This guide belongs to 100 Ways To Be Being Remarkable  Series, a special project that brings you business and self-development advice from The Success Manual.

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It isn't that they can't see the solution, it is the problem that they can't see.
- G.K. Chesterton

The problem when solved will be simple.
- Anonymous

Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands.
– Seneca

We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that we used when we created them.
— Albert Einstein

If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re a part of the problem.
- Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panthers

Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again.
- Johann W. von Goethe

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Looking at a problem from a new perspective without preconceptions.

1. MIND MAP
A diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, and decision making.

Mind maps provide an effective tool for organizing and evaluating this information; in the final stages, one can assign numeric weights to various branches of the mind map.

2. BRAINSTORMING
A group creativity technique that was designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution of a problem.

How to: A large number of alternatives are generated by encouraging people to produce as many ideas as possible. All ideas are documented without initial criticism. Only after the idea-generating stage are they evaluated.

Although brainstorming has become a popular group technique, researchers have generally failed to find evidence of its effectiveness for enhancing either quantity or quality of ideas generated.

1. Hill-climbing strategy, (or - rephrased - gradient descent/ascent, difference reduction) - attempting at every step to move closer to the goal situation. The problem with this approach is that many challenges require that you seem to move away from the goal state in order to clearly see the solution.
2. Means-end analysis, more effective than hill-climbing, requires the setting of sub-goals based on the process of getting from the initial state to the goal state when solving a problem.
3. Working backwards
4. Trial-and-error
5. Brainstorming:
6. Research: study what others have written about the problem (and related problems). Maybe there's already a solution?
7. Assumption reversal (write down your assumptions about the problem, and then reverse them all)
8. Analogy: has a similar problem (possibly in a different field) been solved before?
9. Hypothesis testing: assuming a possible explanation to the problem and trying to prove the assumption.
10. Constraint examination: are you assuming a constraint which doesn't really exist?
11. Take more time: time pressure can cause one to think in circles (the brain, unhelpfully, tends to be "pulled" towards a particular solution, or aspect of the problem)
12. Incubation: input the details of a problem into your mind, then stop focusing on it. The subconscious mind will continue to work on the problem, and the solution might just "pop up" while you are doing something else
13. Build (or write) one or more abstract models of the problem
14. Try to prove that the problem cannot be solved. Where the proof breaks down can be your starting point for resolving it
15. Get help from friends or online problem solving community
16. Root Cause Analysis
17. Wind Tunnel: based on Socratic Method whereby you outrun your logical constraints to reach for new insights to a problem.

"Difficulty is not an obstacle, it is merely an attribute".
- Wal Sakaluk

TEN RULES OF THUMB FOR PROBLEM SOLVING
1. If you hit every time, the target’s too near - or too big.
2. Never learn details before deciding on a first approach.
3. Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms as it was brought to you.
4. The second assault on the same problem should come from a totally different direction.
5. If you don’t understand a problem, then explain it to an audience and listen to yourself.
6. Don’t mind approaches that transform one problem into another, that’s a new chance.
7. If it’s surprising, it’s useful.
8. Studying the inverse problem always helps.
9. Spend a proportion of your time analyzing your work methods.
10. If you don’t ask “Why this?” often enough, someone else will ask, “Why you?”
- Tom Hirshfield, research physicist

THE FEYNMAN PROBLEM-SOLVING ALGORITHM:
(1) write down the problem;
(2) think very hard;
(3) write down the answer.
- Attributed to Murray Gell-Mann

CRITICAL THINKING 101
1. Itemize opinion(s) from all relevant sides of an issue and collect Logical argument(s) supporting each.
2. Break the arguments into their constituent statements and draw out various additional implication(s) from these statements.
3. Examine these statements and implications for internal contradictions.
4. Locate opposing claims between the various arguments and assign relative weightings to opposing claims:
• Increase the weighting when the claims have strong support especially distinct chains of reasoning or different news sources, decrease the weighting when the claims have contradictions.
• Adjust weighting depending on relevance of information to central issue.
• Require sufficient support to justify any incredible claims; otherwise, ignore these claims when forming a judgment.
5. Assess the weights of the various claims.

3. THE 5 WHYS
A question asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem. Ultimately, the goal of applying the 5 Whys method is to determine a root cause of a defect or problem

One can go beyond asking ‘why’ 5 times. However, it is postulated that five iterations of asking why is generally sufficient to get to a root cause.

