Recently I was at work and put the students to the test on a problem: fix the traffic crisis. I showed them the above video and they came up with some interesting answers. Think about these:

1. airlifting
2. underground train station
3. tunnel
4. eliminate the need for travel – complex for everything
5. encourage other alternatives
6. changing the way we work

My personal favourite with the complex for everything. This idea was that work/home/everything else should be centralised to local community. Sure it’s a bit Orwellian but I really like the idea of working near home. So what does this have to do with lateral thinking?

Lateral Thinking

The most common definition for lateral thinking is ‘thinking outside the box’. What precisely does that mean? Well I think to think about it this way. There is a logical box in which we contain all maps of the world. When we come to solve problems we often look at the issue through out preconceptions of the world. These issues prevent us from seeing non-linear solutions to a problem that lies outside the area we are focusing on.

To that end the word ‘lateral’ really means ’sideways’. So for me I like to think about lateral thinking as ’sideways’ thinking. It requires a mental shift to a sideways issue that isn’t immediately obvious. It means moving outside the ‘logic box’ and into a new way of thinking that at first seems unrelated. As you move sideways you begin to see the ‘lateral’ pattern emerge and you make better judgements from this new perspective. Once you are there you can see the connection but you have to move llaterally in order to achieve this.

How does lateral thinking actually work?

It works by you moving sideways in your thought. It means moving outside the system of your thought to a position that is presently unrelated. In the traffic crisis example, if you kept building bigger roads it would mean not picking a solution that is NOT related to roads specifically. It might be something like: staggering work hours, changing where people work or rewarding employees for working from home (for example). That’s lateral because it asks the question: what’s the cause of the problem… and how can we change that so that the problem no longer occurs. That’s lateral thinking.

One of the key things to remember when you engage in this form of thinking is to be aware of what you think the problem is. Whatever you take the problem to be… you take the solution to be… the two are inseparable. In lateral thinking you have the power to ask: what could we do if we could do anything and begin to explore ‘outside the logic box’ solutions. Sadly, I don’t see enough of this in places I venture. It’s much the same crap remulched over and over and over again. Why not dare to be different and begin to think creatively?

Why don’t you give it a go?

Hello everybody.  That’s right I have made 200 posts on this blog and I am still going.   So far I have written 140988 words and counting.  That’s a lot isn’t it?   I thought I would celebrate this milestone by thanking my readers.  Thank you for giving me a life outside of my job and giving me the confidence to know that I can actually write something meaningful other than long academic words.   So what’s coming up on my problem solving blog?  There are a lot of exciting things coming up and one that I am going to launch in the next little while for people who are serious about developing as a person.   I have some great ideas to take this blog from 8,000 people a month stage to a much higher level.  Remember though it’s not the size of the boat… it’s the motion in the ocean!

I began this blog with 0 subscribers and 0 readers.  Today I have 40 subscribers and over 8,000 people a month who read what I write.  Hey I’m not problogger but I can say this… I really enjoy blogging. Do you realise that it’s probably around 100 times the amount of people who have ever read my journal papers or conference work!  I have been in a crowd of over 1,000 and thought that was overwhelming.  One time I lectured to 500.  That was a lot of people… and they didn’t even want to be there!  Although I can’t see all of your faces, I want to say thanks for stopping by.

Of course, this is only the beginning and like I always say… the best is yet to come.

With Love.

Luke.

As the society has become more individualist and less community driven we have seen the mass introduction of suburbs. This is not a recent trend… it’s been happening since the 40’s and 50’s. One of the most annoying side-effects of the increased decentralisation of society are neighbours. These are the people that we in the city are forced to live next to. In my many years of renting I have seen it all. So here are my tips on how you can know your neighbours are evil.

tip # 1 - You never see them…EVIL!

Years ago I lived in a house in sunny Kawana Waters. It was fantastic. The people next door, God bless them, where just strange. They never said hello, never feigned a smile or a wave, they just where always inside. Like the penguin says, ’smile and wave boys, smile and wave.’ The first time I spoke to the man was when I was leaving. He asked if the house was for sale. I said no and he walked off without saying another word… in short EVIL! The neighbour that never says even the smallest word to you … not even out of courtesy is evil.

tip # 2 - If a neighbour trims your trees… EVIL!

