Albert Einstein was a pretty smart guy. And even he knew that ‘problems that are created by our current level of thinking can’t be solved by that same level of thinking’.
So if you’re stuck on something, don’t use the same techniques to solve the problem.
Action – Try one of these strategies instead:
Email five trusted friends or colleagues explaining the problem. Be open to their perspective.
Brainstorm with a group of people for 20 minutes.
Rewrite the problem as if it were a short story about someone else. See how your imagination finds an ending.
Choose random words from the dictionary to spark new ideas.
Change your attitude from ‘this is a problem’ to ‘this is an opportunity’ and see what happens.
And finally, write out your problem as if you were explaining it to a five year old child. You might be surprised at what you discover.