How do you solve hard intellectual problems? What's your method?

I think the basic framework doesn't differ much between people, but concrete steps and methods do. You need to have some idea what problem are you solving, but sometimes during research and analysis you realize that problem is somewhere else. 1️⃣ I research what other people did and I try to understand problem better. I organize collected information in OrgPad. 2️⃣ I analyze collected information and rephrase the problem. I look for connections, identify important parts and try to simplify it. I like to discuss it. For me writing and discussing are important part of the thinking. 3️⃣ If I'm stucked, I take a break and go for a walk or do something else. Then I go back to the problem. If this doesn't help, I'll try to find somebody more experienced. I have all information about the problem and a plan for solving it in one document.

🤷‍♀️ I starting to read. Analytics, cases, researches, solutions, problematic itself. Next stage: discussion, that helps to deeply understand the problem. If you can't explain "what's wrong" to non-expert, you don't catch the whole problem, or you using too specific point-of-view. Next steps depend on what you get after first one's :)

First of all, I always open the Internet. I read articles with similar problems and write out the main points. I also try to understand all the background of the problem. Thus, I can understand possible solutions. If it doesn't work, I ask for advice from experts.

happiness