A unifying theme runs through all forms of creativity training: Creative problem solving requires an ability to overcome traditional thinking. The concept of traditional thinking is relative, but it generally refers to a standard and frequent way of finding a solution to a problem. A traditional solution to a problem is thus a modal or most frequent solution. Creative thinking would point toward other solutions. As an example, a retail store might increase sales by shipping goods for a small fee, or by having store associates offer free fashion advice.

The creative person looks at problems in a new light and transcends conventional thinking about them. The central task in becoming creative is to break down rigid thinking that blocks new ideas. At the same time, the problem solver must unlearn the conventional approach. Overcoming traditional thinking is so important to creative thinking that the process has been characterized in several different ways. The most familiar is that a creative person thinks outside the box.

A caution about thinking outside the box: Workers still need some constraints as to how far outside the box they are permitted to think. We might conclude from these concerns about thinking outside the box that imagination is still required to think outside the box within the constraints of a required framework.