If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.

.” It takes time to discover the question, but it is time well spent. Einstein, who was a big believer in the importance of asking questions, famously said that if he had an hour to solve a problem, and his life depended on it, he would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining the proper question to ask.

Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.

The first step is picking the problem to solve. I use a simple model to figure this out. I call it the Problem-Solution cycle.

I wouldn’t stop until I figured the damn thing out–it would take me fifteen or twenty minutes. But during the day, other guys would come to me with the same problem, and I’d do it for them in a flash. So for one guy, to do it took me twenty minutes, while there were five guys who thought I was a super-genius.

In the same way that I tend to make up my mind about people within thirty seconds of meeting them, I also make up my mind about whether a business proposal excites me within about thirty seconds of looking at it. I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.

To ask the 'right' question is far more important than to receive the answer. The solution of a problem lies in the understanding of the problem; the answer is not outside the problem, it is in the problem.

The first helpful notion is that it is usually best to simplify problems by deciding big no-brainer questions first.

[...] if one seeks to resolve a problem, let it sit for a while, take time to think about the “Four Oaths” and subdue any self-centered thoughts, and then you will be able to proceed without faltering.

Whether chemists, physicists, or political scientists, the most successful problem solvers spend mental energy figuring out what type of problem they are facing before matching a strategy to it, rather than jumping in with memorized procedures.

If you give your mind a $10,000 problem, it will come up with a $10,000 solution. If you give your mind a $1 million problem, it will come up with a $1 million solution.

To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask?

Las preguntas que solucionan problemas 1. ¿Qué hay de grande en este problema? 2. ¿Qué hay que no sea perfecto todavía? 3. ¿Qué estoy dispuesto a hacer para lograr que sea como yo quiero? 4. ¿Qué estoy dispuesto a no seguir haciendo para lograr que sea como yo quiero? 5. ¿Cómo puedo disfrutar del proceso, mientras hago lo necesario para lograr que sea como yo quiero?

The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal, or desire is.