Einstein's Secrets for Problem Solving

[Teacher]

The life of an adult is filled with obstacles that develop in him willpower, perseverance, determination and the ability to analyze. Any difficult situation teaches us something. Therefore, before you start solving the problem, you need to take a step back and make every effort to better understand what you have to deal with. As Einstein did.

Rephrase the problem

When a Toyota executive asked his subordinates to “find ways to increase their productivity,” he received only confused looks. After he reformulated the problem, which began to sound like "find ways to make your work easier," a stream of proposals poured in.

Words play an important role in our perception of the problem. Work carefully on the problem statement.

Study the problem from above

A truck is stuck under a low bridge. Firefighters, police and other services all tried to pull the car out, trying all possible and impossible ways. The truck driver did not already know what to do, when suddenly the schoolboy offered him a very simple way out - to lower the wheels.

Each new task is a small part of something larger. In the same way as you can investigate a problem from the outside, you can investigate it from different "heights". If you feel overwhelmed with details or are looking at a problem in an overly narrow perspective, look at it from a more general perspective.

Examine the problem from the inside

Breaking the problem down into small tasks, each of which is narrower than the original one, can also give a clearer understanding of the current situation.

Look for more options for possible developments

Before you start solving a problem, make sure that you have foreseen different paths of development of events. Thinking through the consequences from different perspectives is a great opportunity to see an unexpected, new, comprehensive solution.

Use effective language constructs

Use positive attitudes.

Affirmative sentences are more powerful in motivating and helping to see the real value behind solving a problem. Agree, there is a difference between "quitting smoking", on the one hand, and "increasing energy levels" and "living longer" - on the other?

Put the problem in an interrogative form.

Our brain loves questions. If the question is interesting, then the brain will look for an answer even when we do not suspect it.

Make your problem interesting

It is very important that you are interested and in the best frame of mind when you formulate the problem. It's one thing to "create your own blog," and quite another to "inspire your readers to live a happy life."

Turn everything upside down

One useful trick is to think about the worst outcome of the wrong solution to the problem. If you want to win, imagine what could be the reason for your defeat. Then all you have to do is replace the answer you received with the opposite one.

Collect facts

Investigate the causes and circumstances of your problem. If it is not clear enough, studying the facts can be much more effective than trying to solve it immediately.

If, for example, the problem is phrased by your spouse as “You never listen to me,” the solution does not seem obvious. But if the phrase sounds differently: “You don't look into my eyes when we talk,” then the decision is clear!

As you start to pay more attention to the formulation of your problem, you will find that it is more difficult than finding a solution. But the result will justify all the efforts!