There are two distinct kinds of thinking that are essential to being creative and therefore to solve problems in a creative way:
Divergent Thinking: Generating lots of options
Convergent Thinking: Evaluating options, making decisions
One of the most important techniques for creative problem solving is Brainstorming.
Brainstorming at its core is generating lots of ideas in a clean, divergent method. This can be done as an individual, group, or crowd-sharing process.
From the options presented in the question, one effective way to stimulate your creative problem-solving skills is to:
Pose the problem to others and listen to their advice.
Which is a kind of Brainstorming.
