Exercise book of Real life problem Solving

Share to solve better

We talked about principle of sharing and increase of knowledge. Why did we bring in this concept in our problem solving series? 

What should knowledge increase result in? 

Naturally, increased knowledge creates new learning. Yes, that is the keyword we were searching for - learning. Unless you have strong learning ability, problem solving will be difficult for you.

When I was in high school, I remember doing endless series of Trigonometry or Algebra sums. The teacher showed how to solve a few sums and the books had more examples of worked out examples. I went through all such worked out examples as a routine. Next step was to work out the sums in the given exercise. That also I did. Could I memorize all those sums in totality? I had a gut feeling, memorizing will not work for maths, and sure enough when the exam time came, some of the sums in the question paper were familiar looking but somewhat different from what I had done.

I had gone through the two stages of 

1. Understanding the worked out sums, and
2. Actually doing the sums in the exercise

And automatically extracted and absorbed the patterns, techniques and methods of doing a sum on a topic in abstracted form. That was my inherent problem solving mechanism at work. By the above two activities supplemented by teacher's guidance, I had become in reality a problem solver in the sub-domain of the particular math topic (say algebra, geometry or trigonometry). 

The more my power of abstraction, the better would have been my chances in solving any type of math problem in the particular topic. My learning ability actually means a sum up of the inherent abilities of concept abstraction, concept linking, concept structure formation and so on. These are awkward terms to handle. So better we stick to the known word learning ability.

Difficulties in learning real life problem solving

Exercise book - real life problems

In real life problem solving, we face a number of difficulties,

a.     In maths, the syllabus is well defined and finite. In real life, problems are sometimes quite novel!

b.    In maths, you have a teacher, you have books and you have exams to consolidate your knowledge (no debate: the exams are as important to learning as the studies — same as life — no different). 

What about real life problems? Who can teach or guide you? The answer to this question is unexpected: your teacher of real life problem solving can only be yourself and everything around you. Basically you have to learn how to learn and solve problems by yourself. Don't believe me? Well, wait and see.

How can you get exercise books for real life problem solving?

What about problem books and exercises? Answer is disappointing: the book of real life problems is the book of life itself. Can you do anything about it?

Yes you can. By now you have become a part problem solver and so you would look into all possibilities, you won't be stopped at the first hurdle.  

First is easy. Start remembering past problems. Learn from the past. Try to write down the description and analysis of each such problem that you solved.

Any other possibilities? Look around. You have friends, you have family and you have acquaintances. If you involve yourself in solving others' problems, you get what you want: an exercise book of real life problems. 

With this exercise book, either you can observe and analyze, which is a passive approach, or you can try to participate in the problem solving process of others' problems yourself. The latter is a proactive approach and obviously is quite a powerful method to enhance your ability to solve real life problems.

The last but not the least is the exams, the tests. If you act as a decision analyst (or DA) in solving your or another person's problems, then the test will be in successful implementation of your analysis and recommendation, no less.

What are we trying to do here?

What we are trying to do here is: we are trying to expose you to the ideas that

1. Variety of real life problems are not limitless, most problems occur in a set of limited number of types.
2. Powerful problem solving armory resources exist to help you in solving your problems. You are not helpless. These resources have accumulated from many diverse disciplines and teachings of leading thinkers. If you don't believe in the value of the techniques, methods and approaches, at least give it a try and see the result. 
3. Once you absorb some idea of assured way of solving real life problems, a surprising change comes — you become confident and your inherent systematic problem solver comes into play. The more you go along this path, the more you become focused and thought aligned. 

There is no magic or high intelligence involved here — it is an attitude and approach towards a different way to face problems. And of course there must be a consuming curiosity to learn and help. Unless you are ready to help, how can you get the book of real life problem exercise to work on?

What would you decide?

What do you decide? Would you remain passive or choose the proactive path?

That again is your choice. Remember, life is making a series of choices. The path you choose will shape your future.

Principle of sharing comes into play in its full bloom if you take the proactive path. How so?

It happens this way:

In proactive involvement in other person's problem solving you share your most valuable assets — your intellect, your empathy and your time. Gains?

Gains will be: inevitable increase in power of problem solving for you and overall positive gains (which again reflects back to you) for others.

Choice is yours.

Read my other blogs on Innovative idea generation and its basic principles and Get smart, get innovative usingTRIZ