Are Your Lights On?

A PROBLEM IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THINGS AS DESIRED AND THINGS AS PERCEIVED.

DON'T LEAP TO CONCLUSIONS, BUT DON'T IGNORE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION.

IF YOU CAN'T THINK OF AT LEAST THREE THINGS THAT MIGHT BE WRONG WITH YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM.

But if we can swallow our pride for just an instant and view the problem as though it were ours alone, we might actually get something done about "pollution."

ONCE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM STATEMENT IN WORDS, PLAY WITH THE WORDS UNTIL THE STATEMENT IS IN EVERYONE'S HEAD.

the Golden List of Word Games: 1. Vary the stress pattern (as in the above example). 2. Change positives to negatives and vice versa. 3. Change MAY to MUST, and MUST to MAY. 4. Change OR to EITHER OR, and vice versa. 5. Change AND to OR, and vice versa. 6. Choose a term that is defined explicitly and substitute the explicit definition in each place

TRY BLAMING YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE—EVEN FOR A MOMENT.

By becoming immersed in the problem, you, the resolver, risk yet another oversight. Fascinated with the problem-solving aspects, you may neglect to consider whether you would morally approve of a solution. One person's sin is another's virtue.

The fledgling problem solver invariably rushes in with solutions before taking time to define the problem being solved.