Creative Problem Solving Methods For Engineers

How the Double Diamond method helped me think and design better at Microsoft: I wish I learned the Double Diamond design process earlier at Microsoft. The Double Diamond is a tool that can help more leaders solve problems better. Too many people run around with a hammer looking for a nail: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." -- Abraham Maslow And too many people brainstorm the solution, without even brainstorming the problem. The Double Diamond helps fix this. How? 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗 The Double Diamond is a design thinking approach with two diamonds: 1. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲: The first diamond represents the problem side. 2. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲: The second diamond represents the solution side. That right there helps. I had a manager early on at Microsoft that would run up and tell me I had to solve Y. But Y was a solution. I didn't even know what the problem was yet. Neither did he. Now when somebody brings me a "problem" to solve, I ask them: "Are we on the problem side or the solution side?" 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 + 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 The second aspect of the Double Diamond that I find useful is diverging and converging. When you are brainstorming and expanding you are diverging. You are diverging when you brainstorm the problem or the solution. When you are narrowing or contracting the range of options, you are converging. You are converging when you narrow the problem and narrow the solution. Now when someone brings me a "problem" to solve, I ask them: "Are we exploring the solution, or did you already have one in mind?" "Are we exploring the problem, or are you already set on the problem?" 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗠 𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘, 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚? It sounds simple, yet years at Microsoft taught me that even smart people can fall for traps. With the Double Diamond in mind, you have a simple approach to remind you to: 1.  𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 2.  𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 With the Double Diamond, you can quickly visually check: 1. 𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚? 2. 𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜? Sometimes all it takes is a quick check to remember where you are in the process. 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗚𝗘 Even better, the Double Diamond gives you a way to orient teams. It's rare to find everyone on the same page when it comes to solving problems. Some people are brainstorming the solution. Some are exploring the problem. Some are diverging, while others are converging. But if you use the Double Diamond you can at least check in and get people on the same page. This is where having a simple process can shine. #innovation #leadership #creativity  

I just finished reading Elon Musk’s biography by Walter Isaacson. The most interesting take away? Hard work is not the (only) reason for Elon’s success. There’s no doubt hard work has played a major role in him building 3 multibillion dollar companies in different industries, but there’s something else to it. Something even more important, which you can apply too. The missing link between innovative creativity and accelerated success, which has little to do with hard work. And everything to do with thinking, and how you think. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. Just like Musk, some of the most brilliant minds of all-time — Aristotle, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla — have used this framework for accelerated learning, solving difficult problems and creating great work in their lifetime. Let’s talk about how you can quickly use this genius problem solving method. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠? This is basically the practice of actively questioning every assumption you think you ‘know’ about a given problem or scenario — and then creating new knowledge and solutions from scratch. Forget solving your problems based on prior assumptions and ‘best practices’. Here’s how you can quickly use this in 3 simple steps recommended by Elon Musk himself. 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 1: 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 When next you’re faced with a familiar problem or challenge, start by writing down your current assumptions about them. 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 2: 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬. Fundamental principles = most basic truths or elements of anything. The best way to uncover these truths is to ask powerful questions. Here’s an example of how Elon Musk used this: Somebody could say, “Battery packs are really expensive and that’s just the way they will always be… Historically, it has cost $600 per kilowatt hour. With first principles, you say, “What are the material constituents of the batteries? What is the stock market value of the material constituents?” It’s got cobalt, nickel, aluminum, carbon, some polymers for separation and a seal can. Break that down on a material basis and say, “If we bought that on the London Metal Exchange what would each of those things cost?” The price comes down to $80 per kilowatt hour. 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 3: 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 Once you’ve identified and broken down your problems or assumptions into their most basic truths, you can begin to create new insightful solutions from scratch. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 “𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵.” First principles thinking is a powerful way to break away from following the crowd, think creatively, and come up with entirely new solutions to common problems.

A $12 prototype can make $50,000 of engineering analysis look ridiculous A team of engineers was stuck on a bearing failure analysis for six weeks. Vibration data, FFT analysis, metallurgy reports - they had everything except answers. The client kept asking for root cause and the engineers kept finding more variables to analyze. Temperature gradients, load distributions, contamination levels, manufacturing tolerances. Each analysis created more questions. Then the intern did something that made the engineers feel stupid. She 3D printed a transparent housing and filled it with clear oil so the engineers could actually see what was happening inside the bearing assembly. Took her four hours and $12 in materials. They watched the oil flow patterns and immediately saw the lubrication wasn't reaching the critical contact points. All their sophisticated analysis was based on assuming proper lubrication distribution. Wrong assumption. Six weeks of wasted effort. The visual prototype didn't just solve the problem - it changed how the engineers approach these types of investigations. Now they build crude mockups before diving into analysis rabbit holes. Cardboard, tape, clear plastic, whatever works. Physical models force you to confront your assumptions before you spend weeks analyzing the wrong thing. Sometimes the cheapest prototype teaches you more than the most expensive simulation. #engineering #prototyping #problemsolving