I have had a neighbour who came into my yard and said, ‘I just want to trim some of my trees that are overhanging,’ only to have them begin to cut down my plants! Now I am all for letting people do my work for me (I am not a workaholic - thank you very much) but cutting down my trees? I felt like slapping that person and I don’t even garden! If a neighbour comes into your yard to trim your trees - they are EVIL!

tip # 3 - If your neighbour lets his dog eat your cat…EVIL!

My wife had this beautiful Persian called, ‘Terry’ who she had since she was a kid. One day the dog next door attacked the cat and left it in a critical condition. The neighbour at the time thought nothing of it and never paid a single bill towards the vet treatment that ultimately failed to save the cat’s life. That was the second cat the dog had eaten as well. Can I suggest if you have a bullish ‘macho’ neighbour who doesn’t take care of his pets properly that you do what my uncle does when he has problems with his neighbour? He sits on the back deck polishing his gun. Put down your rocks I am joking.

tip #4 - When your neighbours party until 1am then stop and start again at 3pm…EVIL!

In my 31 years I have lived in a lot of places. More than I would care to remember. I once lived upstairs in a two story apartment complex in Mooloolaba in the 80’s. Every Saturday they would get on the sauce and belt out rock music much to the chagrin of my parents. Eventually they left and peace was restored. Our lease was cancelled by the owner soon after and we moved to a new house in Mountain Creek. So guess who was living next door to us? THE EXACT SAME PEOPLE! Needless to say, we didn’t stay there very long. If you neighbours constantly party without considering people around them… they’re evil!

tip #5 - When your neighbour gets on the phone to her friends in the US at talks at the top of her lungs … EVIL!

One time I was living in a townhouse with my wife and two chihuahuas. We had a string of neighbours, one who died whilst mowing the lawn and the other who often vocally ‘pleasured’ her man friends on the front deck… both right outside our bedroom window. They were happy times. Oh yes and the neighbour before that died as well. I used to call it the townhouse of death. But I digress. The woman that lived there after the screamer used to talk to her friends in the United States really REALLY loud at 3am in the morning. This was despite me slamming the window and let out hints like saying, ‘I wish she would shut up.’ The thing is, if you live in an apartment and you begin to talk to people on the phone at 3am keep it down. If you don’t then you are evil.

tip #6 - If your neighbour rakes her lawn and throws the leaves in your yard…

When I am phone I like to walk. I have a cool portable phone so I walk outside, around the yard and so on. One day when I was on the phone talking to a friend of mine, I walked outside. What did I see? I saw a giant frickin’ pile of palm fronds the neighbour had generously donated to me over the fence. If you are reading this (probably not) up yours! I may be a renter but what gives you the right to dump your crap in my yard? I would suggest two courses of action. 1. Throw it back or number 2. Turn the other cheek. I am not mature enough to try number 2 yet though my wife is. Thank God she is not evil.

tip #7 - When you neighbours are involved in drugs…

I once lived in East Brisbane in an apartment complex. One morning I heard a knock at the door and I was surprised because I don’t have any friends! I open up and there are the two Australian Federal Police waving their guns and badges in my face. They showed me a warrant and then came into my house and raided it. My draws were emptied and the place ransacked. I was wondering why was this happening? I wasn’t on drugs (at the time - been clean for years) so I thought what the hell is going on. Then he checked his warrant. Oops it was my neighbour! I politely told them to get out of my flat and thanked them kindly for intruding on my personal liberties without my prior consent or permission and showed them the door. At least that’s the way I would like to remember it. The funniest part of this whole story is that the cops in question found a toy gun and looked at me and said, ‘you’re bloody lucky it’s a toy gun.’ I will not repeat what I said to the cops except to say this… if your neighbours are involved in drugs, crime or anything suss they are evil. Make sure you get the cops who WILL eventually come to collect them to double check the warrant. To be fair to the cops - I have made worse mistakes. But you will have to read my other posts to learn about that.

In the final analysis you can’t really know when you move in that your neighbours will be the spawn of the dark one. My guess is that you find out a month or so into living there. This however is hard to determine in advance. You may be fortunate like me and have great neighbours. They are lovely in my new place. I can’t complain. I have seen the odd police car and sure there have been parties. But they are a few doors down… just out of shouting distance. If you are stuck with evil neighbours the one thing you can take comfort with is this… so are thousands of other people!

I am watching the Australian version of so you think you can dance and a thought occurred to me.  A lot of people settle for dreams that people feed them.  I think you should not settle for what other people want from you.  Look inside your own heart and follow that.  Don’t settle for somebody else’s missed opportunity.  So many people live a life where they think they are doing things to please other people.  This is not a healthy way to live. Build your own dreams… don’t settle for those which come from others.

