That’s the big question of life isn’t it? How to solve problems? I once heard it put this way,
“Don’t try to solve all your problems and hope for smooth sailing. Rather, realize that life is full of problems and aim to grow so that you can work on bigger problems.”
How do you approach problems in your work or business?
Here are some tools, approaches and articles I have found useful.
Define The Problem
This article over at Entrepreneur has been useful to me.
Get Creative
This piece by Larry Kim suggests 9 ways to get more creative and thereby improve your problem solving.
Listen to This Podcast
Corey Phelps of McGill University discusses the perils and opportunities posed by solving big problems in this podcast.
“If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.” –Albert Einstein
The Five Whys
Go deeper and get to the root of your problems with this simple but powerful technique.
A Unique Perspective
One of my favorite new-to-me websites is Less Wrong, the discussion board dedicated to the study of rationality, philosophy and so much more. This longer piece has an interesting perspective on problem solving.
ChatGPT
And finally, what would a current Internet piece be without some mention of ChatGPT? While I still wouldn’t rely on ChatGPT or any other AI for serious factual information or major advice, I have found ChatGPT especially useful for idea generation and brainstorming ideas (for example, a name for a new website I’m working on). So if you want to get some offbeat ideas and creative juices flowing give ChatGPT a try.
