Quotes About Problem-solving

With enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.

humans are bright enough to think our way out of the problems we think ourselves into.

If you installed something wrong, the system tried to find a way to work around your stupid mistake.

But sometimes it isn't the spells themselves that are important. It is the clever ways you use them.

But, luckily, he kept his wits and his purple crayon.

The next time we are tempted to admonish somebody, let's pull a five-dollar bill out of our pocket, look at Lincoln's picture on the bill, and ask, "How would Lincoln handle this problem if he had it?

There is a certain degree of satisfaction in having the courage to admit one's errors. It not only clears the air of guilt and defensiveness, but often helps solve the problem created by the error.

Isn't it profound the influence one is afforded—even the smallest among us—when affirmation comes clean off our tongue and clear from our hearts? All great progress and problem solving with others begins when at least one party is willing to place what is already good on the table. From there it is much easier to know where to begin and how to lead the interaction to a mutually beneficial end.

Visualize your solutions. Picture an answer to the problem. Then make the picture real.

I ask you for the time of day, you tell me how to build a clock!

There would be times when we'd rack our brains on a user interface problem, and think we'd considered every option, and he would go, Did you think of this? said Fadell. And then we'd all go, Holy Shit. He'd redefine the problem or approach, and our little problem would go away.

to let Jobs go, but Bushnell worked out a solution. "The smell and behavior wasn't an issue with

Detesto que la gente recurra a las presentaciones de diapositivas en lugar de pensar - recordaba Jobs -. La gente se enfrentaba a los problemas creando una presentación. Yo quería que se comprometieran, que discutieran los temas sentados a una mesa, en lugar de mostrarme un puñado de diapositivas. La gente que sabe de lo que está hablando no necesita Powerpoint

no formal design reviews, so there are no huge decision points. Instead, we can make the decisions fluid. Since we iterate every day and never have dumb-ass presentations, we don't run into major disagreements. On this day Ive was overseeing the creation of a new European power plug and connector for the Macintosh. Dozens of foam models, each with the tiniest variation, have been cast and painted for inspection. Some would find it odd that the head of design would fret

People would confront a problem by creating a presentation. I wanted them to engage, to hash things out at the table, rather than show a bunch of slides. People who know what they're talking about don't need PowerPoint.

At a meeting early in his tenure, Cook was told of a problem with one of Apple's Chinese suppliers. "This is really bad," he said. "Someone should be in China driving this.

to itself." Jobs went home early that day to mull over the problem, then called Ive

We had to learn their vocabularies in order to be able to run their problems. I could switch my vocabulary and speak highly technical for the programmers, and then tell the same things to the managers a few hours later but with a totally different vocabulary." Innovation requires articulation.

Throughout her life, she excelled at being able to translate scientific problems—such as those involving trajectories, fluid flows, explosions, and weather patterns—into mathematical equations and then into ordinary English. This talent helped to make her a good programmer.

Think about it; the quicktank is given a job most of us would laugh out of town. Build a sophisticated camera capable of full 3-D input and peripheral pickup, using only water and jelly. Build an eye.

Don't pole-vault over mouse truds - by the time you've discussed the many options available to you, the problem itself could have been long behind you had you simply disposed of those rodent droppings with a simple tissue and dumped them into the garbage!

Holly, I understand that you are upset because Gemma pulled down your ants, but why did you think pouring motor oil inside her backpack is the way to solve the problem?

Von Rundstedt) was not a man of great original thought nor an intellect, but never tried to conceal this. On the other hand, he had much commonsense, an ability to see both sides of an argument, and was possessed with clarity of thought, especially when it came to reducing a problem to its fundamental essentials quickly. He also had, at least until his later years, a capacity for hard work. - pg. 309-310

Acknowledge and own up to problems and people will trust you. That will be helpful the next time. If you blame somebody else or try to sugarcoat the problem, you may get away with it once. But everybody makes mistakes more than once, and any leeway you might gain from fudging it the first time will quickly disappear. Explain the situation, accept responsibility, fix it, move forward.