“The point is that there are challenges within techniques. When you differentiate in technique, you challenge yourself; you ask yourself the same question in a new way.”— William Hurt
ENIGMATOLOGY
Enigmatology is the study and science of puzzles. It spans various genres: math, situational, word, mechanical, spot-the-difference, and more. Even though humans have been solving puzzles for at least as long as recorded history, the only person with a degree in enigmatology is Will Shortz. Shortz put his degree to good use. Shortz published over one hundred puzzle books and has been the puzzle editor at the New York Times since 1993. By April 2021, Shortz had edited over 10,000 crossword puzzles.
What fascinates me about enigmatology is the way each puzzle tests our creativity in unique ways. It amuses me that life feels like a massive enigmatology puzzle, where Shortz has crafted a series of highly personalized, immersive challenges for each of us to solve. There are real-world puzzles we face every day. It can be creating a fresh melody for your next song or theme of your next painting, but it can also be deciding what you want to do for your spouse’s birthday or what you want to cook tonight for dinner. It’s even in the struggle of finding a new job or starting a new business. Luckily there’s a way to tactfully approach these creative challenges. Let’s explore how.
BRAINSTORMING
BBDO is the world’s most awarded advertising agency. Since 1891, BBDO built and pushed the stories behind infamous brands such as FedEx, AT&T, Visa, HP, GE, and many more. Alex Osborn was one of the five founders of BBDO and published several books on creative thinking. In his book How To Think Up, he presented the most popular creative problem-solving technique known today—brainstorming. BBDO’s most successful advertising campaigns utilized his new innovative theory.
Alex partnered with Sid Parnes to develop the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process, the first formalized process for brainstorming ideas from problem to solution. This process can guide your creative thinking. It can help you find innovative solutions to improve your products, creations, craft, or relationships.
THREE CORE PRINCIPLES
Creative Problem Solving has three core principles you must stick to throughout the process.
First, you have to separate divergent and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking is when you create ideas without judgment. Convergent thinking is when you evaluate ideas. The problem is that most people try to do this simultaneously. Instead of thinking of one idea at a time and analyzing each to see if it will work, think of all fifty ideas first and then go back and analyze them. Convergent thinking interrupts the flow of ideas. Do both of them deeply, but separately.