Creative Problem Solving

adjective A word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it.

• The clever solution to the problem was both innovative and efficient.
• She's so clever, she always knows how to get out of tricky situations.
• That dude is seriously clever, he can talk his way out of anything.
• Her clever mind was like a well-oiled machine, always coming up with new ideas.

noun the act of making do or managing with limited resources

verb to manage or cope with a situation using whatever is available

• During times of scarcity, people often have to make do with what they have.
• We don't have all the ingredients for the recipe, but we can make do with what we have in the pantry.
• I forgot my umbrella, so I'll just have to make do with this newspaper over my head.
• Even though the project didn't have all the resources we needed, we had to make do and still deliver on time.

noun a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea

verb a word that expresses an action or state of being

preposition a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence

article a word that specifies a noun as definite or indefinite

• I wanted to bounce an idea off my colleague before presenting it to the board.
• Hey, do you mind if I bounce an idea off you real quick?
• I need to bounce this idea off someone before I make a decision.
• Sometimes it's helpful to bounce ideas off someone to get a fresh perspective.