When I get stuck trying to figure out the answer to some problem I’m trying to deal with, usually something technical to do with my kitchen cabinet making business, I find the best way is to try to explain the problem to my wife- nine times out of ten the answer will pop into my brain before I’ve even finished explaining it. The other time maybe she will make some suggestion which shows that she hasn’t really understood the problem, but which never-the-less triggers some thought process in me which leads to an eventual solution
So what works for you guys?
John
Replies
>> ... nine times out of ten the answer will pop into my brain before I even finish explaining it.
In my trade we call this the teddy bear effect. You go to a colleague for help. Halfway through the explanation you see the solution. Which means that, since the explanation is the key, not the feedback, you might as well keep a teddy bear in your office and explain your problems to it rather than bother other busy people.
Yep, the technique even works for computer programming.
Study it, maybe just to sit down with a cup of coffee and stare at it, not blankly tho it might look that way, but taking myself through the steps and analysing each possibility, build models and scenarios in my mind, visualize.
I also do research in the books and talk to other people in the field. They may have an idea or like you mention, trigger my own thinking.
Then, after I Have done all I can, I leave it alone for a day or two, if I can aford to. The solution will pop into my mind while I am doing something else less mindfull like driving or splitting wood, or sleeping. I can't count how many times I have woken up to a uereka moment inthe middle of the night. So I guess that to suim up my technique, it is to
study, research, back off.
Kind of like farming. Plow disc and plant, but then you still have to wait for the germination process.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Lubrication?
electrolytic conductivity?
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
and to think, I just go outside and bang my head against a tree, usually right before I pass out the answer comes to me.
Last night while falling asleep I had a realization. And again this morning in the shower, I figured out the solution to another problem.
I wonder if we shouldn't put a clause in our contracts that we can take a few hour nap and then use their bathroom to wash up whenever we come upon a big problem. A little unorthodox but effective <g>
Jon Blakemore
i think we should be allowed to charge thinking time like lawyers
here's an easy way
http://shazam.econ.ubc.ca/flip/
View Image
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I start doing something easy.
Usually cleaning up and organizing.
Or I leave it til the next day.
I get alot of ideas laying in bed or petting my doggies or surfing here.
anything to relax my mind and allow it to subconsciously work on the problem.
Or I ask the boss what to do and after he explains what he would do and I'm done laughing to myself, an easier soluton will present itself.
Mr T
I pity da Foo!!!
<p align="center"><img src="http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/at.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&guid=0027C9E9-494C-425C-BD3F-08A32106DE2F-&frames=no" border=0 alt=""></p>
That's the key, let your subconscious do the heavy lifting. No sore brain cells that way.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Mr T,
Is this what you trying for.
SamT
Mr T
I pity da Foo!!!View Image
Probably but I think I made a mistake in the link address thingy partMr T
I pity da Foo!!!
<p align="center"><img src="http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/at.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&guid=0027C9E9-494C-425C-BD3F-08A32106DE2F-&frames=no" border=0 alt=""></p>
Now that you mention it
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If you take out the alt="" You will notice that you started the <a href=" with a quote mark. The > after the alt="" is the close of the <A href=" but no extra quote mark. You can use alt="""> or alt=''"or just leave out the alt property and use border=0">.
If you fill in the alt="" with some words, those words will show whenever someone holds their mouse over the picture. Hold your mouse over the pic below (if there is a pic) to see.
SamTMr T
I pity da Foo!!!
Well, that didn't work let me try this.
View Image
Ok, I got a picture holder with a 3point border and alt text this time. will have to post it to see if the pic is working.
SamT
Edit, nope the picture link is dead. How did you get/make the picture address?
SamT
Edited 3/9/2004 11:58 pm ET by SamT
When I get stuck on something, I often have to leave it alone for a while and come back to it. (Kinda like others have already said) Don't really have any idea why that works, but it sometimes does.
Another thing that often works for me is to have someone else look at it. A fresh perspective can do wonders. Sometimes when I get stuck on something it's a math problem. Someone else can walk over and take a quick look at it. They say "You added this dimension in twice" and walk away. Once I've added something up wrong a few times the mistake starts to look right.
Another thing I try to do is look at it from a different perspective. Look at a problem from higher up, lower down, inside instead of outside, or whatever. Anything to get a different look at it.
According to my calculations, the problem doesn't exist.
Like most of the other posters said, some of my best solutions came to me when I was relaxed and not under stress to solve them. Also, talking them over with other people works, too.
Another technique I use when I face a problem I can't solve is to make the problem go away so I don't have to face it. (Sounds obvious, doesn't it?) What I mean is, I step back and see if looking at the problem more broadly can lead to an entirely different approach which makes the immediate puzzle unnecessary to solve. For example, in the kitchen I was designing and building for my new house one side of the kitchen had a long countertop. I wanted stone around the drop in cooktop at one end of the counter, but I wanted a seamless joint between the countertop and sink bowl at the other end of the counter, which pretty much required solid surfacing. My problem was how to form a joint between a stone countertop and a solid surfacing countertop that looked good and wouldn't catch dirt. Neither caulking nor any of the other solutions was satisfactory. At the same time I didn't like the low height of kitchen sinks because it's tougher on my back.
