Posts Tagged ‘problem-solving’

11 Ways to Think Outside the Box

Thinking outside the box is more than just a business cliché. It means approaching problems in new, innovative ways; conceptualizing problems differently; and understanding your position in relation to any particular situation in a way you’d never thought of before. Ironically, its a cliché that means to think of clichéd situations in ways that aren’t clichéd. We’re told to “think outside the box” all the time, but how exactly do we… Continue reading

November 6 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: creativity, innovation, problem-solving, solution | 8 comments»

Birthdays, Self-Reflection, and a Better Year Ahead

I recently had a birthday. As I’ve gotten older, birthdays have become for me a time of intense self-reflection: where am I in my life, where do I want to be, what could I improve? They don;t depress me, like they do so many others, but they do make me think. Birthdays are also natural times for me to make new resolutions. New Years Day has never felt like much more… Continue reading

September 3 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: birthday, change, goal, personal-development, problem-solving, resolution | 16 comments»

Scrum for One

That’s a funny word, isn’t it? “Scrum.” Scrum is a project management strategy for software development teams. The name comes from rugby (I guess) where it refers to the start of a new play. In the programming world, it’s a technique of coordinating a team’s work without a clear plan, working towards attainable short-term goals, and then repeating the process towards another set of goals – which I suppose… Continue reading

June 25 2009 | By Dustin | Tagged: block, focus, goal, problem-solving, scrum | 17 comments»

How to Cultivate an “Insight Outlook”

One powerful way to live a more creative life is to cultivate an "insight outlook" -- the art of looking more deeply at everything we experience with an open, inquisitive spirit. Creative people are intensely observant, paying careful attention to everything they think and hear. They realize that their environments – the people they talk to, the places they go, the things they read or hear on the radio or… Continue reading

February 18 2009 | By Chuck | Tagged: association, brain, creativity, ideas, problem-solving, thinking | 6 comments»

Don’t Bring Me Answers, Bring Me More Questions!

Don't depend on answers in uncertain times We live in a world that seems endlessly hungry for answers: preferably quick, unambiguous, definitive, once-and-for-all, simple answers. We want to be told what to do, how to solve our problems, how to live our lives to best effect. At work, bosses grind out the old chestnut, "Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions." Politicians running for office are expected to come up… Continue reading

July 4 2008 | By Adrian | Tagged: asking, decision-making, decisions, problem-solving, question, solution, thinking | 6 comments»

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 reading

April 12 2008 | By Joel | Tagged: books, creativity, fiction, ideas, problem-solving, reading | 22 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 reading

April 7 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creative, creativity, edison, imagination, problem-solving, solution, thinking, toyota | 11 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 reading

March 27 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creativity, failure, imagination, leadership, Management, problem-solving, success, thinking | 13 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 reading

March 7 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: brainstorming, creativity, idea, ideation, lateral, problem, problem-solving, solution, thinking | 15 comments»