On Feb 4, 2008 8:28 AM, Roberto Mello <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Feb 4, 2008 4:32 AM, William Attwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I imagine the answers to this question will be as varied as people > themselves. > > I agree they will likely be varied. I like to force myself to look at a problem in various ways. For me, that includes white-boarding it out, walking around, talking about it out loud to myself.
Once I've wrestled with the problem, I like to put it "down" mentally, and just stare at my notes, scraps of paper, napkins, the whiteboard, or whatever (funny how digital I am, these things all have to be physical, tangible...) Purposefully disengaging at times, and then re-engaging after intense diversions. This can be other work, leaving the office, or engaging in other roles in my life. Then I come back to it... but I have noticed that unless I change the circumstances of my location (could be as simple as time of day, intensity of light or light source, or how I am dressed) when considering the problem, I can often not escape the same conclusions about it. When I think I've got it, I like to explain it to someone--partly to hear the way the words come out of my mouth, and also to see if they get excited about it, engaged by it, or otherwise confused by it. If they can't explain it back to me, it still doesn't work... but it helps me get clear on it. Once I develop a vision that I can see, mentally, the feverish work of outlining, sketching and then filling/coloring in the solution begins. I often imagine myself like a painter, trying to tell a story with these words, images, code, charts or data. Sometimes, music helps. Sometimes it distracts. The fury, though, is to get it down. Captured. Physical and out of my mind. Here's a funny example. I have a Rubik's cube on my desk that I have not yet solved. I *could* solve it, but I like to leave it there, messed up. I am intrigued by watching the people who come through my office in what they do with it. Everyone notices it. Some pick it up with trepidation. Others work on it feverishly. Its also interesting to see how some people can talk with me while playing with it, while others have to focus on it completely. Still. trying. to. stutter. through. sentences. That is how I like to solve problems... like this Rubik's cube. Pick it up. Mess with it. Put it down. Look at it. Change it. Watch other people mess with it.... -- Robert Merrill 801-885-0400 (cell -- txt msgs are ok) www.utahtechjobs.com _______________________________________________ UPHPU mailing list [email protected] http://uphpu.org/mailman/listinfo/uphpu IRC: #uphpu on irc.freenode.net
