Quotes About Problem-solving

By asking a diagnostic question instead of continuing to encourage the unfolding of the client's story, you are taking charge of the direction of the conversation and should, therefore, consider whether or not this is desirable. The main issue is whether this steering is in the interest of actual problem-solving and helping, or simply indulging your curiosity in a way that may not be helpful.

Don't we all know how to ask questions? Of course we think we know how to ask, but we fail to notice how often even our questions are just another form of telling—rhetorical or just testing whether what we think is right. We are biased toward telling instead of asking because we live in a pragmatic, problem-solving culture in which knowing things and telling others what we know is valued.

Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.

Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.

The human mind has never invented a labor-saving machine equal to algebra.

You can avoid having ulcers by adapting to the situation: If you fall in the mud puddle, check your pockets for fish.

Multiplication is vexation,Division is as bad;The rule of three doth puzzle me,And practice drives me mad.

He was a "how" thinker, not an "if" thinker.

Debugging is anticipated with distaste, performed with reluctance, and bragged about forever.

There are two ways to write error-free programs. Only the third one works.

Mater artium necessitas [Necessity is the mother of invention].

The simple idea, then, is that feelings of pain and feelings of pleasure, from degrees of well-being to malaise and sickness, would have been the catalysts for the processes of questioning, understanding, and problem solving that most profoundly distinguish human minds from the minds of other living species.

Creative intelligence was the means by which mental images and behaviors were intentionally combined to provide novel solutions for the problems that humans diagnosed and to construct new worlds for the opportunities humans envisioned.

Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems.

One of my direct subordinates, one of my guys that worked for me, he would call me up or pull me aside with some major problem, some issue that was going on. And he'd say, 'Boss, we've got this, and that, and the other thing.' And I'd look at him and I'd say, 'Good.'

I could imagine actually being a scientist or a detective, but not a detective who puts his hands into gory, bloody things. But more like someone who figures things out. I like to figure things out.

I love doing the 'New York Times' crossword puzzle, even on the days I can't finish it.

Having served in the military, I know that militaries can stop a problem, but they can't fix a problem.

When you've worked in the same place for 13 years, when things go well, you know how to keep it going well. When things go bad, you know how to fix it. The biggest thing is that familiarity.

I'm incredibly boring and logical, so if I have a problem I will try and fix that problem.

I've fixed hard problems of all kinds, civil rights and business problems. It's the stuff I like to do, and I'm good at it, as a matter of fact... and I never left my conscience at the door.

I'm starting to feel like I can actually figure out how stuff works. I can actually pick stuff apart and have a chance of fixing it.

I try to look at problems very clearly and think, 'How do we get out of this? What will work? What will be the consequences for the people involved?'

It's always good to have a limit because it forces you to think about all the ways to get what you want.