Creative Problem Solver

Purpose: generate a five-tier portfolio that compounds (Artifact Spine), then stop for a human choice.

Contract (one assistant turn)

• Name the current Double Diamond stage: Discover / Define / Develop / Deliver.

• If Define is weak: propose a one-line working definition + success criteria, and treat the portfolio as learning moves.

• Deliver options, then stop and ask for human input before executing.

• Always include a five-tier portfolio: Quick Win, Strategic Play, Advantage Play, Transformative Move, Moonshot.

• For each option: accretive artifact + expected signal + escape hatch.

• Run an Aha Check after reframing.

• Track provenance (technique → Aha Y/N). If the same technique triggers Aha twice in a row, switch techniques next round.

• Keep a short Knowledge Snapshot (facts/risks/assets) + Decision Log.

• Keep output compact: target <= 60 lines; 1-3 bullets per section; never dump long indexes/templates (link to codex/skills/creative-problem-solver/techniques/README.md or codex/skills/creative-problem-solver/TEMPLATES.md instead).

When to use

• Progress is stalled or blocked.

• Repeated attempts fail the same way.

• The user asks for options, alternatives, tradeoffs, or a strategy portfolio.

• The problem is multi-constraint, cross-domain, or high-uncertainty (architecture, migration, integration, conflict resolution).

Quick start

• Choose Double Diamond stage: Discover / Define / Develop / Deliver.

• Choose lane: Fast Spark or Full Session.

• Reframe once (pick one technique; if unsure, use the stage default in Technique selection).

• Aha Check. If none, reframe once more using a different picker row (Technique selection).

• Define gate: state a one-line problem statement + success criteria (or mark unknown and ask).

• Define an Artifact Spine (1–3 shared artifacts) so the tiers can stack.

• Generate the five-tier portfolio (learning moves in Discover/Define; solution moves in Develop/Deliver).

• Score options (1–5): Signal, Accretion, Ease, Reversibility, Speed.

• Ask the user to choose a tier or update constraints.

• Close with an Insights Summary.

Double Diamond alignment

• Discover (diverge): broaden context; focus options on learning (research, instrumentation, repro, characterization).

• Define (converge): lock the problem statement + success criteria; surface unknowns and ask.

• Develop (diverge): generate solution paths; prototype/experiment if needed.

• Deliver (converge): pick a tier to execute; hand off to tk for incision + proof.

Mode check

• Pragmatic (default): ship-this-week options only.

• Visionary: only when asked for long-horizon strategy or systemic change.

Lane selector

• Fast Spark: skip ideation; produce the portfolio directly.

• Full Session: diverge (10–30 ideas), cluster, score, then select one option per tier.

Technique selection (required)

• Limit: pick 1 technique; if no Aha, pick 1 more from a different picker row (max 2 reframes).

• Stage default (if unsure):

• Discover → Assumption Mapping

• Define → How Might We

• Develop → SCAMPER

• Deliver → Pre-mortem

• Picker (choose 1):

• Default reframe → Inversion / Analogy Transfer / Constraint Extremes / First Principles

• Need a fast spark → Oblique Draw / Random Stimulus

• Need to mutate an existing thing → SCAMPER

• Need lots of ideas fast → Brainwriting 6-3-5 / Crazy 8s

• Need structured combinations → Morphological Analysis / Lotus Blossom

• Need to organize messy inputs → Affinity Diagramming / Mind Mapping

• Need a concrete end-to-end shape → Storyboarding

• Need parallel perspectives / alignment → Six Thinking Hats

• Need to de-risk unknowns (what to validate first) → Assumption Mapping

• Need to surface failure modes early → Pre-mortem / Reverse Brainstorming

• Need momentum + traceability → CPS Cycle

• Second reframe (no Aha): pick from a different picker row; if you started with a Default reframe, prefer Provocation (PO) / Forced Connections / Synectics / TRIZ.

• After selecting a technique, consult its reference doc in codex/skills/creative-problem-solver/techniques/ .

• Chat disclosure: include only Reframe used: <technique>

• a one-line “why”.

• Full technique index (grouped): codex/skills/creative-problem-solver/techniques/README.md .

Oblique draw (optional)

Use when framing is stale. Reference: codex/skills/creative-problem-solver/techniques/oblique-draw.md (includes a mini-deck).

• Draw 4 prompts, pick 1, apply it.

• Translate it into a concrete lever/constraint.

Aha Check (required)

• Definition: a restructuring insight (new representation/model).

• Output: one-line insight. If none, reframe once more before generating options.

Portfolio rule

• Every response must include all five tiers.

• If stage is Discover/Define (problem unclear), the tiers are learning moves (not build proposals).

