with Learn more

2 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

796 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

3 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

2 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

796 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

3 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Utilize critical and creative thinking to solve issues.
Describe the 5-step process of effectively solving problems.
Analyze a problem and identify the root cause.
Explore possible solutions and employ the problem solving process.

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

12 assignments

Taught in English

96%

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This course is part of the People & Soft Skills: Essential for Professional Success Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 2 modules in this course

In order to find a solution, one needs to be able to analyze a problem. This short course is designed to teach you how to solve and analyze problems effectively with critical and creative thinking.

Through the use of creative and critical thinking you will learn how to look at a problem and find the best solution by analyzing the different ways you can solve a problem. By taking this quick course you will gain the skills you need to find the root cause of a problem through the use of a five-step method. You will learn the process you must go through in order to find the problem, which leads to finding a solution. You will gain the necessary skills needed for critical and creative thinking which will be the foundation for successfully solving problems. This course provides fundamental skills that you will need to use in your day to day work. The course is suitable for anyone – students, career starters, experienced professionals and managers - wanting to develop problem solving skills regardless of your background. By taking this course you will be gaining some of the essential skills you need in order to be successful in your professional life. This course is part of the People and Soft Skills for Professional and Personal Success Specialization from IBM.

This module will help you to develop skills and behaviors required to solve problems and implement solutions more efficiently in an agile manner by using a systematic five-step process that involves both creative and critical thinking.

What's included

30 videos10 readings10 assignments

30 videosTotal 28 minutes

Why do you need to focus on solving problems?2 minutes
The problem-solving process2 minutes
How can you solve problems in an agile way?1 minute
Let’s begin with the first topic1 minute
The problem-solving process-Identify1 minute
Write a problem statement1 minute
How do you find out if a problem is worth solving?1 minute
Recap1 minute
Let’s move to the second topic1 minute
The problem-solving process: Analyze1 minute
How do you use “The 5 Whys”?2 minutes
The root cause!1 minute
Many tools can help with root cause analysis0 minutes
Let’s move to the third topic0 minutes
The problem-solving process: Explore1 minute
Brainstorming rules2 minutes
Brainstorm to solve Georgia’s problem0 minutes
Recap1 minute
Let’s move to the fourth topic 1 minute
The problem-solving process: Select2 minutes
Let’s find five solutions for one problem2 minutes
Use these factors to identify who should choose a solution1 minute
Use the Ease and effectiveness matrix to select the best solution0 minutes
Recap 1 minute
Let’s move to the fifth topic0 minutes
What will success look like?0 minutes
How will you measure a solution’s effectiveness?0 minutes
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it1 minute
Build an implementation plan1 minute
Recap1 minute

10 readingsTotal 34 minutes

Critical and creative thinking are required to solve problems5 minutes
What will you learn from the course?2 minutes
Let’s help Georgia!5 minutes
Is Georgia’s problem worth solving?4 minutes
Recap2 minutes
Brainstorm to get plenty of ideas5 minutes
Let’s find five solutions for one problem2 minutes
Who should chose a solution in Georgia's problem?2 minutes
How will you work out the best possible solution?4 minutes
Plan to implement the solution for Georgia3 minutes

10 assignmentsTotal 86 minutes

Practice Quiz: What do you think?5 minutes
Practice Quiz: What do you think?3 minutes
Practice Quiz: The “5 Whys” for Georgia20 minutes
Practice Quiz: Which type of solution will work for Georgia?3 minutes
Practice Quiz: Who should choose the solution in each case?10 minutes
Practice Quiz: Who should choose a solution to Georgia’s problem?10 minutes
Practice Quiz: Using the Ease and Effectiveness Matrix10 minutes
Practice Quiz: Let’s use the Ease and effectiveness matrix for Georgia’s problem10 minutes
Practice Quiz: What do you think success will look like?5 minutes
Practice Quiz: What do you think?10 minutes

In this module you will take practice and graded quizzes to demonstrate the knowledge gained from this course.

What's included

1 video1 reading2 assignments

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(228 ratings)

IBM Skills Network Team

97 Courses2,107,260 learners

Offered by

IBM

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Reviewed on Mar 14, 2023

really helpful if you want to manage and decide how to solve problems by systematic ways and how to deal with them.

Reviewed on Apr 26, 2024

This is a very detailed course about problem solving and decision making. A very in detail course and highly recommended. very easy to understand and useful.

Reviewed on Jul 28, 2025

People and Soft Skills for Professional and Personal Success specialization!

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Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.