When a client asks me to find a solution to a tough question, I use one of the following approaches, and often combine them.
- Go for a long walk: Going for a walk, in nature, with trees, is one of the best ways to find answers. For reasons I don’t understand, when the mind is at rest, the answer to a conundrum filters up to into the conscienceless, and the answer appears. I find my long walks with my dog very productive. I jot the answer down into a notebook or dictate it to my phone
- Build in time to think about the problem. Build in thinking time.
- Consult my case studies, process charts, and checklists. I have a pile of case studies, process charts and checklists on many of the obscure procedures I work on sitting in Evernote. Many a good answer will be laying in plain sight.
- Speak to someone who has gone through a similar issue. Asking someone who may know the solution because they have gone through something similar is often a good way to get to the right answer fast.
- Look at the precedents. The lawyer in me likes to at similar decisions and see what happened. The answer often reveals itself it.
- Sleep on it. This is the most powerful trick I know. I jot down on a notepad some ideas. I leave the noted and pencil on the bedside stand. And, I go to sleep. Invariably, I will wake up at 5 am with the answer, and I write it down, and try to go back to sleep. If you want to look at the science behind this see this piece.
- Have a note pad on you at all times. A solution will jump out when you least expect.
- Relaxation seems to be the key. Showers and baths seem good places for good ideas to appear out of the ether.
- Consult a bible like source of authority. The answer is often sitting there.