Batronyx™

Have you ever studied a problem from every angle possible but the solution still seems to elude you? You just know you know the answer but for some reason you can’t quite put your finger on it.

Here are a couple approaches you might find unusual, ( or not ). While you probably won’t find these approaches labeled as a formalized school of thought in problem solving academia, they have been around a while and many people swear by them. If you give them a try, you might find that elusive answer just pops into your head almost like magic!

Problem Solved!

Reboot your Brain

First up, did you see this post over the weekend: Solve Tough Problems with a Brain Reboot?If not go check out this short meditation primer. Several commenters at LifeHacker point out that taking a walk, and sometimes a nap, are also great ways to clear the cobwebs. Some people get mixed results with this ‘take-a-break‘ kind of thinking, others swear by it. This isn’t just taking a break though.

I want to call attention to the visualizaion technique about mid-post. It is an oddly pro-active approach to what is otherwise a passive activity. It looks like a great way to dig out those answers you already have buried in your own mind.

[ ZenHabits ] via [ LifeHacker ]

The instant solution

The above post reminded me of a video I saw a few months back on YouTube. If you feel lazy or just want quicker results, you might give this Instant Problem Solver a try. It claims to solve any problem in two minutes or less! It is a short, hypnotic induction. You likely already know hypnosis is a common treatment for such problems as weight loss, and quitting smoking. This is an easy way to give the process a try for your problem.

Enjoy!

You probably already know, it is kind of a joke/axiom in the blogosphere, serious bloggers don’t post about the latest adventures of their cat, because nobody but you really cares what Fluffy did today. Don’t worry I’m not going to regale with the adventures of my small herd. You may be surprised what Fluffy can teach you about problem solving though.

Animals are Problem Solvers

Would you find it interesting animals are problem solvers? Have you ever watched an animal solve a problem? I have a small herd of cats and one dog. It is endlessly fascinating to watch how they think. Have you ever watched a cat trying to climb to a higher location? They first look at where they want to be, then they start looking for possible avenues that will get them “up there”. You can see them thinking about the problem and even considering alternatives, like the posturing for the direct jump then changing their mind. Obviously the problems animals are solving aren’t “Save the World” quality. They just want to get from point A to point B, eat, or “find the ball”.

Better Communication

I bring this up because, now that I’ve established myself as a professional problem solver, I get to do the one thing animals can’t. I have to think about how I think, so I can communicate more effectively with you. Mostly, I’ve always just solved my problems, without really thinking about how I did it. Once solved, that technique or strategy was available to me for the next similar problem that popped up.

Now obviously I have had training in formal problem solving strategies, just like you. Remember back in high school when you were trying to figure out how to solve those algebra problems? If you were at all successful then you eventually learned a formal approach or two to help you out. But what were the names of those formal approaches?

For example did you know the cat looking first at where he wants to be and then working backwards to get there is formally called “Working Backwards?” I didn’t until recently, even though I do know of at least one set of information products that teaches this very tactic as a success strategy.

Funny Formalized Solutions

This is what I’ve been doing. I’m researching the formalized fields of problem solving. Some of it is rather humorous too. For example, I think we all have plenty of experience in the ‘trial and error’ method of problem solving. It is very similar to the method called ‘Guess and Test’. These probably aren’t the most effective strategies for tackling important problems, but they are the easiest to employ. You certainly learned all of your motor skills like crawling, walking, eating, and speech through trial and error. You also did it without having to know that there was a named and formalized description of the process, complete with methodology, a list of primary features, and specific examples in areas like algorithm design. I find that kind of funny.

Solution Shopping

Of course all of these labels and detailed descriptions help us organize our own thinking. Thinking is at the heart of problem solving. If you start looking at all the descriptions of various thinking strategies, the list of named, formalized structures seems to explode exponentially!! What I really find fascinating, though, is the fact that the various ways my cats and the dog solve their simple problems, also fit into one or more of these named, formalized, categorized, info-structures. That is even more funny!

After the laughter of surprise dies down, it is easy to see how it is sometimes necessary to organize all of our thoughts about a subject including the simple stuff. The big benefit to you is proof of point #3 in my last post about “The Top 5 Easiest Ways to Solve Almost Any Problem”. Whatever your problem, there is bound to already be a solution, or a suitable strategy to reach a solution. Not all solutions are one size fits all, but you can still probably fill a shopping cart with solutions, or solution strategies that will work. The big problem then is deciding which to use.

