Posts Tagged ‘problem-solving’

How to Fuel Your Idea Machine

“Reading fiction is a waste of time.”

Have you ever heard someone spout this line of complete and utter bollocks? I’ve rarely heard anything so ridiculous said in my life. Fiction, like all the arts, is an important part of culture; both a reflective distillation of it, and the base elements that form it. Society’s collective attitudes, values, beliefs and the public memory have a symbiotic relationship with the arts.
Books… » Continue

April 12 2008 | By Joel | Tagged: books, creativity, fiction, ideas, problem-solving, reading | 21 comments»

Quantity Breeds Creativity

One of the problems with our education system is that it teaches that for most questions there is one correct answer. Examinations with multiple choice questions force the student to try to select the right answer and avoid the wrong ones.

So when our students leave school they are steeped in a system that says find the ‘right answer’ and you have solved the problem. Unfortunately the real world… » Continue

April 7 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creative, creativity, edison, imagination, problem-solving, solution, thinking, toyota | 10 comments»

Welcome Failure

Very often the best way to test an idea is not to analyze it but to try it. The organization that implements lots of ideas will most likely have many failures but the chances are, it will reap some mighty successes too. By trying numerous initiatives we improve our chances that one of them will be a star. As Tom Kelley of IDEO puts it… » Continue

March 27 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creativity, failure, imagination, leadership, Management, problem-solving, success, thinking | 10 comments»

Unleash your Inner Genius

Let’s say you are wrestling with a tough issue - maybe at work, at home, with your children or in your social life. You have been stuck for a while and you can’t seem to make a breakthrough. You want to come up with some really creative ideas. What can you do? Here are ten great practical ways to boost your inventiveness and to crack the problem:

1. Ask why… » Continue

March 7 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: brainstorming, creativity, idea, ideation, lateral, problem, problem-solving, solution, thinking | 9 comments»