I recently logged into my facebook account for the first time in a long time.  I was fidgeting around trying to make sense of it (like always… they need a design team to look at it… seriously!).  I noticed I had been given a friend for sale at the premium value of $100!  This got me thinking… what is my life really worth?  Can I quantify it?

Of course I can quantify it.  My net worth is probably around the low 5s.  I will let you work out how many zeros (if any) to place after that.  More to the point, if I had to put a value on myself as a commodity you bet your bottom dollar I would be putting on a lot more than $100!  My life and yours cannot be quantified.   The question for me was: How much am I worth?

I am worth something.  To society it’s one thing, to friends and enemies it’s something else entirely.  Once I was unfortunate enough to get pneumonia.  For a spell I couldn’t breathe.  It wasn’t until my breath was gone that I really thought about how nice it was to breathe.  Air is GOOD!  So here’s what I think life is worth… one more day.   Each new day is yet another chance to do something great for God, my family and the people I love.

Life is not worth money… it’s time that’s the value adder.  The more time you get the better life will be IF each and every day you are building, growing and making the best of it.  You may be worth $100 like me or less (depends who you ask) but tomorrow you may be worth $1000.  Life is worth what you think it is… I can assure you … it’s worth a lot more than most people think.

99 ways to solve a problem? When I wrote this a while ago I got to thinking about the different stuff I have read over the last few years and it hit me. BY GOD there are so many different ways to solve problems.  I sat down for about ten minutes and wrote down a list of problem solving techniques which I thought covered the basics.  You know what, there were many more.  Onward problem solvers.

Ok cheese aside, here is a list of 99 problem solving techniques:

1. resolving it
2. absolving (doing nothing)
3. dissolving it
4. solving another problem
5. shifting the boundary
6. changing your mind
7. mediation
8. mathematical modelling
9. using a decision support tool
10. flip a coin
11. use the ‘decision maker’
12. Ask a friend
13. Do the first thing you write down
14. Use a method
15. Use a methodology
16. Pin the tail on the donkey
17. Dartboard approach
18. Challenge assumptions
19. Work backwards from the answer
20. Use modelling tools like Visio or Freemind
21. Use mind mapping
22. Use cognitive mapping
23. Look at the problem sequentially
24. Look at the problem non-sequentially
25. Use comparison
26. Use metaphors
27. Build diagrams of the problem
28. Play the devil’s advocate
29. Ask someone who knows nothing about the problem
30. Ask an expert
31. Use your imagination to see what it would be like if the problem was solved
32. Visualise the problem
33. Visualise the answer
34. Use simulation
35. Use What if analysis
36. Use the ‘sherlock holmes’ approach
37. Conjecture first approach
38. Use an analogy
39. Reframe the problem
40. Try something, take notes, try again
41. Cost Benefit Analysis
42. Consider the opportunity cost
43. Apply a statistical model
44. Act it out
45. Use the dialectic
46. Use systems thinking
47. Make a concept of the problem
48. Use a known theory
49. Model the causes
50. Remodel the causes
51. Read a book that answers the problem
52. Find a lateral solution
53. Go back in time
54. Consider multiple levels of causality
55. Use forecasting
56. Change the way you engage the problem
57. Collaborate
58. Think of the problem as a opportunity
59. Use Irony
60. Create an epistemology map
61. Use dialogue mapping
62. Brainstorming
63. Appreciative inquiry
64. Idealised redesign
65. creative thinking
66. Critique
67. Speak out loud
68. Invoke the second loop of learning
69. Use the general problem solver
70. Combine different approaches
71. Use Idea networks
72. Satyagraha
73. Use contradictions
74. Use reflective thinking
75. Use Escapism
76. Argue
77. Be single minded
78. Be double minded
79. Be multiple minded
80. Use complexity science
81. Use problems structuring methods
82. Trial and error
83. Use a random object
84. Change the variables
85. Speculate
86. Make something up
87. Speculate ‘root’ causes
88. Map multiple narratives
89. Solve someone else’s problem
90. Think like a woman
91. Gamble
92. Bridge Building
93. Meditation
94. Negotiation
95. Create a revolution
96. Make multiple possible answers
97. Use faith
98. Read a blog post that solves the problem
99. Research

I could go on and on … given half the chance I will.  So whenever you are facing a problem remember there are many ways to solve it.   I have listed just 99 here… I am sure you can think of more.  Go ahead try it.

