Problem Solving
Mind Power Secrets - Lesson Seven
Creative problem-solving is very satisfying, but sometimes
the mundane solution is the better one. Effective trumps
creative when it comes to solving problems. Of course,
it's more fun and exciting if it's an effective and creative
solution. For that, try the techniques in this lesson - and make
some of them into habits.
(Did you play with the mind tricks? And take notes?
That was last week's assignment.)
Problem Solving Techniques
Change of perspective. Try pretending you are rich,
poor, a child, a visitor from another planet. How do you see
the problem from this new perspective? Einstein imagined running
alongside a beam of light, and used the insights from that to
come up with his theory of relativity, so this technique has
been known to work.
Attribute listing. Used by research-and -development
departments of many companies, this method starts by identifying
existing attributes. These may including physical, social, emotional
and whatever other aspects that occur to you. You then work on
one attribute at a time.
Designing a baby seat for cars, for example, might start with
appearance. Will a different color sell better? The attribute
of comfort might be examined to create a new padding. Emotional
considerations may lead to seats that "feel" safer
to parents, perhaps with a name change ("Guardian Angel
Car Seats?"). Looking at the attribute of mobility could
lead to lighter designs, or seats that become backpack child-carriers.
Seeing the solution. Try clearly imagining what a successful
outcome would look like. For example, restaurant employees often
don't clean well, because they can't "see" the mess
they work in. The owner might find that a daily checklist doesn't
work. Then he imagines a successful outcome - a health inspector
looking around, and commenting on how clean things are. This
mental picture suggests that outsiders more easily see what's
wrong, giving the owner the idea of weekly "inspections"
by a friend, customer, or anyone from outside the business.
Challenge your assumptions. This can be a powerful
problem solving technique, especially for personal issues, where
there are so many hidden assumptions. The kids are fighting over
the television, and you are tired of it. You may be assuming
the following: 1. You need to have a TV; 2. Fighting over the
TV is the problem; 3. The fighting needs to stop; 4. It's your
problem.
What solutions does challenging these assumptions suggest?
1. Get rid of the TV, or limit it's use; 2. Deal with the general
issue of the kids' behavior; 3. Leave the room, close the door
and let them fight; 4. Tell the kids it's their problem, and
they have a week to come up with a solution, or the TV goes.
Random Input. Look around, and randomly pick an object,
then ask what it might teach you about your problem. Stressed
out by driving? A mailbox might suggest using the mail and phone
more to avoid driving places. A toy truck may remind you that
it's less stressful to drive a smaller car. A map could give
you the idea to move to a less-busy town. What can a bird, a
bike, a lamp, or a blanket tell us about the problem of stressful
driving?
You'll have many silly ideas when using problem solving techniques
like this one. Don't be too dismissive of them, as they sometimes
trigger a thought that's more useful. "Tired of job,"
plus "snow," may rattle around in your brain for a
minute, to become "snow... melts, and runs into little streams...
little streams add up to bigger streams... If I had several other
streams of income, I wouldn't need my job." Work with each
random input for at least a few seconds before moving on to the
next.
Assume the absurd. Then make it make sense. "Put
our store in the customer's house" was absurd until there
were shopping networks on TV.
Ask people. They may have good ideas, but in any case
this helps you be sure that you are not overlooking anything
obvious.
Solve problems by causing them. Think of all the ways
you could make a problem worse, and each of these may suggest
a partial solution.
Write it down. Then find another way to express it,
and write that down. Write everything that comes to mind,
and later you can sort through your notes for the good ideas.
Break it down. It's easier to motivate yourself if
you attack one part of a problem at a time, and many problems
are really a collection of smaller problems.
Sleep on it. Outline a problem in your head before
bed, then let your subconscious mind go to work. It's a good
idea to have a pen and paper available, ready for any middle-of-the-night
inspirations.
Library search. A fascinating technique where we actually
go to a place with thousands of books and other resources that
have helpful information on everything from relationships to
ship building.
Google search. This is replacing the old-fashioned
library search.
Want more? Then go get a copy of my e-book Problem
Solving Power. In it I go into much greater detail on
these and many other problem solving techniques.
Problem Solving Mind Power
Those are just some of the methods you can use to solve problems.
The important thing for greater mind-power, however, isn't to
know about these problem-solving techniques, but to make it a
habit to apply them, so their use becomes automatic. The next
lesson will have more on the subject of habits.
Assignment: Play with these techniques this week, and
apply at least three of them to real problems in your life.
Next Lesson: It's all about your habits.
P.S. If you haven't subscribed to this
e-course, and you want to learn the other secrets of mind power,
you can go here to subscribe: Mind
Power Secrets
|
