In-noun-vation
I'm not trying to coin a new term... It's just a catchy headline for what I call "the nouns of innovation." We were taught early that a noun is a person, place, or thing. I use this model to describe the [...]
Avoid Problems By Preventing Them
An excellent way to solve problems is by not letting them happen in the first place through prevention. Prevention is why we bring our cars in for maintenance, visit our doctor for an annual exam, and have a mid-year check-in with [...]
Solve Problems in Three Steps
I love cheat sheets... pages, charts, process flow, lists that chop complex ideas into small chunks. The following is adapted from a design process presented in the endnotes of Seth Godin's book "Free Prize Inside." This works extremely well for problem-solving, [...]
Creative Problem Solving
Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Creative problem solving (CPS) is the strategic process to find answers to problems and ways to take advantage of opportunities. Key steps in the process include: identifying a problem, generating alternative solutions, and [...]
How To Use: “The Magic of Thinking Big”
The Magic Of Thinking Big by Dr. David Schwartz inspired me so much... I have to share parts of it with you. The slides below include lessons found throughout the book. In short, the book teaches: The size of your success [...]
To Be Creative, Keep Feeding Your Mind
To be and stay creative, keep feeding your mind new ideas and information. Try new things. Visit new places; different parts of the world. Take a different route home from work. Learn a new language. Read Wikipedia entries about topics you [...]
11 Ways To Restate Problems to Get Better Solutions
When faced with a challenge or problem, one of the best first steps in solving - even before you start thinking up possible solutions - is to examine and restate the problem. As Morgan D. Jones writes in his book, The [...]
Arrive With A Solution
While you may feel like a smarty-pants worker to be the first to discover and inform your boss of a problem, don't alert them without also being able to offer a potential solution. Anyone can point out problems. Finding something broken [...]
What Is A Problem?
A simple way to define the word 'problem' is a situation that needs attention. Wikipedia authors describe one as "...any situation that invites resolution." That's a nice way to put it - 'invites resolution.' A lot of folks are afraid of [...]
“How to Solve Problems” 1947-style
I recently discovered this 8th grade arithmetic book from 1947 on the bookshelves at my parents' house. It's got a great collection of images that match the mid-century art style of Idea Sandbox. In addition to the images, I found this [...]