Problem-Solving Hack: Look for a boost

Newton kept a Waste Book. It was a book where he stored important passages from the texts he read-- Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, the giants. Newton is known as the Father of Modern Science, but he himself said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

When we start to solve problems, we often begin with brainstorming rather than researching. It’s important to know the issue you are solving well, but also what measures have been successful in solving that issue already.

If you are looking to improve the educational opportunities for zero to three year olds, don’t start by coming up with a new program. Instead, survey those already working in the arena. Find out what they are already doing, what programs have been tried, what programs have failed. Talk to nurses, teachers, daycare owners, and parents. Learn from their collective intelligence.

The reason our species has survived and thrived is our ability to pass down information. So seek it out, ask good questions to the right people and you will discover how your talents, abilities, and connections can add to or improve the solutions that have already been started.

Go find the giants and stand on their shoulders.