Response to Creativity, Flexibility, Adaptivity and Strategy use in Mathematics

The story at the beginning of the article really emphasizes the importance of adaptability.  It was great that this student who normally struggles with math was proud of his innovative method to solve the problem, however, I feel he has missed a very important concept of mathematics.  Ferit failed to see, or was not lead to see, the many methods and strategies that must be employed to similar problems.  He believed that since this strategy worked for a particular problem, that it must work for all the other problems like it.  
A key element to problem solving is recognizing which strategies work best and employing those first. The four words in the title of this article, creativity, flexibility, adaptivity and strategy, are very important in terms of problem solving.  Students must not be afraid to get creative.  Even though they may very well chose a method that leads to no solution, they always learn something in the process.  These students who use creative problem solving methods will not only find unconventional ways to solve problems but develop their creative aspect which will benefit them in all areas of their future.  Students must be flexible when attempting mathematics.  The teacher can be a great source of inspiration for being flexible. 
I feel that it is quite true about students who have more previous knowledge are less able to be flexible and adaptable within mathematics.  I feel that rather than constantly building on concepts, problem solving requires students to forget what they know and start from scratch.  I feel that students who will be more successful are the ones who try something different and are not stuck within the constraints of previous concepts and methods.  But how do we as teachers get students to do this? How do we help students tap into this creative side and loose their fear of getting stuck.  I feel that we must lead by example.  When evaluating problem solving we must place value on the thought process behind it and also place value on all the methods they tried which did not lead to a solution.  I think that the 'Two Column Problem Solving' type assignments are a great way to emphasize the importance of creativity in mathematics.