After a few weeks it occurred to me if I can't make a joint that works, don't have a joint. Make the countertop at the sink end 2" higher than the countertop around the stove. Since I was designing for an unfitted look, I made the two sections look like two pieces of furniture placed touching one another, but with the sink cabinet having a higher top. That eliminated the need for a joint all together, and also solved my back problem, and as a bonus, made the unfitted look work even better. So recasting a problem to remove the stubborn situation from it works too, for me.
""I also come up with good solutions to problems when I'm in the shower. Haven't figured that one out yet.""
the reason you figure it out in the shower is because there is nowhere to write the solutiion down
LOL
I draw EVERYTHING. It's almost like a bad habit. When you walk on one of my jobs there are sketches EVERYWHERE. On every cardboard box, headers, plans, subfloor etc. In the middle of conversations I will unconciously reach for the pencil behind my ear and start drawing on whatever is in front of me. Almost did it to a brand new white Corian vanity top last week. I'll sketch out anything, directions to the lumberyard, what a molding profile I want looks like, roof framing, even the sandwich I want for lunch. It's sort of a running joke with my guys. Works for me though.
"I draw EVERYTHING. It's almost like a bad habit"
I do that too. I just tell people: "I say things better on paper".Did you hear about the blonde lesbian?She kept having affairs with men.
C'mon guys!
I think my technique is far more effective than any mentioned so far....
I simply go home, fire up the ol' computer, log onto breaktime and commence typin' .
This method has by far proven to be the most ingenious problem solver I have ever come up with. Don't you agree? After all, "a hundred heads are better than one" especially if that one is mine, and has been wrapping itself around some conundrum all afternoon without getting anywhere.
One of the benefits of really teaching new guys is having to walk through each specific step, explaining in detail the reasons why. This always teaches me something about my system and allows me to improve it.
We become by effort primarily what we end up becoming
- Zig Ziglar
Why worry?.... the tapers will fix it!
I do some of my best thinking in the shower ....
I think Jon's right ... I should add a "shower use at need" clause .....
For times when the shower isn't an option ...
I call my buddy Joe. We used to work together and would bs all day ...
all sorta weird stuff ....
Then I did lotsa subbing for his crew ...
now we're both working 2 different jobs ... we still gotta run an idea ir two past each other every other day or so ....
We also make it a point to call each other when we solve a problem .....
just so the other guy knows the solution before he hits that snag ...
great system ...
the buddy system of carpentry.
last week I called him to let him know I found a place to get custom J-Channel ...
you know ... just in case ya need some custom J in the next coupla weeks ....
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
My favorite technique came along when I was counseling gang kids on a wagon train treatment program. Those darn wagon wheels were my inspiration. I plant the problem in the middle (hub) and walk full circle around it in my head looking at it from as many perspectives as possible. Each solution to the problem will have a direct consequence which is the opposite spoke of the solution. Whichever solution best fits the parameters of need with the least intrusive consequence usually gets the nod. When I'm stuck, like the rest of you, I'll 'back burner' the idea and let the 90% part of my brain take over for awhile. My kids used to laugh when I'd introduce them to the idea but sooner or later they'd admit it helped them visualize a solution to whatever problem they were dealing with.
This wagon-wheel approach is actually a problem-solving technique that high-powered consultants get a thousand a head to teach you. I'm assuming that everyone reading this (except me, I'm your agent) will send you the $1K.
If you can collect retroactively for me, I've been using this model since 89, you gotta deal! I had no idea...
Just remember that the agent gets 15%.
DEAL! Check's in the mail right?
> I do some of my best thinking in the shower ....
Maybe check out scuba diving accessories -- they have some sort of underwater white board and sharpie type thing for writing down there, you could use it to make notes in the shower.
-- J.S.
you can find it here
http://www.joediveramerica.com/page/JDA/PROD/ae/WR3
studies have proven that tobacco has majik chemicals which heighten your sense of deductive reasoning. you can look it up.
if the problem is on a larger scale, the ethereal time between the conscious and subconscious mind (pre-sleep) will provide for you a solution.
driving works too.
don't think about it, think all around it. when you are inside something, or too near, that intimate perspective will not allow you to grasp the underlying truth of the subject at hand. distance begets objectivity, objectivity begets truth, truth is what you seek, so seek distance. it's mathematical, ya see.
>> ... tobacco has majik chemicals which heighten your sense of deductive reasoning.
So do cocaine and amphetamines, if not used in moderation. And high quality LSD enhances the imagination. Better living through chemistry.