The Creative
Problem Solver
 
by Jeffrey Leaf
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

To be a successful problem-solver requires that you learn to become four (4) different people and learn when to be each:

Based on A Kick In The Seat Of The Pants by Roger von Oech


 
Explorer 
Artist

 
Judge 
 Warrior
Explorer
 
The raw material of new ideas is information. Information comes from many sources. It includes: The Explorer is the side of you that seeks all of these.
 
Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum. The creative explorer looks for history in a hardware store and fashion in and airport. Robert Wieder, Journalist and Standup-Comedian

Like a prospector looking for gold, the Explorer knows not to look in the same places everyone else normally looks in. Be curious. Ask questions. Look in strange places for answers to strange questions.
 
A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved. John Dewey, philosopher
 
Know what you are looking for so you don't get bogged down with information overload. Arm the Explorer with a well defined problem.
 
Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one your have. Emile Chartier, Philosopher

Look for as many facts, theories, concepts, rules, data, feelings and impressions as you can collect. A professional photographer takes literally hundreds of photos to get a few good ones. (At a recent Super Bowl, Sports Illustrated photographers shot 250 36-shot rolls of film to get the 10-20 shots that actually made the magazine.) A good problem-solver should generate many ideas in hopes of finding a really good solution.
 
Inventing is a skill that some people have and some people don't. But you can learn how to invent. You have to have the will not to jump at the first solution...because the really elegant solution might be right around the corner. The most likely inventor candidate would be someone who says, "Yes, that's the one way to do it, but it doesn't seem to be an optimum solution." Then he keeps on thinking. Ray Dolby, Inventor
 
Look Beyond the First Right Answer!

People who are only good with hammers see every problem as a nail. Roger von Oech, author
 
The Explorer starts the creative problem-solving process. To be effective, the Explorer must be courageous, flexible and open.
Artist
 
The Artist follows the Explorer, takes what the Explorer generated, and manipulates the ideas.
 
The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist. Eric Gill, Philosopher
 
For the sound of a spaceship's high speed deceleration in the atmosphere of Jupiter, a sound designer on a science fiction movie tried a few varied ideas. Then he set a piece of dry ice on a piece of sheet metal. He put a microphone nearby and heated the bottom side of the sheet metal with a blow torch. The quick melting of the dry ice gave the designer exactly what he was looking for.
 
The Artist's tools are in his or her mind: Creative Thinking may simply mean the realization that there's no particular virtue in doing things the way they have always been done. Roger von Oech
 
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after growing up.
Judge
 
The Judge takes over only after the Explorer and Artist are finished. The Judge evaluates the results.
 
Play is what I do for a living; the work comes in evaluating the results of the play. Mac MacDougall, Computer Architect
 
The Judge must evaluate based on some criteria and not be skewed by wrong assumptions:
 
The human mind likes a strange idea as little as the body likes a strange protein and resists it with similar energy. W. I. Beveridge, Scientist If you spend too much time warming up, you'll miss the race. If you don't warm up at all, you may not finish the race. Grand Heidrich, Runner
Warrior
 
No matter how hard the Explorer, Artist and Judge worked, if the solution isn't pursued, the idea is worthless. Making it happen is the job of the Warrior.
 
Try? There is no try. There is only do or not do. Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back
 
Remember: Therefore, the Warrior must: Either you let your life slip away by not doing the things you want to do, or you get up and do them!

Developed by Jeffrey Leaf
Last Updated 12/2/98