"When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished."
- Barack Obama

4. LATERAL THINKING
In 1967, Edward de Bono, a Maltese psychologist, physician and writer, gave the idea of Lateral Thinking. De Bono divides thinking into two methods:

1. Vertical thinking: conventional, logical, critical and analytical thinking. Supported by traditional education, it exists since the time of the Greeks.

Vertical thinking is focused on “what is.” De Bono says this will not yield creative solutions.

De Bono equates Vertical thinking with “Adversarial Thinking”. This mode of discussion revolves around argument, the purpose being to defeat your opponent and by doing so discover the truth.

Adversarial thinking serves a purpose. However, it is not the only way of thinking and in some circumstances, it has limitations.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge”
-Albert Einstein

2. Lateral Thinking: Also known as unconventional thinking.

It means deliberately setting out to look at challenges from completely different angles to find great solutions that would otherwise remain hidden.

Lateral Thinking is focused on “what could be.” It will yield multiple creative solutions from which to choose.

Vertical vs. Lateral Thinking

Vertical – step by step, analyzing, based on facts, one result
Lateral – provokes, jumps from one to another, looks at possibilities, many results

Example: Two men were on a jungle safari in Africa.
Suddenly, they came across a lion that started roaring. Both men were frightened and one of them started wearing his shoes.

The other one said, "How is this going to help? We can't outrun the lion."

The first man replied, "I don't have to outrun the lion; I only have to outrun you."

5. DE BONO’S 6 THINKING HATS
The de Bono Hats represent six thinking strategies, as identified by Edward de Bono.

The Red Hat represents Emotional thinking. The Yellow Hat represents Positive thinking. The Black Hat represents Critical thinking. The White Hat is purely the facts. The Green Hat is Creative thinking. The Blue Hat represents the Big Picture, sort of looking at it from all the viewpoints.

DE BONO'S SIX HATS
- White hat (Blank sheet): Information & reports, facts and figures (objective)
- Red hat (Fire): Intuition, opinion & emotion, feelings (subjective)
- Yellow hat (Sun): Praise, positive aspects, why it will work (objective)
- Black hat (Judge's robe): Criticism, judgment, negative aspects, modus tollens (objective)
- Green hat (Plant): Alternatives, new approaches & 'everything goes', idea generation & provocations (speculative/creative)
- Blue hat (Sky): "Big Picture," "Conductor hat," "Meta hat," "thinking about thinking", overall process (overview)

6. THE SIX ACTION SHOES
De Bono used the Six Action Shoes to separate action into six basic styles: such as 'routine action‘, 'crisis action‘, 'entrepreneurial action', etc.

1. Navy formal shoes
Routines and formal procedures

2. Grey sneakers
Exploration, investigation, and collection of evidence
Purpose of the action is to get information

3. Brown brogues
Involves practically and pragmatism
Do what is sensible and what is practical
Figure it out as you go using initiative, practical behavior, and flexibility
Almost the opposite of the formality navy formal shoes

4. Orange gumboots
Danger and emergency
Emergency action is required
Safety is a prime concern

5. Pink slippers
Suggest care, compassion, and attention to human feelings and sensitivities

6. Purple riding boots
Suggest authority
Playing out the role give by virtue of a position or authority
There is an element of leadership and command
The person is not acting in his or her own capacity but in an official role.

Difference b/w The Six thanking Hats and The Six Action Shoes
The Six Thinking Hats style is more concerned with Scenario-based thinking.

The Six Action Shoes style is concerned with action-based thinking.

Unlike the Six Hats, the Action Shoes can be combined.

"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them."
- Albert Einstein

OTHER LATERAL THINKING TECHNIQUES
Random Entry: Choose an object at random, or a noun from a dictionary, and associate that with the area you are thinking about.

Provocation: Declare the usual perception out of bounds, or provide some provocative alternative to the usual situation under consideration.

Challenge: Simply challenge the way things have always been done or seen, or the way they are.

This is done not to show there is anything wrong with the existing situation but simply to direct your perceptions to exploring outside the current area.

Focus: Pick a word, an issue…anything. Note down all that you know about it; and all that you don’t know about it.

Puzzle#1: Throwing Balls
How can you throw a ball as hard as you can so that it comes back to you? The ball should have nothing attached to it, it shouldn't hit anything, and no one else should catch it or throw it.
Answer: Throw it up in the air.

Puzzle#2: Coin out of a bottle
Put a coin in a bottle and then stop the opening with a cork. How can you get the coin out of the bottle without pulling out the cork or breaking the bottle?
Answer: Push the cork into the bottle, and shake the coin out.

7. DEDUCTIVE REASONING
The kind of reasoning in which the conclusion is necessitated by, or reached from, previously known facts (the premises). If the premises are true, the conclusion must be true.

