Creative Problem Solving

The Entrepreneurial Process, one of Brown University’s highest-rated courses, has empowered thousands of students to start their own ventures. You might assume these ventures started because the founders were born entrepreneurs. You might assume that these folks had technical or finance degrees, or worked at fancy consulting firms, or had some other specialized knowledge. Yet that isn’t the case. Entrepreneurship is not a spirit or a gift. It is a process that anyone can learn, and that anyone can use to turn a problem into a solution with impact.

Unlock the secrets of effective problem-solving with "Mastering Technical Challenges," the essential guide for anyone looking to enhance their technical thinking abilities and programming skills. Delve into the Chain of Thought, a methodology that has revolutionized problem-solving for programmers and technologists alike. Begin your journey by exploring the history and significance of structured thought processes in programming. Learn the crucial elements of logical reasoning and critical thinking that are foundational to mastering complex challenges. Discover how to identify and overcome ...

We know that our minds are capable of great things because, every now and then, they come out with a brilliant idea or two. However, our minds are also unpredictable, spending large stretches of time idling or distracting themselves. This is a book about how to optimize these beautiful yet fitful instruments so that they can more regularly and generously produce the sort of insights and ideas we need to fulfill our potential and achieve the contentment we deserve.

Belonging brings out the best in everyone. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, community organizer, or leader of any sort, your group is unlikely to thrive if the individuals don’t feel welcomed, included, and valued for who they are. The good news is that you can use design to create feelings of inclusion in your organization: rituals that bring people together, spaces that promote calm, roles that create a sense of responsibility, systems that make people feel respected, and more.

When you have a great opportunity or face a challenging threat, Create the Future (CTF) gives you the tools you and your leadership team will use for making critical decisions without a hefty price tag. Rick Williams has been a management consultant, company founder, and CEO. He has worked with large international companies, nonprofits, early-stage growth companies, and large government agencies. Drawing on his broad expertise and first-hand observations of top executives in action, Create the Future is the essential guidebook for leaders when they must make difficult decisions.

Feeling overwhelmed by endless tasks and scattered thoughts? The Mind Map Manual: Brain on Fire! is your ultimate guide to mastering mind mapping—a powerful tool to organize your ideas, spark creativity, and achieve your goals. This book isn’t just about learning a skill; it’s about transforming how you you think and work. Whether you’re a student aiming for academic success, a professional juggling multiple projects, or someone who simply wants a clearer, sharper mind, this manual will help you unlock the genius within. What’s Inside? Visual Thinking Made Easy: Learn how to break...

***FINALIST - BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 2023*** ‘A really powerful book.’ - Bruce Daisley Simple tools, extraordinary results. Everything we’re learning about how we function best as humans in the digital age is pointing towards one of our oldest technologies: the pen and the page. Exploratory writing – writing for ourselves, not for others, writing when we don’t know exactly what it is we want to say – is one of the most powerful and lightweight thinking tools we have at our disposal. It’s also been, until now, one of the most overlooked. But the world’s most influential leaders...

Too many people associate creativity solely with the arts, even though to be an incredible scientist, engineer, or entrepreneur requires immense creativity. Combining creativity tools and techniques with real-world stories of innovative people and businesses, this audiobook is a provocation, an inspiration, and an invitation to unleash the innate creativity that lies within each of us. It offers a more dynamic and integrative way to adapt and innovate, one that allows us the freedom to access our full human selves.

How do you blow up your company's growth? Start with high quality training. Follow that up with thoughtful coaching by managers who refuse to rescue and value learning experiences. Implementing this proven algorithm creates a thinking company that generates exponential growth. Author Jill Young shares her vast experience in helping entrepreneurs discover and celebrate the creation of thinkers in their company, identify gaps in their system, and close those gaps.

Do you ever sense that you're not using your mind to its fullest potential? Being "stuck" means your brain is repeating the same neurological firing patterns again and again. It happens in business, relationships, personal goals, and mental health, over and over.

Are you new to TRIZ and looking for an easy-to-follow guide on how you can use it to enhance your company's creativity, innovation, and problem-solving abilities? Look no further! Written in plain English and packed with tons of accessible and easy-to-follow instruction, TRIZ for Dummies shows you how to use this powerful toolkit to discover all the ways of solving a problem, uncover new concepts, and identify previously unseen routes for new product development.

We have more choices than we realize. In fact, according to positive psychology expert Tal Ben-Shahar, our entire life is made of choices, large and small. It is what we choose moment by moment and day by day - to do, to feel, to experience - that determines how happy and fulfilled we are. Every moment, then, is an opportunity to make a choice that will bring us greater happiness. Ben- Shahar presents 100 such opportunities, some simple, such as whether to frown or smile; others complex....

Unlock the power of critical thinking with Critical Thinking 101, a practical guide designed to enhance your reasoning skills, problem-solving abilities, and decision-making processes. Whether you're a student, professional, or lifelong learner, this book will help you think logically and independently in today's fast-paced world.

"Creativity on Demand: Think out of the Box, Generate Ideas on Demand, Overcome Creativity Blocks & Build a Culture of Innovation" by Purnima Banerjee is a crash course on creativity, an essential guide for anyone looking to unlock their creative potential and enhance their problem-solving skills. This comprehensive book covers every aspect of the creative process, from understanding the science behind creativity to implementing and testing innovative ideas. With practical exercises, real-world examples, and proven techniques, readers will find themselves equipped with the tools necessary ...

Do games hold the secret to better productivity? If you’ve ever found yourself engrossed in Angry Birds, Call of Duty, or a plain old crossword puzzle when you should have been doing something more productive, you know how easily games hold our attention. Hardcore gamers have spent the equivalent of 5.93 million years playing World of Warcraft while the world collectively devotes about 5 million hours per day to Angry Birds. A colossal waste of time? Perhaps. But what if and use it for more creative and valuable pursuits?

Nearly all of today’s major innovation workshops and programs call on organizations to drive innovation. What they miss is that innovation comes from the personal creativity of individuals. And creativity doesn’t require an advanced education or technical skills. All employees can be creative. Often, all they lack is a fitting mindset and the right skills.

In a world increasingly ruled by numbers and algorithms, award-winning journalist Chris Jones makes a compelling case for a more personal approach to analytical thinking​. The Eye Test is a necessary course correction, a call for a more balanced, personal approach to problem-solving. Award-winning journalist Chris Jones makes the case for the human element - for what smart, practiced, devoted people can bring to situations that have proved resistant to analytics.

Apply systems thinking in your problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning without the need to become a technical professional. Think in Systems is a concise information manual offering high-level problem-solving methods for personal and global issues. The guide presents the main features of systems thinking in an understandable and everyday manner, helping you to develop this skill top analysts and world leaders use.

The creative mode in your brain is like a butterfly. It's beautiful and erratic, hard to catch, and highly valued as a result. If you want to capture it, you need a net. Enter the executive mode, the task-oriented network in your brain that helps you tie your shoes, run a meeting, or pitch a client. To succeed, you need both modes to work together - your inner butterfly to be active and free, but your inner net to be ready to spring at the right time and create that "aha!" moment. But is there any way to trigger these insights, beyond dumb luck?

Start with the Vision introduces a powerful planning process called the six-step process that will help any person or team navigate change, create solutions, and develop an actionable plan. A person can take any challenge or opportunity and use the six-step process to create a clear path forward. When challenges arise, most people start with the problem, which is the exact wrong place to start. Instead, the six-step process will shift the focus away from the problem to the best starting point – the vision!