• If stage is Develop/Deliver (problem clear), the tiers are solution moves.

Accretion (required)

• Accretive artifact: a durable asset you keep even if the option is wrong (measurement, harness, spec, test, automation, interface, dataset, doc).

• Rule: every tier must name one accretive artifact.

• Artifact Spine: define 1-3 named artifacts shared across tiers; each tier’s artifact must be one of these or an extension of one (otherwise explicitly state why it is a different spine).

• Spine output: for each spine artifact, include purpose + minimal shape/interface + timebox + where it would live (repo path or conceptual home).

• Ladder: prefer stacking (Quick Win builds the base; higher tiers reuse/extend it). If it doesn’t ladder, say so explicitly.

Option template

Quick Win:

• Accretive artifact (spine):
• Expected signal:
• Escape hatch:

Strategic Play:

• Accretive artifact (spine):
• Expected signal:
• Escape hatch:

Advantage Play:

• Accretive artifact (spine):
• Expected signal:
• Escape hatch:

Transformative Move:

• Accretive artifact (spine):
• Expected signal:
• Escape hatch:

Moonshot:

• Accretive artifact (spine):
• Expected signal:
• Escape hatch:

Scoring rubric (1–5, no weights)

• Signal: how much new information this yields.

• Accretion: durable value you keep even if you're wrong.

• Ease: effort/complexity to try.

• Reversibility: ease of undoing.

• Speed: time-to-learn.

Preference: high Signal + Accretion + Reversibility, then Ease + Speed.

Templates

Use templates as an internal checklist; default output should be abbreviated.

Full templates: codex/skills/creative-problem-solver/TEMPLATES.md .

Deliverable format

• Lane (Fast Spark / Full Session).

• Double Diamond stage (Discover / Define / Develop / Deliver).

• Problem statement + success criteria (or marked unknown).

• Reframe used.

• Aha Check (one line).

• Artifact Spine (1-3 shared artifacts; purpose + minimal interface + where it lives).

• Five-tier portfolio with accretive artifacts + signals + escape hatches.

• Scorecard + brief rationale.

• Knowledge Snapshot (facts/risks/assets; 1-3 bullets).

• Decision Log + Assumptions/Constraints.

• Human Input Required (choose tier or update constraints).

• If execution is chosen: hand off to tk .

• Insights Summary.

Fast Spark example (compact)

Lane: Fast Spark Stage: Develop

Problem: Search API p95 latency is ~800ms; target <= 200ms at current infra cost. Success: p95<=200ms, p99<=400ms, CPU +<=10%, no relevancy regression.

Reframe used: SCAMPER (why: mutate the current pipeline instead of redesigning) Aha: The dominant cost is JSON serialization + payload size, not the query.

Artifact Spine:

• bench/search/ (perf harness + fixed dataset; outputs: p50/p95/p99 + diff)
• perf/tracing/ (capture scripts + flamegraphs; timebox: 30m per hypothesis)

Quick Win:

• Accretive artifact (spine): baseline run + 3 worst traces captured in perf/tracing/
• Expected signal: stable baseline + top-3 hotspot list within 1 day
• Escape hatch: disable extra tracing if overhead/noise

Strategic Play:

• Accretive artifact (spine): harness-backed PR reducing payload/serialization (bench/search/ diffs)
• Expected signal: p95 improves >= 30% on harness with no regression
• Escape hatch: guard behind flag; revert commit

Advantage Play:

• Accretive artifact (spine): cache experiment wired into harness (hit-rate + tail tracked)
• Expected signal: p95 meets target for warm traffic; CPU stays flat
• Escape hatch: kill-switch cache and keep harness

Transformative Move:

• Accretive artifact (spine): response contract + streaming plan validated by harness
• Expected signal: tail latency collapses under large result sets
• Escape hatch: ship streaming as opt-in client capability

Moonshot:

• Accretive artifact (spine): evaluation kit (dataset + harness) to compare engines/architectures
• Expected signal: order-of-magnitude tail improvement in a bakeoff
• Escape hatch: keep kit as decision tool; no migration until winner is clear

Scores (S/A/E/R/Sp):

• Quick Win: 5/5/5/5/5
• Strategic: 4/4/4/4/4
• Advantage: 4/4/3/3/3
• Transformative: 4/5/2/3/2
• Moonshot: 3/5/1/2/1

Human Input Required: pick a tier (Quick Win .. Moonshot) or update constraints.

Activation cues

• "need options" / "alternatives" / "tradeoffs" / "portfolio"

• "brainstorm" / "ideate"

• "stuck" / "blocked" / "nothing works"

• "outside the box" / "fresh angles"

• "ambiguous" / "uncertain" / "unknowns"

• "architecture" / "system design" / "migration" / "integration"