January 2012
1 post
Sometimes qualifications can be a hinderance. They can stop you asking the simple questions and challenge the way things are done. Qualifications can narrow your thinking leading you to an obvious and expected solution.
So try using someone else. Trying using someone with different tools in their toolkit: someone from a different background. They might approach a problem in a different...
February 2011
1 post
1 tag
Sometimes it is hard to get your head around an idea. It can be too conceptual; too abstract or just too hard to pin down. Sometimes you need to see an idea before you can judge it.
That is why prototypes are so useful. They allow you to see what your idea will look like. They add some physicality and a touch of reality to what can often be theoretical and loose.
Often there is no better...
November 2010
6 posts
You can now buy Some Ideas cards online
Each pack contains 32 cards (147mm * 105mm). Retail price is £10.
Some Ideas Cards
Some ideas cards: A collection of 32 cards with ideas to help solve problems.
Some Ideas now stocked at Tenderproduct
Tenderproduct, 6 Cecil Court, London, WC2N 4HE
www.tenderproduct.com
Sometimes experience can be as much of a hindrance to problem solving as it can be a help. It’s easy to dismiss ideas with the catch all “we tried that before and it didn’t work”.
But prior experience might not be all that you think it is. Were the circumstances the same as they are now? Perhaps things have changed that make your idea more suitable now that it was...
1 tag
Sometimes the easy way to solve a problem is to combine two existing ideas that have already been proposed. The offspring of these ideas is often more powerful and potent than the original ideas it was bred from. You might try combining ideas at random or you could take a more methodical approach. Try writing all your ideas in sequential rows and then repeat these ideas a columns to produce...
1 tag
There’s nothing quite like a good argument to sort out a problem. Passions are raised and you get to hear what the issues are. In problem solving as a team there is a danger that harmonious colloboration deadens ideas by smoothing off their edges. Distinct and different ideas can be dulled through compromise.
Arguing can help you understand the merits and flaws of different...
October 2010
5 posts
You can’t solve every problem you are given. Infact, it is as good to be clear on the problems you can’t solve as it is the problems you can. For those problems you can’t solve can you think of somebody who is better placed to solve it than you?
Even if you do think you can solve a problem try and think if there is anyone better placed to solve it than you? Some may call...
“It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but...”
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry
It can be easy to pad out an idea to make it appear bigger and more interesting than it is. Often this does little more than confuse you about what the actual idea is. There are so many things the idea could be that you aren’t quite sure what you’ve got.
So instead of thinking what can you add think about what you can take away. Which is the most important element of your idea...
1 tag
Struggling to solve a problem by doing what you’ve always done? Perhaps it’s time to try something different.