Problem Solving, Creative Process, and Adam Savage

Adam’s book, and many, many others, are on my “to read” pile of (physical) books. I think Adam’s book might get to jump the queue.... as I’ve heard a lot of good things about it! Ewen

Ewen McNeill

Great vlog! I’d like it twice if I could (and did tweet it). I’m definitely on the planning / maximising end of creative problem solving too. But given time pressure I’ve learnt how to do the “it doesn’t have to be perfect but it does have to be by Thursday” approach when needed too. (“Thursday” literally got mentioned in the book I’m reading at present — “Colossus”, about the Bletchley Park Tunny code breaking, for which hours *really* mattered.) Ewen

Ewen McNeill

Thanks for the book recommendation Fran. I have one for you. Its the Haynes Owner's Manual of NASA Mission AS-506 Apollo 11 1969 (including Saturn V, CM-107, SM-107, LM-5): 50th Anniversary Special Edition. It just came out in May. It has about 50 pages more than the previous one.

Jeff Larson

I love to read! I used to own a quirky bookstore.

William Alsing

Fran, you work the same way as I do; think it through and then act. It is a great pity that our politicians don’t work the same way!

I like Adam Savage and who doesn't like Mythbusters? But the truth is how we fire off our imaginations and turn them into realities is a varied as the imagination itself. Sometimes it is inspired sometimes it is perspired but each path is a journey of revelation of yourself. I find it is best to just concentrate on that satisfied feeling you get when you do complete a project and it is a reality not just an idea. Concentrate on the good stuff, minimise the bad stuff. Get better every day and learn more in every way. Oh.. +1 for the Fran Book Club. It is always interesting to see what other people read.

veritanuda

I've got very much the same process of working out the issues mentally first. It's very useful, because it gives you a good understanding of how everything is supposed to work before you start. Very much a process of: 1) Plan it in your head. 2) Plan it on paper. 3) Execute the plan. It's particularly useful in my work as a network engineer, because I don't like breaking systems that are in production. Evidently one of my colleagues subscribes to Adam Savage's approach, because he's always breaking stuff when he's implementing his projects, whereas I very rarely cause any disruption. The obvious downside is that everything takes longer, and it looks like you're not working because you're just sitting there reading datasheets, or staring at a drawing, or even just surfing the web. The mental process requires spending time away from thinking about something, time to let your subconscious work out problems for you, so that when you come back to a problem, you can approach it from a different way. It's all part of the creative process. Anyway, glad to see you're a bit more upbeat about the channel. Socialblade suggests you're less than a month away from 100K subscribers, which is a big milestone! It may feel weird constantly telling people to subscribe and click the notification bell, but apparently it works.

UpLateGeek

PS I would enjoy an occasional update on your reading list.

Yep. I also spend too much time thinking about projects. I think I'd be better served by at least working out the basics on paper, then just diving in and trying. Lots of opportunity to take a break if a problem happens, but at least the bones would be there waiting for early resumption. You have my sympathy.

I'm not wildly enthusiatic about him - do sometimes watch his one day builds and other videos, but often switch off or end up disappointed with the final result.