How Do You Help Your Brain Solve Problems?

Posted on July 23, 2008 by Bruce Keener

In a comment on the previous post, which addressed problem solving (“peeling the onion”), Bill asked an excellent question: what is some good reference material for problem solving?

I mentioned a couple of links, including my old write-up on problem solving and decision making. But, it occurred to me that this is a great topic for your input.

While Bill is more accustomed to an intuitive approach to problem solving, I am more accustomed to analytical one. Wouldn’t it be great if we could learn from each other’s styles?

This made me think about all the work that has gone into left-brain right-brain studies, and, as much as the topic fascinates me, I have not really researched it. I’m thinking some of you may have, and I would love to hear from you. What books or other information resources would you recommend? I am more left-brained, and would love some how-to information on strengthening my right-brain thinking.

Also, what problem-solving reference material would you recommend in general?

Pile onto this one folks. This is a great topic in which we can learn a lot from each other!

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  • http://pascalvenier.com/blog/ Pascal Venier

    Michael Sampson had recently a very interesting post on
    “Thoughts on Austhink bCisive for Structured Decision Making” (http://www.michaelsampson.net/2008/07/thoughts-on-aus.html), which might be of interest to you.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Thanks, Pascal. Interesting-looking software. I’d be more interested in some specific how-to type info, though, personally.

  • http://www.billmyerscreations.com/blog Bill Myers

    This is a terrific topic and it has really sparked my thinking. Prior to this I’d never stopped to think about my approach to solving problems.

    To give you a sense of how my thought process works, this morning I was obsessing about a potential customer to whom I’ve been trying to sell a particular solution. The sales process stalled when one of my prospects told me he and his colleagues had heard all they needed to for now, but I could feel free to call back if I had additional info.

    I thought I had hit a dead end, because I was sure I showed them everything we could show them. So I began thinking about another customer to whom I’m trying to pitch another aspect this solution. And then it hit me — we had yet to pitch this aspect of the solution to the *first* customer! (In my defense, this had escaped a number of my colleagues as well!)

    To a more analytical mind, the problem and its solution may have been more obvious. Perhaps I could have (and maybe should have) created a list of everything I’d shown to the first customer, and compared it with everything I knew about the solution. But the way my mind works, I tend to dive in and form intuitive connections as I move along.

    It’s not the worst way of solving problems, but I think I’d be well served to adopt some analytical thinking. The software Pascal mentioned, along with the links Bruce provided in his prior post, should make a good start in my exploration.

    Does anyone else have any “real-world” examples of how they’ve solved a problem that might shed some light on how different thinking styles result in different approaches/results? If so, I’d be eager to hear what people have to day.

  • http://pascalvenier.com/blog/ Pascal Venier

    @Bill. Beyond analytical thinking, you might perhaps also want to explore systemic thinking. I have just started reading a very fascinating book, which might be of interest to you: Jamshid Gharajedaghi, Systems Thinking, Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Plateform for Designing Business Architecture (New York: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006).

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    @Bill, you’re looking to get more left-brained, and I’m looking to get more right-brained. We’re probably looking for the same book if someone would just point us to it.

    Maybe we should just say screw it and become scientologists, eh :)

  • http://www.billmyerscreations.com/blog Bill Myers

    @Bruce: “Maybe we should just say screw it and become scientologists, eh? :) ”

    I’d consider it, but for the fact that Tom Cruise is associated with them. :)

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