Thi

schapt
ertal
ksabouthowt
odoandwhatt
odoinprobl
em sol
vi
ngandcr
eati
vi
t y
.Problem
sol
vi
ngisaprocesswher
eani
ndi
vi
dual
sol
veschal
l
engesandprobl
emsmental
ly.Wit
ht heaid
oft
hesest
eps:

*
probl
em i
dent
if
icat
ion

*
probl
em def
ini
ti
onandr
epr
esent
ati
on

*
str
ategyconst
ruct
ion

*
organi
zat
ionsofi
nfor
mat
ion

*
all
ocat
ionofr
esour
ces

*
moni
tor
ing

*
eval
uat
ion

pr
obl
em sol
vi
ngi
sal
otl
esscompl
i
cat
edandunsy
stemat
ic.

Throught
hesest
eps,ani
ndiv
idualmayhaveagr
eattracki
nfi
ndingasol
uti
on.However
,thi
s
doesnotguar
ant
eethatyoumaynotfaceanydi
ff
icul
ti
esindoi
ngso.Asaresul
t,some
probl
emsdoesneedthehel
pofalgor
it
hms.

Analgori
thm i
sadefi
nedsetofst
ep-
by-
steppr
ocedur
est
hatpr
ovi
dest
hecor
rectanswert
oa
par
ti
cularprobl
em.

Byf ol
l
owi ngt heinstructionscorrectly
,y ouar eguar ant eedt oar r
iveattherightanswer.Whi l
e
oftenthoughtofpur elyasamat hemat icalter m,thesamet y peofprocesscanbef oll
owedt o
ensurefindingt hecor rectanswerwhensol vingapr oblem ormaki ngadeci si
on.Analgorithm i
s
oftenexpressedi nt
hef orm ofagr aph,wher easquar er epresentseachst ep.Arrowsthen
branchof ffrom eachst eptopointt opossi bledirectionst haty oumayt aketosolvethepr obl
em.
Insomecases, youmustf oll
owapar ti
cularsetofst epst osol vetheproblem.Inotherinstances,
youmi ghtbeabl etof oll
owdi f
ferentpat hst hatwi l
lal ll
eadt ot hesamesol ut
ion.
Theupsi deof
usinganal gorit
hm tosol veaproblem ormakeadeci si
oni st hatyi
eldsthebestpossibleanswer
everyti
me.Thi sisusef ul i
nsit
uationswhenaccur acyi scr i
ti
cal orwheresimi l
arprobl
emsneed
tobef r
equent lysolved.I nmanycases, comput erpr ogr amscanbedesi gnedtospeedupt his
process.Dat athenneedst obeplacedi nt hesy stem sot hatt healgori
thm canbeexecut edt o
comeupwi t
ht hecor rectsoluti
on.

Suchstep-by-
stepapproachescanbeuseful
insi
tuati
onswhereeachdecisi
onmustbemade
fol
lowi
ngt hesamepr ocessandwhereaccur
acyi
scr i
ti
cal
.Becausetheprocessfol
l
owsa
prescr
ibedprocedur
e, y
oucanbesurethatyouwil
lreacht
hecorrectanswereachti
me.

Thedownsideofusinganalgor
it
hm t
osolv
ethepr
obl
em ist
hatthi
sprocesst
endstobever
y
ti
me-consuming.Soify
oufaceasit
uati
onwher
eadeci
sionneedstobemadev er
yqui
ckl
y,y
ou
mi
ghtbebet
terof
fusi
ngadi
ff
erentpr
obl
em-
sol
vi
ngst
rat
egy
.

Creati
vit
yhappenswhensomeonecomesupwi thacreativeidea.Anexampl ewouldbea
creati
vesoluti
ont oadi ff
icultpr obl
em.Butwhatmakesani deaorsol uti
oncreati
ve?Creat iv
ity
i
st heabil
itytogener at
e,creat e,ordiscovernewideas,soluti
ons, andpossibi
li
ti
es.Verycr eati
ve
peopleoftenhav eintenseknowl edgeaboutsomet hing,workoni tforyears,l
ookatnov el
soluti
ons,seekoutt headv iceandhel pofotherexpert
s,andt aker i
sks.Al
thoughcreati
v i
tyis
oftenassociatedwi t
ht hear t
s, i
tisactual
lyav i
talf
orm ofintell
igencethatdri
vespeopleinmany
disci
pli
nest odiscoversomet hingnew.Cr eati
vi
tycanbef oundi nev er
yareaoflif
e,fr
om t heway
youdecor ateyourresidencet oanewwayofunder st
andinghowacel lworks.