preface Problem solving is what I have been trying to do all my
adult life, using whatever type of knowledge appeared accessible and relevant to me... This is a book about
creative problem solving... For me, the term "problem" does not refer to the kind of prefabricated exercises
or puzzles with which educators continually confront students. It means real problems
p.9 A puzzle is a problem that one cannot solve because of a self-imposed constraint. Creativity
is shackled by self-imposed constraints. Therefore, the key to freeing it lies in developing an ability to identify such constraints
and deliberately removing them.
p.11 A problem, as I conceptualize it, has five types of component.
1. The one(s) faced with the problem, the decision maker(s)...
2. Those aspects of the problem situation the decision maker can control: the controllable variables...
3. Those aspects of the problem situation the decision maker cannot control but those which, together with
the controlled variables, can affect the outcome of his choice: the uncontrolled variables...
4. Constraints imposed from within or without on the possible values of the controlled and uncontrolled
variables...
5. The possible outcomes produced jointly by the decision maker's choice and the uncontrolled variables.
p.19 Problem solving, as we have seen, involves the selection of
one or more courses of action (means) in the pursuit of one or more objectives (ends). An objective is a desired
outcome. Knowing what our objectives are is clearly important in problem solving. If others are involved in our problem (and
they usually are), it is also important to understand how their objectives and ours are related.
p.19 Problems are of two types: those involving the destruction, removal, or containment of something
that is present but not desired, and those involving the acquisition or attainment of something that is absent but desired.
p.32 Idealized design is not all there is to either problem solving or planning, but it
is the best way I know of to open and stimulate the mind to creative activity. Furthermore, it is
the best way I know of finding out what one's objectives really are.
p.32 The solutions to most personal problems... affect others as well as the problem solver... It is necessary
to understand their objectives if one is to correctly anticipate their responses and, therefore, the consequences of a solution.
p.53 the greater the variety of backgrounds of the people who examine a problematic situation, the
greater variety of variables that will be considered as susceptible to control. From this derives the widely observed
problem-solving power of interdisciplinary teams.
p.62 look for something that is common to each failure and that is never present when there is a success.
p.111 The less we understand something, the more variables we require to explain it.
p.113 The way variables act may not be nearly as important as how they interact.
p.189 The wise problem solver constantly monitors solutions to past problems to be sure they are meeting
his expectations. If they are not, he finds out why and modifies them.
