At work we're paid to solve problems. Unfortunately, the problem-solving techniques taught in school aren't adequate for the fast-paced, changing world we live in. The results are less than adequate decisions, staying with the status quo, doing what's easy .... Understandably, the results in our lives are frustration, anger, stress, sickness, and devastated office morale.

    * What helped Einstein break past the barriers of conformity and craft innovative solutions to his problems?

    * How did he manage to be so productive?

    * How did he come up with the ideas that turned the foundations of science on end?

    * How can I capture some of that genius and apply it to my own life?

The answer is to be absurd!

Be Stupid

Einstein's genius was that he not only thought out of the box, he threw away ALL boxes with little regard to what others would think of him! He said that in order to think creatively, you first had to think of ideas that turned convention on its head.

So, grab Einstein's courage and work against the grain!

Instead of taking the best ideas and implementing them, take the stupidest ideas you ever heard, and use them to turn your workplace upside down.

What you do is plan a brainstorming session - but suggest that people throw in some totally off the wall, ridiculous ideas just for fun. Suggest to people that as a brain-energizer and warm-up, you are going to first have some fun dealing with the 'stupid' ideas and then move on the better ones.

Take a vote as to which three ideas are the stupidest ideas of all. Then one by one, take those stupid ideas and use them to generate ideas that are workable!

You'll be surprised by both how innovative and do-able the ideas are! In fact, your group may be so taken with these 'stupid' ideas that they never get around to looking at the good ones!

Perhaps your new workplace motto will be, "Come on, give me a STUPID answer!"

Break the rules!

Einstein challenged and broke the scientific paradigms of the day. Always a rule breaker, Einstein questioned the mentality behind: "But that's the way we do it," "Everyone knows that!" "But that's the way we've always done it."

When we accept a rule, we don't even bother to look past it. It's like radio salespeople who believed that you couldn't sell radio ads in a certain month - until a new employee who didn't know that went out and sold more ads in that one month that all the other salespeople put together!

Go ahead, break the rules....

One way to break the rules when problem-solving is to list your assumptions and then systematically break them.

    * List all the assumptions or 'rules' associated with the problem.

    * Break each assumption.

    * Use the broken assumptions to come up with new ideas.

For example, let's look at bookmarks. The assumptions may be:

    * They are made of paper.

    * They are approximately 1.5 inches by 6.5 inches.

    * They fit into a book lengthwise.

    * They should be used as a marketing tool.

    * They have words printed on them.

Instead of making one of paper, you could make one of wood, or fabric, or metal, or plastic, or a picture frame, or a paper clip .... Instead of having words printed on a bookmark, it could have images only, or one of those computer chips that talks or makes a sound, or ....

Sound too unbelievable? At some of the Shaker Villages, one of the best sellers are wooden bookmarks!

Get the idea?

Ask the RIGHT Question

Albert Einstein, like da Vinci, believed that before you can solve the problem, you have to figure out WHAT the problem is. Unfortunately, we usually jump right into problem-solving mode before we ask ourselves if we know what the right question is. Instead of solving the right question, we're solving a question that doesn't address the real problem. As a result, our hard work is often just a bandaid solution, never getting to the root of the problem, or creating even more problems through its implementation!

Michael Michalko, noted creativity expert, states: "For every word a person uses, psychologists say there is a mediating response that provides the meaning of that concept for that individual....When you change the words in your problem statement, you initiate an unobservable process in your mind that may lead to a new thought or idea."

What you want to do is what Einstein did - ask as many questions as possible. Here's how to do it:

    * Write down the problem you are trying to solve.

    * Reword it in as many other ways as possible.

    * Try solving the reworded question.

For example, in a Creative Time Management Workshop I recently facilitated, I had the participants look at the question, "How can I be more productive?"

They reworded the question as:

    * How can I focus better?

    * How can I do things more effectively?

    * How can I do more of what I like?

    * How can I do more of what gets rewarded?

    * How can I make sure I'm meeting the organizational goals with the work I'm doing?

    * How can I find someone who likes doing the stuff I hate doing?

    * How can I handle the stress of deadlines better?

    * How can I get other people to meet the deadlines they say they are going to so that I can then meet my own deadlines?

As you can see, the answers to each of the above questions would be TOTALLY different. So make sure that you're answering the RIGHT question the next time you have a problem that needs a solution!

Jean V. Dickson is a Canadian-based entrepreneur who puts creativity's ZING into training and corporate communications. For more information on creativity and innovation, visit http://www.jvdcreativity.com and http://www.experientialexercises.com To jazz up your corporate Powerpoint presentations, visit The Powerpoint Joint at http://www.powerpointjoint.com

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