How to becomea better problem solver

- with OneNote and thinking tools Thomas Teepe

Problem Solving – some difficulties

● looking for a solution before having understood the problem

● thinking with no proper sense of direction● drowning in details● brainstorming yields either commonplace

ideas or overcreative nonsense

Sounds familiar?Let's try something better.

What is the basic idea?

To become better problem solvers, we combine 2 building blocks:

1. OneNote software– an electronic notebook

with v e r y flexible writing paper

2. problem solving tools– brainstorming– asking questions– and many others

What is OneNote? - Part 1 of 3

● OneNote is an electronic notebook● each notebook can be structured

in sections and pages– and even section groups and subpages

notebooks sections pages

Organizing Information in OneNote

What is OneNote? - Part 2 of 3

On every page, we can combine● text with outliner features● tables● drawings – freehand or with prefab elements● tags● screen snapshots● audio and video recordings

Organizing Information in OneNote

What is OneNote? - Part 3 of 3

● easy and powerful drag and drop– elements on the page

can be moved and rearranged

● clever text outlining– text with a hierarchic structure

can be folded and unfolded– … thus allowing changes

between overview and view on details

What are problem solving tools?

● a simple definition– a problem solving tool is everything

that might help to solve a problem

● some examples– brainstorming– asking questions– sleep over it

How to combine OneNote and tools

We use two areas in a OneNote notebook

● work pages– here we deal with a given problem

● tool pages– here we have collected and arranged tools

in advance– we can then use these tools on the

work pages

here are 5 tool examples

Asking Questions - Example 1 of 5

Using Tables – Example 2 of 5

Drawings – Example 3 of 5

Freehand writing – a screenshot from the internet

Reflections - Example 4 of 5

● thinking about what we do in problem solving is one of the most powerful tools

● with OneNote, we can simply add a small box for reflection beside the main material- and then add new insights

A General Framework - Example 5 of 5

● the previous examples dealt with more or less special aspects of problem solving

● here comes a general process

How to use these tools?

Here are some simple ideas

Before problem solving

● prime yourself to solve problemsby recapping useful tools from the tool pages

● arm yourself against common fallacies in problem solving

● use tools to motivate yourself

During problem solving

● if stuck, look for help and inspiration in the tool pages

● copy tools from the tool pages to the work pages

After problem solving

● what worked, what didn't - and why?● improve the tool pages

Some ideas for organizing the work pages

● use sections "Project A", "Project B" for larger projects

● use a section "Current work" for smaller topics

● use a section "Later" for storing ideas you want to examine later

● use pages and subpages

Some advantages of this method● using a structured approach

– e.g. with the IDEAL model● powerful help from the tool pages● very flexible

– for almost every age, level of expertise and domain

● organizing complex material is easy● using the structure that fits best

– text with outliner features– tables– drawings

● stimulus to think about problem solving tools

And now?

You can download a trial version of OneNote here.

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