There is the sponge part when you soak up all the information you can discover (and a lot of misinformation).

There is the shake part when you shake out the facts and question the problem itself and start to imagine all sorts of things.

There is the squeeze part when you wring out the sponge and scribble down the most promising splashes and driblets.

There is the bounce part when you and another concerned with the problem toss embryonic ideas back and forth until only the fittest survive.

There is the scratch part like the above, but now you scratch brain against brain hoping to spark a new notion.

There is the once-again-please part when you examine the survivors in the cold light of reason, abandon most, and incubate a few in the warm darkness of imagination.

There is the dry part when you quit thinking about the damned problem and turn your mind to pleasure or routine. (You only think you've stopped thinking.)

There is the yahoo part when things connect and an idea pops into your head that turns out to be the key to the solution. Often this happens when you least expect it and aren't even thinking about the big problem.

There is the do part when you use your particular talents and learned skills and those of others concerned to shape and form the raw idea into a proper solution.

Then there is the itch part which maybe should come first instead of last. The drive to solve problems creatively - with a new and original solution - stems from some chronic itch, dissatisfaction with all existing solutions, even when the latest may be your own.