December 11, 2011

Thinking Like A Genius

Problem Solving: Creative Solutions





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Thinking and recall series


Thinking like a genius


Problem solving: creative solutions


"Even if you're not a genius, you can use the same
strategies as Aristotle and Einstein to harness the power of
your creative mind and better manage your future."


The following strategies encourage you to think
productively,

rather than reproductively, in order to arrive at solutions
to problems. "These strategies are common to the thinking
styles of creative geniuses in science, art, and industry
throughout history."


Nine approaches to creative problem solving:



  1. Rethink! Look at problems in many different ways.

  2. Visualize! Utilize diagrams and imagery to analyze
    your dilemma.

  3. Produce! Genius is productive.

  4. Combine! Make novel combinations...

  5. Form! Form relationships.

  6. Opposite! Think in opposites.

  7. Metaphor/simile! Think metaphorically.

  8. Failure! Learning from your mistakes is one example
    of using failure.

  9. Patience! Don't confuse inspiration with ideas.



Exercise #2
illustrates how famous thinkers used these approches.

Exercise/blog #3
contains selected thoughts on thinking like a genius.


Exercise #1: illustrates applications of the nine
approaches.

Text of exercise:
Nine approaches to creative problem solving:




  1. Rethink!
    Look at problems in many different ways.

    Find new perspectives that no one else has taken.

    Solutions example: Finding a job or internship:


    1. Ask friends or colleagues for potential leads

    2. Over-sell yourself

      Send samples of your work or portfolio to anyone
      that might respond.

    3. Check local resources like Craigslist or your
      school's job search

    4. Broaden your target audience.

      What other fields could you specialize in?



  2. Visualize!
    Utilize diagrams and imagery to analyze
    your dilemma.


    1. How can you use pictures, images, graphs, etc.
      in your studies?

    2. Visit guides on
      concept or mind maps
      ,
      picturing vocabulary,
      flashcards, etc.

    3. Write out one example of how you can use
      imagery, then print and post it in your study area.


  3. Produce!
    Genius is productive.


    1. Perhaps originality is not the key, but rather
      constant application of thought and tools to arrive
      a solutions.

    2. Geniuses are the luckiest of mortals because
      what they must do is the same as what they most want
      to do.


      W. H. Auden (1907–1973) Anglo-American poet

    3. Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for
      patience
      .

      George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707–1788)
      French naturalist


  4. Combine!
    Make novel combinations...
    Combine and
    recombine ideas, images, and thoughts into different
    combinations no matter how incongruent or unusual.


  5. Form!
    Form relationships. Make connections between
    dissimilar subjects.


    1. This doesn't always apply to objects:
      form relationships with people and ask them
      questions!

    2. Get to know people in your field that
      can help you excel to the best of your
      ability.

    3. Write down one person that you could get
      in contact with, why you think this person
      can help, and print/post it for reference!


  6. Opposite!
    Think in opposites. Don't always stick with
    the obvious solutions.
    Get outside of your comfort zone.


    1. “Opposites” bring two approaches to a
      situation but they do share a basic
      similarity.

      Example: “right” and “left” are both
      directions, but which is the right choice?

    2. The Sesame Street Muppet Elmo
      teaches small children the concept of
      opposites!

  7. Metaphor/simile!
    Think metaphorically.


    1. Metaphors are connections that are
      unusual or not an ordinary way of thinking:

      A sea of troubles; the heart of a lion;
      raining cats and dogs.

    2. Similes use "like" or "as" to illustrate

      The boy was as agile as a monkey
      .
      The miner's face was like coal.

      The task was as easy as ABC.
      Dry like a raisin in the sun.


  8. Failure!
    Learning from your mistakes is one example
    of using failure.


    1. As strange as it seems the human brain
      is failure machine: it generates models of
      reality, acts on them, and adjusts or
      creates new, successful models based on
      failures.

    2. From Daniel Coyle’s the Talent Code
      on Adam Bryant’s weekly interview: “every
      single CEO shares the same nugget of wisdom:
      the crucial importance of mistakes,
      failures, and setbacks
      … mistakes create
      unique conditions of high-velocity learning
      that cannot be matched by more stable,
      “successful” situations.”


  9. Patience!
    Don't confuse inspiration with
    ideas.
    Apply your ideas with patience for the
    reward they may deserve.



Thinking like a genius: Creative solutions |
Famous thinkers
| Selected
thoughts




Flash exercise by


Karl Noelle, student, College of Design; Brad Hokanson,
faculty, College of Design, University of Minnesota, St.
Paul, MN; with edits/revisions by Joe Landsberger.


Adapted with permission from:



Michalko, Michael,

Thinking Like a Genius: Eight strategies used by
the super creative, from Aristotle and Leonardo to Einstein
and Edison
(New Horizons for Learning) as seen at
http://www.newhorizons.org/wwart_michalko1.html, (June 15,
1999) This article first appeared in THE FUTURIST,
May 1998. Michael Michalko is the author of
Thinkertoys (A Handbook of Business
Creativity),
ThinkPak (A Brainstorming Card Set), and
Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative
Geniuses
(Ten Speed Press, 1998).



















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