In understanding economics and the organisation of economics, the questions are what constitute economics and the thinking behind economics today? In short what is the field of economics? And in what ways can we connect to and understand this field of study? Of course, the answer to this depends upon the perspective chosen, in which one sees and thinks of economics from a particular philosophical and even political position and perspective. If one takes the perspective on economics from a qualitative paradigm that draws upon the tradition from Kant, Husserl, Simmel, Mead, Schutz, Blumer (see references), then it can be stated that economics cannot only be understood as something that appears in nature. On the contrary, economics must be understood as "something" which results from human behaviour, interaction and groups in human activities and the thinking involved and embedded in those activities. Therefore in analyzing economics it is significant to note that economics belongs to and is being constructed by people due to their everyday lives. What appears as central in those statements, from a qualitative perspective, is that the essences of economics have to be discussed in relation to the mind and thinking related to an understanding of individual and group societal activities. Economics is to be understood as constructed and maintained through everyday human interactions and exchanges, whereby people are creating the meanings of situations with objectives of what are believed as important in the understanding of economics activities, actions and results. Those meanings and definitions of economics are being produced and exchanged in order to become a new comprehensive framework that influences, co-produces, limits and creates contradictions in everyday economic life. This additional qualitative focus [1] outlines the importance of understanding how human cognitions produce meaning of objects, definitions, activities and actions which provides the framework for the field of economics. The epistemological perspective for this is that the objects are not only within themselves. No, instead the objects are as they presents themselves to people, and thereby the meanings we are constructing and attaching to them. The paper will therefore discuss some of the scientific complexities in three areas: mind and thinking; understanding economics as a social activity and construction, and the interplay between economic activities and economic theoretical work.

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Purpose According to Mumford et al. (2018), case studies illustrating creative-problem solving at work is lacking. To help fill this gap, this study aims to show how metaphorical creativity was integrated in the realm of everyday creativity to form a new soap that solves a cleaning crew's challenge. Design/methodology/approach Participatory observation was the qualitative methodology used to conduct this study. The cleaning team understood they were the research participants under investigation in the food plant. Participatory observation favored an efficient and flexible process for the cleaners to demonstrate their experiential knowledge while the researchers documented the cleaners' routine cleaning practices and challenges. Directly observing and analyzing the cleaners' everyday creative acts inferred face validity. This ensured to a degree that the study was effective at exploring everyday creativity. Findings Following Finke's Geneplore model in creative cognition (Birdsell, 2019), the consultant shifted between cycles of analogical reasoning in the generative process with exploratory processes to test hypothesis and tailor his thinking. Through this process, the consultant leveraged everyday creativity to develop a small innovation of foaming a non-foaming soap. The foaming process changed the soap's chemistry, enabling the cleaners to remove the spot quickly, accelerating the cleaning process. Research limitations/implications According to Mumford et al. (2018), case studies illustrating creative-problem solving at work are lacking. In this study, we aim to show how metaphorical creativity was integrated into the realm of everyday creativity to form a new soap that solves an industrial cleaning crew's challenge. To fully understand the variety of metaphorical creativity more qualitative cases need to be analyzed and qualitative research is needed to grasp the scale of metaphorical creativity in everyday creativity. Practical implications The findings gleaned from this study are beneficial to help organizations solve problems. Viewing problems metaphorically in everyday creativity involves unconventional thinking. When confronted with a challenge that seems impossible to solve, employees should approach the problem from a different angle. Sometimes, a small, innovative act can solve problems that appear hopeless, similar to the Columbus Principle. After all, a challenge is only simple once you know how to pull it off – the triumph is having the courage to try something new and succeeding. With practice, metaphorical creativity is a skill that one can develop. This could e.g. be viewing old problems through a new lens. Applying a new approach may reveal an unconventional solution. Originality/value According to Mumford et al. (2018), case studies illustrating creative-problem solving at work are lacking. To help fill this gap, this study aims to show how metaphorical creativity was integrated into the realm of everyday creativity to form a new soap that solves a cleaning crew's challenge.