Leverage Your Problem-Solving

"There are children playing in the street who could solve some of my top problems in physics, "said J. Robert Oppenheimer, builder of the first atom bomb, "because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago."

Einstein also admitted to discovering answers to theoretical problems by picturing himself, as a child, riding on a beam of light.

We don't all face the same problems theoretical physicists face, but their problems to solve, and our problems to solve, have fundamentals in common: our cognitive thinking, our rational, logical, and linear left brains are not going to be enough. There will never be enough data, and at some point we have to rely on our gut instincts to make the decision -- that is to say, our intuition.

We gather all sorts of data about our world and our problems from all our senses, and from our intution, which is like a 6th sense. It isn't something we develop through our intellect or through formal education. Children and animals, for instance, are very tuned in to change. We adults are too, but we've "forgotten" this information, or we don't pay attention to it.

When a chill runs down our spine, or the hair on the back of our neck rises, or our palms start to sweat, or we feel queazy, our bodies are giving us valuable information. One way to train people to protect themselves in dangerous working conditions is to make them more aware of their bodily signals and what their intuition is telling them. They need to become barometers--sensitive to pressure and change.

Once considered the province of a gifted few, we now know that everyone possesses intuition. If you invite it into your life and pump up the volume, you'll receive some valuable information you need to have for problem-solving.

And how do you know when it's not just fear or wishful thinking? Well, when your intuition tells you to do something, and you're attuned to it, you feel certain. When could you ever say that about facts and figures?

Bring some leverage to your problem-solving--get acquainted with your intuition.