Here is a suggestion: Cats and dogs are not terribly complicated creatures. There is a whole school of thought around the idea that simple is good. So maybe the next time you are shopping for a solution to your next most pressing problem, you could consult your cat

Problem Solved?

If not, then check in here regularly, I have lots to share. If you get impatient, have a peek at Problem Solving in Wikipedia and spend some time surfing. It is very enlightening.

Here is my first shot at participating in a group writing project. Specifically, the “Top 5″ group writing project hosted by Darren Rowse on ProBlogger. I present the Top 5 Easiest Ways to Solve Almost Any Problem.

Not all of these solution strategies will apply to every problem you may have, but almost every problem can benefit from applying one or more of them. They are very general and I chose them for their ease and simplicity. In fact, the first solution might even be considered cheating, but it is somethng to seriously consider. On with the show . . .

Is it really a problem?

Is it really a problem or are you just seeing that way? Are you making a proverbial mountain out of a molehill? It could be you only need to step back and take a more objective look, gather some information, and gain perspective. You might find it isn’t really a problem at all.

Once when I was a new network administrator, one of my bosses called to tell me ‘the server’ was down. I freaked. He was my boss. I wasn’t supposed to let that happen. This was a big problem for me. I started checking things from top to bottom, trying to find and solve the problem. Eventually, I got around to actually asking him specific questions. As it turns out, the site he chose for his home page was down. I helped him with his problem through a little gentle education, but I didn’t have a problem at all. If it doesn’t exist then by default, problem solved.

Is it your problem?

Is it your problem? I’m not saying turn a blind eye to a friend in need or shirk any responsibility. I fully encourage you to help out when ever, and where ever, you can with all of the compassion you can muster. It’s good karma. I also encourage you to make sure you are taking care of those things you need to.
But no matter how empathetic you are to other people’s personal issues, you can’t solve all of their problems for them. Some things just have to be worked out by the individual. Help all you can, but don’t make their problem your problem. Preserve your energy for the things you’ll have to deal with.

Do you have a co-worker or friend who likes to ‘delegate’ their problems to you, or use you as a crutch to let them shirk their duties? Does it happen more often than is reasonable. Then isn’t time you delegated the problem back to them?

In either scenario, if you can let your problem with their problem go, then, problem solved.

Copy another solution.

Why re-invent the wheel? In school we were taught not to cheat and we had to figure things out on our own. You already know in the real world it doesn’t always work that way, and in fact, it isn’t even called cheating in most cases. Whole industries are built around this principle. In IT for example, you can find code libraries, published knowledge-bases, even whole software packages designed around problems, just like yours. Some are for sale, and some are free. Either way they are there to use. So, use them. Problem solved.

Chunk-up and then chunk back down.

This is a close cousin of the last solution. If there isn’t a direct solution to use, then chunk-up and ask what kind of problem is this? What other problems also fit this category? How were they solved? When you find one of those solutions, borrow it, and adjust as necessary.

You are probably already more proficient at this than you think. Do you cook? I do. The other day I had most but not quite all of the desired ingredients for tacos. Namely I was out of taco shells. I had lots of flour tortillas though. I thought about making taco salads, but then I saw I was also low on salad. The family voted down burritos, so I was left with my imagination. I remembered the Jim Gaffigan routine about working in a Mexican food restaurant when he was growing up. He gets a customer who wants to have every dish described. Finally he gets frustrated and says, “It’s all just meat, cheese and vegetables on a tortilla. Pick something!” So we had some meat, cheese and vegetables on baked flour tortillas. It tasted like Mexican food to me. Problem solved.

RTFM

You know the saying, “If all else fails, read the directions.” Actually this should be the first place you start. Most people, including me, don’t always do that though. If we did we might find it was actually just another instance of the first solution. Problem solved.

Do you have a favorite strategy? Please share ( assuming I have the whole comments problem solved when you read this: It’s still a new blog as of this post ) Continue Reading »

What would you like to do, but find you are procratinating on? Ask yourself, “Why am I procrastinating?” Could it be this is something new and you just aren’t sure where to start? Maybe figuring just exactly what it is you want to do is the biggest problem though. I have this problem all of the time. I end up procrastinating and then look back later and see what I haven’t accomplished. But I have a three-point solution, and you can benefit from it right now.

