Open your eyes to the world. Find links that others can’t see. Tackle problems inside out or back to front; throw away the answer you first thought of. Creativity should not live simply in companies’ research departments or advertising teams — it has a part to play in all business functions.

Steve Cunningham, an associate director at Hay Group, says that it is particularly important for people in leadership roles. Marketers, policy developers and troubleshooters are others who rely on their creativity; however, people in any role that requires problem-solving or benefits from fresh ideas will find it valuable.

Sarah Hurdman, a talent screener at ?What If!, an innovation company, looks for a high level of creativity in job applicants. “We look for original thinking,” she says. “In interviews these are people who tell you something new about the world or … are thinking originally around a problem.” She tests this by asking interviewees to respond to real-life case studies. For example, she asks people to think of a way of reducing average A&E waiting times within a year. A typical — and perfectly valid answer — might be to roster more doctors on at busy times. A more creative suggestion involved changing the triage system, under which a nurse initially sees people before being treated later by a doctor, so that a doctor briefly assesses patients as soon as they arrive. It may then be six hours before they are treated, but the official waiting time would be cut dramatically, because it is calculated as the time taken before a patient is seen by a doctor.

But what if it’s your creativity that’s in need of life support? “We believe that everyone has the ability to think creatively, although we all have different natural skill levels. Often what people need is some tools,” Hurdman says. Cunningham suggests imagining that someone you don’t like is watching you and asking yourself what they would do in the circumstances. Or try reversing the question while keeping the same problem in mind. It’s all about giving yourself a bit of a knock on the head so that you make yourself think a bit differently.

People who have more creativity than they know how to channel also need to stop and think. If conceptual thinking is to have a business benefit it has to be underpinned by a clear commercial sensibility. “If it doesn’t fit a [business] need then it can be seen as wasteful,” Cunningham says. Creativity for its own sake can become disconnected from the business: think of technology companies that get caught up in the fun of making exciting new communications devices that are ever more feature-laden while ignoring the fact that none of their customers want to buy them and would in fact prefer increased reliability and fewer functions.