Quotes About Problem-solving

MATHEMATICIAN

Not knowing what else to try, she got out her heavy cast-iron skillet and banged it against the top of the rad in hopes of reviving the ageing pipes. The noise was deafening, vibrating through the room like a jet aircraft crashing through the sound barrier.

Besides, what would you do with the body, if you killed him? the logical side of my mind inquired. He wouldn't fit in the cupboard, let alone the hidey-hole.

Eighty percent of my job is to ask the question, 'If this were real, what would it look like?'

I'm an engineer by training.

I'm an engineer. I'm a techie, really.

What I like best is sitting in a room together with really smart engineers thinking about a problem.

One thing I really love doing is an escape room.

Author says her father was so diplomatic that when people came to him for solutions, people not only accepted them, but they believed they thought of them.

A Vulgar Mechanick can practice what he has been taught or seen done, but if he is in an error he knows not how to find it out and correct it, and if you put him out of his road he is at a stand. Whereas he that is able to reason nimbly and judiciously about figure, force, and motion, is never at rest till he gets over every rub. (from a letter dated 25 May, 1694)

Yeah, sex is cool, but have you tried solving the brachistochrone problem in a single night?

To get at the root of problems, a leader must develop into a skillful listener. Too many strong personalities are compulsive talkers. "He won't listen to me," complains a missionary. "He gives the answer before I have had a chance to state the problem.

If you would rather pick a fight than solve a problem, do not consider leading the church. The

No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element in thinking.

I eventually learned to correct behaviors by having my children recognize and name the problem themselves. Replace "Don't pull the dog's ears" with "Why is pulling the dog's ears a bad idea?" Very young kids can grapple with that, and you've required them to reason, not just to obey. Good practice.

Talk to boys in their language—in a way that honors their pride and their masculinity. Be direct with them; use them as consultants and problem solvers.

Students need to decide, 'All right, well, does the height matter? Does the side of it matter? Does the color of the valve matter? What matters here?' — such an underrepresented question in math curriculum.

In other words, Brazilian soccer is different from the rest of the world's because Brazil employs the sporting equivalent of a Link trainer. Futsal compresses soccer's essential skills into a small box; it places players inside the deep practice zone, making and correcting errors, constantly generating solutions to vivid problems.

Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they'll find a way to screw it up. Give a mediocre idea to a good team, and they'll find a way to make it better.

IDEO is one of the world's most respected design firms—the creator of everything from those fat-handled toothbrushes for kids to Apple Computer's first mouse to the Palm V. How do they do it? The secret would make an MBA squirm: Empathy. In the IDEO universe, great design doesn't begin with a cool drawing or a nifty gadget. It begins with a deep and empathic understanding of people.

Amabile and others have found that extrinsic rewards can be effective for algorithmic tasks—those that depend on following an existing formula to its logical conclusion. But for more right-brain undertakings—those that demand flexible problem-solving, inventiveness, or conceptual understanding—contingent rewards can be dangerous.

Lead with questions, not answers." "Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion." "Conduct autopsies, without blame." "Build 'red flag' mechanisms." In other words, make it easy for employees and customers to speak up when they identify a problem.

To reprise language from the previous chapter, the solution isn't algorithmic (following a set path) but heuristic (breaking from the path to discover a novel strategy).

Design in its simplest form is the activity of creating solutions. Design is something that everyone does every day.