First, let’s look at this blog as an example. I downloaded the Wordpress software nearly two months ago. I managed to pull my old and neglected TypePad blog and get Wordpress installed in one day. This is just the second post though. Among many other activities, I have anguished over what focus to give it. I decided on a focus and then I made of list of article ideas. Then I decided I don’t like the default Kubrick theme. I’ve wasted several hours browsing themes on the Wordpress site, the web, CSS Zen Garden, and I’ve finally decided what I want to do. Now I just have to start doing it. Bottom line: my blog still is just barely started. But if I had just started posting ( as I am doing now ) I would be that much further ahead. And there is the answer in a nutshell.

The solution: Nike says it best: Just do it!

• Just start. If you find you started in the wrong place or got ahead of yourself, then save your work as best you can and back up as far as necessary, then re-start there. At least now you have some momentum.
• Be persistant. Nobody says your project has to be perfect at the very beginning. ( Isn’t that what the term ‘beta’ is for?). Leverage your momentum, and keep making those incremental improvements on a consistent basis. Eventually you will get where you want to go.
• Let go of any frustration. You can probably think of many successful projects where you started knowing nothing. Maybe you did get frustrated along the way. It happens; especially if you find you started in the wrong place. I bet you had to let go of, or move past any frustration to finish though, didn’t you?

This blog is my project. There is no boss standing over me with whip, but I look back and see if I keep going at the previous rate, it will just become another regret. So I am posting, everything else can come later. Depending on when you read this you may or may not see the default Kubrik Theme. I must assume you aren’t here just for the pretty pictures and the atmosphere ( or maybe you are ), you’re here for the content. Either way, thanks for stopping by.

I promised on my index page ( which may have vanished by the time you read this ) I would explain about wanting Moiré. After careful consideration, I’m not sure I want Moiré ( or ‘more’ if you will ) because my head is already about to explode with information overload. But I did promise. Besides, getting some of this out of my head will help me, and ultimately, I hope it will help you as well. How? Read on. . .

As you may know, a moiré effect is created when two patterns are combined and a third pattern emerges. If you aren’t familiar with with this already, check out this mathematik.com page for a very simple animated illustration(headache free of charge) . I’ll wait right here while you go check that out. . .

Back? Good. Let me tell you a story. . .
When I was a teenager I received a gift called Moiré. It was string art craft project. If you received one as I did, then you know you had some fishing line and a couple of abstract clear acrylic shapes with notches cut in them. You glued the shapes together (my kit had a square and a moon sliver) and wound the fishing line around the notches in some recommended sequence. When you were through, you had a piece of abstract art composed all of straight lines, but where several lines intersected closely there were elegant curves. Looking through the piece, the patterns on the opposite side combined with those on the near side and added more interest which changed with you as you changed your viewpoint. Moiré!

Around the same time, I was learning to program on an Apple II. The very first pretty and abstract computer graphic I created way back then depended entirely on the moiré effect. I learned little something about programming, and graphics. The experience also served as the motivation to complete the Moiré string art kit. Before then I had let it set unused in its box for a year or more.

There are three things to note about the story; First it is a good example of unexpected possibilities that emerge when you combine things. That is obviously the moiré effect itself. Second, while programming graphics has little to do with craft projects per se, ( particularly back then) both activities had art and the moiré effect in common. So, an activity in one area inspired me to take action in another. Third, I made some wonderful discoveries in both areas, and wound up with a nice piece of art to share.

Which brings us to the explanation of this blog and why I (and you) want Moiré.

• Moiré is creative problem solving. Combine ideas from two or more different disciplines and create a solution to whatever problem you need to tackle.
• Moiré is adapting, and applying, useful concepts from different disciplines in your quest for excellence by leveraging similarities, like the nearly, but not quite parallel lines in the string art.
• Moiré is seeing value in your work, however simple and straight it may seem, and choosing to add it to the elegant whole. Yes, like the remarkable, elegant curves emerging at the edges of the intersections of several simple straight-line string segments.

Moiré serves one other coneptual purpose for me. My interests are all over the board. The three principles of Moiré give me a way add useful focus to whatever topic has my interest at the moment.

Enjoy