Download The Art and Science of Breakthrough Thinking

The Art and Science of Breakthrough Thinking
BT is an art and a craft fueled by an inquiring spirit and an abundant experience
1. Problems and Problem Solving Theories
1.1. Types of problems
well-structured (mathematical)
ill-structured (everyday problems)
1.2. Problem-solving theories
1.2.1. Gestalt theory
Productive problem-solving – involves insight into the solution
Reproductive problem solving – involves applying a known algorithm
1.2.2. Problem solving through information processing –
involves search in the problem space
(initial state, goal state, operators)
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State space search - search for a path from the initial state to the goal state
Means-Ends analysis - reduce the difference between the goal and the initial state
Problem decomposition
Problem transformation, e.g. Divide-and-conquer
Rule-based problem solving - deductive approach
Analogy-based problem solving - inductive approach
2. Creative Problem Solving
(1) Where do the insights come from?
(2) Can we articulate specific obstacles to creative problem solving?
Relying on past experience can often hide the path to success, and results in failure.
Mindlessness and Mindfulness : Ellen J. Langer, Psychology professor at Harvard
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Mindlessness : automatic behavior resulting from doing actions repeatedly;
sticking to a theory or to a model and being incapable of seeing other alternatives
and keeping a fixed view of the world in general.
Mindlessness may develop as a result of rigid education.
Professors teach students the "correct" way to do things, and with this they implicitly
imply that there is no other way to do things. Students, concerned mainly with the
question "what does the professor want from us?" don't even attempt to think
differently, and many of them completely block out any creative thought that might
occasionally come to them.
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Mindfulness : a way to view the world in its variety and in its interconnectedness.
A mindful perspective to problem solving is the ability to approach the problem
form different angles, to see long-distance relations between the given problem
and other problems, and other situations in general.
3. How to Develop Mindfulness
read, think, enrich your experiences, develop cognitive skills
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Imagination (creative writing, drawing)
Vision – be able to notice details
Reasoning by analogy
Combinatorial thinking
Causal thinking, based on logic.
Multidimensional thinking
4. The Theory behind Breakthrough Thinking
Inventions:
Incremental
Transformative
Breakthrough thinking relates to problems that resist "sequential" reasoning, i.e. cannot be solved
by incremental improvements of previous solutions.
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A cognitive snap is needed to overcome the resistance.
The cognitive snap is triggered by a precipitating event
Unexpected external circumstances provide the precipitating event
The "lucking out" concerns the chance to be in such an event, and to make use of it.
Chance favors the prepared mind
A fivefold structure of transformative inventions
Long search
Little apparent progress
Precipitating event
Cognitive snap
Transformation
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Long search
Exploring possibilities - state space search.
Problem casting:
Initial state
Final state(s)
Intermediate states
Operators applied to states
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State space is represented as a graph.
We search for a path from the initial state to a final state.
Search strategies:
Depth-first
Breadth-first
Mixed strategies, involving heuristics
The theory of search in state spaces is developed in Artificial Intelligence (AI), applied to solve AI
problems.
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Little apparent progress
Possible causes:
stuck in irrelevant assumptions (e.g. 7 children, half boys)
trapped in the oasis of false promises (e.g. using approaches that have worked in another
context)
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Precipitating event, Cognitive snap, Transformation
Search for answers depends on frame of reference, point of view, background, assumptions
How to luck up
Brain storming
Theme variations
Purpose:
Move boundaries
Reframe the problem
Remove unnecessary assumptions
Example: Einstein removed the presumed constancy of time.
When to reframe:
1. Reframe when stuck.
2. Reframe upon novelty - new properties of the problem emerge
3. Reframe upon overload
How to reframe
Use analogies, seek new ways of looking at the problem
Chance favors the prepared mind
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