Problems, problems… we all have them. One of the most popular ideas in problem solving circles is that problem solving can be broken down into a set of steps. This is a foundational idea to problem solving and for some reason the most well known. If you do a google search for ‘problem solving‘ this will be in results in some form. Even though I have major reservations about what such heuristics can achieve… it’s still a major part of how we think about problems and is therefore quite helpful.

A Five Step Process to Problem Solving

The five steps are usually classified in terms of the ‘life-cycle’ concept. The steps are sometimes four or six or eight but the logic is always the same. So here we go the five step process to problem solving.

Step 1 - Define the problem

Through my research into problem solving I have come to the conclusion that this is an issue of perception. What we think the problem is, the problem is. What we think the problem isn’t… the problem isn’t and so on. However, a working definition of the problem helps us to frame possible solutions. It gives us a ‘best guess’ on what is a useful definition (shape and structure) of the problem so we can begin to move forward. The definition is what you think the problem is. You can always see different views of a problem by saying to yourself, ‘Well the problem is…[insert problem definition here]‘. That’s your definition of the problem. Remember seeking multiple points of view for the problem will result in a richer, more multidimensional definition.

Step 2 - Diagnose Causes

According to your ‘working definition’ you now have root causes of the problem in mind. Note: it’s diagnose ’causes’ not cause. This phase of the problem solving cycle leads us to look for what lies beneath our assumptions and conclusions of a problem to find the generative mechanisms that cause the problem. I believe these things are perceptual as I said in the first paragraph. An example of what I mean can be found in recent economic trends. The causes of the housing crisis are always defined as being economic. This is an example of a diagnosis. It’s from the 1+1=2 school of stupid thinking. In this step we are not looking for simple answers. We are looking for the structures that ’cause’ the problem to exist… either in the mind of the beholder or somewhere else. The important thing in this phase is to look at the definition and trace it back to what would cause that definition to be a problem in the first place. What is the root cause or causes of the problem? Finding the answer to this is the challenge of problem solving.

Step 3 - Diagnosing Solutions

A solution is the proposed answer to what the problem is defined to be. A good solution not only fixes the problem but shifts it so it cannot occur again. The misnomer with ’solutions’ is that there is always an answer to be found inside the system. In reality, the problem environment may be wider and require that the overall system (technical, political, social) be shifted to change things so the problem cannot recur. We are looking for ways to stop the cause from happening. At this level of the exercise we don’t require more information. We need the right way of seeing in order to find the way forward.

Step 4 - Choosing Solutions

After we have found solutions to implement from different alternatives you choose which ones you can try. This will depend on a variety of factors. Things like: political correctness, social competency, relevance, context and power. All of these things help and prevent many problems from being solved at the same time. Choosing the solution is not just a matter of the best choice… it’s a matter of the right choice. This means you pick the solution that’s best given the context and what is feasible or desirable. Some answers are great but the social context surrounding the problem won’t allow the kind of solution that would work. If the best solution was always available to be chosen then we would have world peace. Clearly we don’t so sometimes we are stuck with the one that is ‘right’ for the time.

Step 5 - Implementation and Reflection

The term implementation means when you put the solutions to work. There is a two part process involved in this: The action and the reflection. Here is where I have sort of led you up the garden path. You never really ‘finish’ with some problem solving activities. You try what works and if you get lucky and the stars align you have a once off solution. More times than not it’s a process of action, iteration and reflection. You find a part of the cause, you try a solution, you reflect, you learn, you try again. And on you go from there. As you learn about the problem, you learn more about the causes. The more you learn about the causes the more you see the possibilities of solving it and so on. The most important thing is to never promise anyone that you have ‘the answer’. I can tell you from eight years of studying this stuff… the sands of social context can shift in a second. A problem can be a solution by the end of the same day! Take caution in implementation… make sure you actually learn.

So there you have it… the linear 5 step process to problem solving. Sure, it’s not perfect. It does however, give us a firm foundation upon which we can reflect and learn about the reality of problem solving. One final word of caution… this isn’t a recipe or a ‘process’ that is to be followed by rote. It’s a guide as to what you can expect. Each situation you encounter is different. Always allow for different views, concepts and ideas. If you have to go back and start again do it.  Don’t stick to a plan that doesn’t work… stick with the context and go forward. Good luck problem solving!