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If you’ve ever taken any type of math or physics class, you would know that instructors always require that you show your work in arriving at a solution. Back when I was an unknowing youngster, I always thought that showing your work was a waste of time as long as you arrived at the right solution. In the end, the solution is all that matters right? WRONG! The thought process that one goes through in solving a problem is just as important, or even more important than arriving at the correct solution. The techniques applied, assumptions made, and reasoning applied to solve problems are great indicators of how we will be able to handle other types of problems that are thrown at us. Here are my tips to make you better equipped at solving problems:

1. Determine the Root Cause - Solving a problem doesn’t always follow a linear guideline. Many times, the best way to solve a problem is to first determine the root cause. If we don’t know the root cause, we can’t even begin to solve the problem! Thus, to effectively solve a problem, we must know exactly what it is that we are trying to solve.

2. Eliminate the impossible - Identify all your constraints so that you can immediately rule out the impossible. Be careful on placing constraints that are not really there, as it can prematurely remove some viable solutions. You don’t want to lose the battle to end before it even begins.

3. Give it a Little Time - Usually when I’m faced with a tough problem, I like to make at least a preliminary attempt and take a quick stab at it. If nothing immediate develops, I move onto something else and let the problem process in the back of my mind. Within a couple of hours, I usually have a bunch of ideas that I want to try.

4. Keep an Open Mind - Some problems require a multidisciplinary approach to solve. For this reason, people with skill sets from two seemingly unrelated professions are very sought after. Take for instance, someone with an engineering degree and a law degree. Or someone with a medical degree and math degree. These types of people offer an eclectic range of knowledge that is quite rare, and therefore extremely valuable and highly sought after. Some of the greatest discoveries known to man never would have happened unless people kept an open mind and were prepared to applied their range of knowledge. Teflon is such an example.

5. Reverse Engineer - A personal favorite. Working backwards from a solution can be extremely helpful in understanding how a problem is solved. By reverse engineering, we get a better sense of “why” something occurs, which gives us valuable insight that we can apply to similar problems.Take for example, when a firm releases a new product. Competitors rush to pick up the new product and subsequently reverse engineer them. They pick apart the product, destroy it, dismantle it, and run grueling testing simulations on it just to gain a better understanding on the design and construction of the product. Doing this allows them to improve on their own product design.

6. Be Creative - This one is a little bit cliche, but it should not be underestimated. Thinking about a problem from a different angle or thinking outside the box is something that can be extremely useful and can lead to promising insights and remarkable solutions. Obviously, this is much easier said than done. But the use of unconventional and innovative strategies to solve problems have led to some great applications that we use everyday (e.g. BitTorrent!).

7. Brute Force It - If all else fails, the brute force method is your last stand. In this method, you sit at your desk and stare at the problem at hand until you solve it. If you’re lucky, the almighty light bulb may go off after some time. Not the best method, but it can be effective sometimes.

Those are my seven tips for developing a better Problem Solving Mentality, do you have any that you would like to share?