In this post, I am going to present a few stories, and ideas to try and cover the techniques for problem solving, creatively.
So, let’s begin with…
A business owner works on the 10th floor of an office building. Everyday, when they arrive they take the lift to the 6th floor and walk the remaining 4 flights of stairs to their office.
When they finish for the day they take the lift to the ground floor. Why?
You may have thought to yourself, ‘they want the exercise’, or ‘that’s where the kitchen is’.
What if I told you that they do this because floor 6 is the highest button they can reach? I appreciate this is an exaggerated point, but entirely possible.
The year: 1968. The place: Mexico.
The Olympic Games have just started and the crowd holds its breath as a little-known high-jumper, Dick Fosbury, attempts his first jump.
As he approaches the bar, Fosbury turns his back, instead of the customary way of turning one’s body towards it.
He flips over the bar backwards, brings his legs up and sets a new world record of 7 ft. 4 and a quarter inches.
This example is just a technique for thinking, but here the technique for thinking became a technique for jumping, turning a flop into a success.
The proverbial saying ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ expresses the idea that, when in difficulties it is useful to talk to someone about them.
We all see things differently. Getting other ideas towards a solution will ensure that only the best are chosen.
Take some time away from the problem to allow ideas to energise.
Think big. What’s the harm, right? I mean you can always pull back.
Do you think Lord Nelson would have been remembered differently if his statue wasn’t as grand as it is? Point proven.
Steal (or borrow) from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Steal ideas … you just have to promise to make them better.
“It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to” I stole this from Paul Arden, who stole it from Jim Jarmusch.
Embrace the Power of the Lemon. (stay with me on this one).
Just imagine you have been given a big juicy yellow lemon. Like the one pictured above.
You hold it and feel the texture, as you smell it, it gives off that unique citrus aroma.
As you begin to slice the lemon with a knife you notice the juice of the lemon and the smell gets stronger.
You put a piece of lemon in your mouth. You can taste the sour bitterness of the lemon.
You may have noticed that your mouth started to tense with the idea of the sourness, maybe even water and produce extra saliva.
The mind can not distinguish between real and imagined events.
In other words, you can either imagine eating the lemon or really eat the lemon and your brain will consider it as if the same thing is happening.
See the power of our minds based on what we think.
A creative problem-solver will use a different kind of thinking to develop different kinds of solutions.
They break convention while remaining collaborative in verifying and implementing change.
No matter where it’s deployed, creative thinking allows for greater productivity, and even innovation.
Put that learning into practice. Reframe your problem as an opportunity to learn and develop.
Identify the skills, knowledge, resources, or tools that will keep you from repeating the error. Review your progress.
Discover how we use these techniques by reading our case studies.
Proud to partner with
