The very well known personal development guru, Brian Tracy, always recommends getting your thoughts down on paper, whether it’s for setting goals, creating strategies or problem solving.
If you’re stuck for ideas, there’s something magical about writing things down that seems to get the creative juices flowing. Even if you can’t think of much to write down at first, give it some time and you’ll soon find the ideas start to come thick and fast.
The reason why writing things down is one of the main elements of sharpening up your problem solving skills is because when an idea becomes visual, it has more impact, we remember it better as we’ve not just thought about it, but we’ve SEEN it as well.
Also if you write down an idea that is in your mind, you have separated that thought from all the other thoughts racing around your head and you can then move on to the next one. It has the effect of un-cluttering your mind so that you are eventually able to see things more clearly.
It’s a bit like looking into a higgledly-piggledy clothes drawer, you know the item of clothing you want is in there, but you can’t see it. So you need to take everything out, fold it and put it back in an orderly fashion; t-shirts in one pile, jumpers in another etc. Now you can see where everything is immediately, which also means that you can get to the specific item you want quickly and efficiently and also assemble a matching outfit quickly and efficiently too!
So, whenever you have a problem to solve and don’t quite know how to approach it, get that pen and paper out and start writing.
Writing things down, or brainstorming, as this process is often called, is the first principal of enhancing your problem solving skills but let’s look at some tips that will make your brainstorming and general problem solving skills more effective:
6 Top Tips For Sharpening Up Your Problem Solving Skills
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When you’re brainstorming use word/phrase association
Write all the words or phrases down that associate with the result you are trying to achieve. For example, if your aim is that you are trying to improve the customer service in your company, you will be writing words and phrases like:
Then take each word or phrase and brainstorm each one of those by asking yourself how you thewill help you to achieve your goal.
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Reverse word/phrase association
Think of all the words or phrases that will get you a result that is the complete opposite of the one you want. Sometimes thinking about what you don’t want comes easier. For instance, think about what you hate about bad customer service such as: waiting for ages on the phone before you are able to speak to someone, receptionists not acknowledging your presence while you wait for them to finish chatting to a colleague, not being informed of problems, being given incorrect information and so on. This type of brainstorming can give you a whole new set of ideas to focus on.
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Think outside the box
We all “create our own box”. We have, to some extent, self imposed limits to where our ideas can go. There are things that we may think we can’t write down because the ideas are too ambitious or too unusual. Ignore those thoughts and just put everything you can think of on your list, there are no limits. Limit your list and you limit your solutions.
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Education, Education, Education
Our brain can only refer to the library of thoughts and experiences that it currently has, so we need to be constantly learning so that we can constantly improve our creative thinking processes. Do some research, particularly if you have to carry out a task that you are unfamiliar with. Even if you are familiar with the subject matter, there’ll still be a lot about it that you won’t know, so it’s ALWAYS worth doing some research before you start.
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Involve others
Get other people involved in your brainstorming or just simply seek advice, two (or more) heads are better than one.
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Use a Mindmap
This is pretty much the same as the Spider Diagram that we used in the old days, but “Mindmap” is the modern term and definitely sounds better! Basically this involves drawing a circle and writing in your aim and then drawing lines out from the circle and writing your ideas at the end of each line, you can then link sub ideas to the ideas with more lines. It’s a great way to see your thinking “mapped” out in a logical manner. Your brain works better with this visual, logical and orderly representation of your ideas.
Creative Problem-Solving Skills Learned In The Pool Hall
As part of my consulting activities, I help people hone their ability to think more creatively. Because people respond to different stimuli, I’m constantly developing new metaphors to help people connect with the points I’m making. Today, I was playing pool and realized a correlation between pool (billiards) and creative thinking and how pool teaches problem-solving skills. Today’s tip: When attempting to solve a problem, consider all the angles.
The relationship between creative problem-solving and pool is clear once you realize that pool is about geometry and angles. Yes, there is certain amount of finesse involved. But by and large, pool can teach you to look at achieving a goal, such as sinking a selected ball, by looking at all the angles. For the sake of illustration, our goal is to sink the 9-ball in the corner pocket.
Can you sink the 9-ball by striking the cue ball so that it hits the 9-ball straight on? Or, will hitting the 9-ball in the pocket require that you first make the cue ball hit another ball into the 9-ball? Perhaps sinking the 9-ball requires a bank shot, either banking the cue ball off the rail into the 9-ball or hitting the 9-ball with the cue ball so that the 9-ball bounces off the rail at the correct angle to enter the pocket. Sometimes, if there is a ball between the cue ball and the 9-ball, you aim low and jump the cue ball over the obstacle ball and into the 9-ball.
Playing pool teaches you to consider all the angles and options you have available. Because as is often the case in pool, and life when solving personal, business and marketing problems, you simply don’t have a straight-in shot. It’s imperative that you consider all the angles. “Walk around” your problem. Look at it from different angles and different points of view. What obstacles are in your way? Can you jump the obstacle? Perhaps going around the obstacle will require a metaphorical “bank shot”. Does something else need to happen before you can get to the point of solving your problem in the same way you must sometimes use the cue ball to hit another ball into the 9-ball?
Considering all the angles when attempting to creatively solve a problem takes more time than you may be used to. But as I’m fond of saying, “Often, we fail to think outside the box because we spend so little time thinking inside the box. If you need help considering all the angles, grab up a pool cue and bust a few racks. You may find that it’s just the “break” you need to solve a problem by racking up a few new ideas.