8. SCAMPER
Useful when you want to explore possibilities around a goal or idea. It's good for turning a tired idea into something new and different.

Write your goal at the top of the page and then SCAMPER; apply each word one at a time to your idea and see how many new possibilities you can come up with. Write them down.

Substitute
e.g. What else instead? Who else instead? Other material? Other place?

Combine
e.g. How about a blend? Combine purposes? Combine appeals?

Adapt
e.g. What else is like this? What other idea does this suggest? What could I copy?

Minify/Magnify
e.g. Order, form, shape? What to add? More time? Greater frequency? Higher? Longer? Thicker?

Put to other uses
e.g. New ways to use as is? Other uses I modified? Other places to use? Other people to reach?

Eliminate
e.g. What to subtract? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Leave something out? Streamline? Understate?

Reverse/Rearrange
e.g. Other pattern? Other layout? Other sequence? Change pace? Swap positive and negative? How about opposites? Turn it backward? Turn it upside-down? Reverse roles?

9. RANDOM STIMULUS
A class of creativity techniques that explore randomization.
For example, "The oblique strategies" created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975 is a set of 100 cards, each of which is a suggestion of a course of action or thinking to assist in creative situations, where standard logical solutions don't produce a desired result

10. ASSOCIATION
A widely used memory tool. Associating a new item (an object, a picture, a smell or anything else a person may wish to recall) to another, more easily-remembered item can allow you to think of them both.

ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS
The theory of the association of ideas is the name of a theory first propounded by Aristotle, where he identified three contexts in which ideas might be associated.
The three contexts are:
- Similarity
- Contrast
- Contiguity in time or space

11. IDEAS BANK
A website where people post, exchange, discuss, and polish new ideas. Some of ideas banks for the purpose of developing new inventions or technologies

12. IMAGINATION
The process of forming in the mind new images which have not been previously experienced, or at least only partially or in different combinations. Some typical examples follow:
- Fairy tales
- Fiction
- A form of verisimilitude often invoked in fantasy and science fiction invites readers to pretend such stories are true by referring to objects of the mind such as fictional books or years that do not exist apart from an imaginary world.

13. FREE ASSOCIATION
The mind is allowed to roam over broad territory by linking one word, idea or a concept with another in a chain. It can be a highly focused activity or a general way of explaining alternatives

14. CHECKLISTS
These ensure that we look at the problem or situation more systematically. They work best for straightforward situations.

15, ROLE PLAYING
Fresh insights are often gained into existing situations. It works well when trying to identify new alternatives. It helps you gain people’s commitment to decisions and triggering new thinking

16. DRAWING
It helps us get in touch with a part of our brain that may not actually have a chance to contribute to a decision.

17. METAPHORS, ANALYSIS AND IMAGES
These can redefine the problem or decision. For example, seeing a company’s takeover attempt as an “attack” may provide powerful new insights into choices before you.

18. SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis is an effective way of identifying one’s strength and weaknesses, and examine the opportunities and threats. To carry out a SWOT analysis, write down answers to following questions:

Strengths
What are your advantages? What do you do well ? Consider these from your own point of view and from those of others. Be realistic. If you have any difficulty, try writing down a list of your characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths.

Weaknesses
What could be improved? What is done badly? What should be avoided? Again, on the internal and external basis. Like, do other people perceive weaknesses that you don’t see? Do your competitors do any better? Be realistic so as to face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible

Opportunities
Where are the good chances facing you? What are the interesting trends? Useful opportunities can come from such things as : Changes in technologies in markets on both a broad and narrow scale; changes in government policy related to your field; changes in social patterns, population profiles, life-style changes, etc.

Threats
What are your obstacles? What are your rivals doing? Are the required specifications for your job, products or services changing? Is changing technology threatening your position? Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?

19. PMI
PMI - Plus/Minus/Interesting- is a valuable development conceived by Edward De Bono, of the “pros and cons” techniques used for centuries.

It is a basic decision making tool. When you face a difficult decision , simply draw a table titled “ PLUS”, “MINUS”, and “INTERESTING”. In the columns, underneath the “ Plus” heading, write down all the positive points of taking that action. Underneath the “Minus” heading, write down all the negative effects. And in the” interesting” column, write down the extended implications of taking that action, positive or negative. You may be able to make a decision just from the table you have drawn up.

20. CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS
It basically consists of writing down all the activities of a project; showing how these activities are related to each other; examine all parts of the project and analyze its constituent parts.

