When have you had to think outside of the box to solve a problem?
"Recently we needed to create a mentorship program for a client. By my suggestion, we decided to engage local thought leaders as well as aspiring leaders. This approach benefited the community as a whole, and our client was delighted with the result."
"I once had to deal with a space issue in our warehouse. We arranged and re-arranged several times and could not make it work. I thought outside the box and rented some outside pod storage until we were back to normal inventory levels."
"In retail, a customer will approach you with odd requests from time to time. Recently, I had a customer insist on making a return that wasn't even from our store. They were furious that I would not take the return! It turns out; we were running a promotion where if you spent 50, you received a 25 in-store gift card. I suggested to the customer that they purchase the product, from us, that they initially wanted. They would then receive the 25 in-store gift card, and they could still return the original product to the first store. I turned an angry return to a paying customer!"
"As a teacher, I often have to think of alternate ways to teach a lesson when some kids aren't picking up the content. I will always have multi-media resources available for my students to support their learning such as educational computer games and interactive online worksheets."
"In sales, if you cannot think outside the box, and on the fly, you will not succeed. Recently I had a client who wanted a digital service option thrown in that we did not yet have. It was still in development. To offset his disappointment, I asked him if I could give him three months of the service for free on a trial basis, to help us work out the kinks, would he then be happy. He was thrilled, and we had a real-life test subject."
"Last week my computer crashed, and it took IT three hours to recover everything. Feeling lost, I said to myself 'Well, what did they do before computers?' To make the best of my time, I took to the file room and started organizing the physical files."
Talk to the interviewer about a time you had to solve a problem creatively. Your answer doesn't have to be an invention or a tremendous break-through you made in your previous role. Any unexpected decision you made will most likely count as a creative solution. Pick a scenario where you were pleased with the outcome.
"In my current position we saw a decrease in clients due to a local economic downturn. I recommended to our head office that we begin to generate business outside of our region for the first time in many years. They agreed, and the idea turned things around for us that fiscal year."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Recently the VA in northern Indiana changed the rules on # of shoes to one pair per year. It caused a drop in # of patients in the clinic. I thought it would be beneficial to try to do some marketing to pain doctors, ER doctors, and other clinicians working in CBOCs. And that caused the # of orthotics patients to increase.
Mary's Feedback
This response shows initiative in attracting new customers- something important to businesses. See edits for clarity.
Recently, the VA in northern Indiana saw a drop in the number of clinic patients because of a change in policy that allowed only one pair of shoes to be provided (a decrease from the prior policy). I saw the need to increase marketing, so worked to connect with local pain doctors, ER doctors and other clinicians working in CBOC's. As a result of this marketing, we saw the patient numbers increased.
Anonymous Answer
Thinking outside the box is a default in any technology field, and I have had such an opportunity at my last workplace. The organization had limited resources to spend on user tests, so we could not hire a user recruiter agency. My team and I started reaching out to users on LinkedIn and offered our time in exchange for their time for testing a product. It worked so wonderfully that now we have an active user testing community.
Rachelle's Feedback
This is a fantastic idea, and what a great way to save on resources while also building up a community. Well done.
Anonymous Answer
In my job at ______, one day my computer crashed and it took IT several hours to recover everything. I was frustrated because I needed to work on allocating several project officers expenses. I thought to myself for a minute, what did they do before computers? I then decided it would be wise to and a good use of my time to organize the supply room as well as some filing cabinets to ensure everything was easy to access. My boss certainly appreciated me for doing that and said that was a smart move to make.
Marcie's Feedback
It's great that you were able to come up with a good way to use your time in this situation. (It is always frustrating when you have work to do and your computer won't cooperate!) While you can use this example, your answer will be even stronger if you can think of an example to cite here that focuses on an out-of-the-box solution for perhaps a more pressing problem. For example, you were talking to a customer and they had an issue that you were able to solve creatively or there was a recurring problem when you worked on expenses so you adjusted the process to fix it going forward. Something along those lines would be more impactful. But, otherwise, good job!
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