This helps you decide both what needs to be done and in what order. By viewing the interdependencies you can choose the most effective one.

The sequence of activities that completes the project in the least time is called the Critical Path. Any delay in completing the tasks on this path will cause the project to be delayed.

21. FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS
Based on the idea that we just need to leverage our reach with a given number of people (critical mass).

The assumption behind FFA:
At a given moment, any situation in an organization (a closed system) is in a brief state of equilibrium.

But since organizations comprise of humans (who are inherently volatile), they are in a continuous state of change. So, any equilibrium is not only short-lived, it is often illusory.

Two forces are always working the equilibrium, and one of these forces prevails over the other force for a while, thus creating a notion of status quo (as things are at the moment). The two forces in the organization which work on the equilibrium are:

1. Restraining Forces
E.g. Finance Managers who are not convinced about introducing a new product. Other restraining forces in this case are high development costs, inexperience of sales staff etc.

2. Driving Forces
E.g. Product development and Design people who are excited about a new product. Other driving forces are reduced profit margins, cash reserves, new marketing manager etc.

Using FFA, we can,
- Strengthen the driving forces for change.
- Weaken the restraining forces for change.
In critical mass, we do not need to alter all the driving and restraining forces. Just changing one or two driving or restraining force may be enough to break the impasse and bring change.

A change might mean:
- Achieving a new goal and creation of a new equilibrium.
- A return to the previous equilibrium.
- The eventual establishment of a new, unexpected equilibrium.
- Long-term destabilization.

HOW TO USE FFA
FFA focuses attention on the power of driving and restraining forces. FFA involves a mixture of defining the problem or situation, then reviewing the various forces to see how best to affect them. It is a seven-step process.

1. State the problem area
What do you want to achieve or change? State the situation as you see it, by defining the broad topic area. The problem must be a real one and important enough to be worth trying to solve. State the exact problem area that represents the present equilibrium – for example, sales of a particular product.

2. Define the situation
Define it in terms of the status quo you want to affect. For example, ‘we need to sell more units of Product A’. Try to state the exact nature of the change you want – for example, exactly how much more (in numbers) units of the said product should be sold. A problem well-defined is often a problem half solved. So spend time in specifying the quantifiable (usually).

3. Specify the new equilibrium
Describe the new equilibrium exactly as you see it – how the situation will look – like, sales of the product are 7000 units a month.

4. Analyze the forces
First create two separate lists of what you see as the restraining and driving forces. These lists may often require meetings and brainstorming. Then classify these two forces further into whether they are strong, medium or weak. This helps you decide where you are going to apply leverage to alter one of them.

Furthermore, you may need to break down a complicated force further to make it easier to decide what might be done about it.

If one of the restraining force for example, is that a new product is not selling enough, then you might break it down into parts such as – customers do not like the taste (if it is a food item); your distribution is not spread out yet; the pricing is not right; and, it needs better promotion.

We may divide these into:
A. Personal Forces: Ones that deal with attitudes, feelings, weaknesses, relationships, education, income etc.
B. Relationship Forces: Ones that deal with how different individuals and groups relate to one another, such as the organization and the government, the department and a customer, your team and other teams etc.
C. Systems Forces: Ones that form the organization’s environment, including political, social, legal, environmental and local conditions.

5. Devise a strategy
All you need to do is locate one force susceptible to your influence and always exploit to the full. Since you may not precisely know the strengths of the various forces and how will they respond to change, it is better to strengthen those driving forces that do not increase resistance to change, or to work on weakening restraining forces that do not result in an excessive reaction with highly unpredictable consequences.

If you are unsure about the relative importance of the various forces, the best strategy may be a mixture of weakening a restraining force and strengthening a driving force.

6. Develop an action plan
It should be detailed, consisting of some highly practical tasks where there is clarity about what is to be attempted and by whom.

Keep the various steps your action plan simple.

Go for small successes rather than one large one – it is an equilibrium we are talking about here (no future disruptions).

7. Establish a new equilibrium
As stated in Step 6, mostly try to stay clear of going for big successes –they may often create huge disruptions from which your organization may suffer – for example, sacking of long-serving marketing managers.

In case of these situations (when you are going for the big one), have a plan that deals with the fallouts.

And, there should be powerful restraining forces preventing the organizations from returning to the previous equilibrium – you must do your best to make your ‘chosen equilibrium state’ essential to the organization.
- FFA Guide adapted from Andrew Leigh's, 20 ways to manage better

Also Read Other Guides in Being Smarter Series
Be Creative
Keep your brain sharp
Be a genius

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