Barack Obama Quotes

If coming up with ten ideas sounds too hard, then come up with twenty.

I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established practice to control and bias my mind, and did not suffer from the general belief that whatever is, is right.

No solution can be more elegant than the problem at which it is aimed allows.

Part of the process is always, 'Is there a better way?' We try to think through if there's something we can do better creatively or technically, or just is more efficient.

Evolve solutions; when you find a good one, don't stop.

A 'problem' is nothing more than a gorgeous opportunity to discover an even better solution.

There's a solution to every problem. I just have to find the right solution to fix this problem

Only creativity can see past problems to find solutions. This holds true for every area of life.

The manager, in today's world, doesn't get paid to be a steward of resources, a favored term not so many years ago. He or she gets paid for one and only one thing: to make things better (incrementally and dramatically), to change things, to act - today.

You have to stand outside the box to see how the box can be re-designed.

With vertical thinking one may look for different approaches until one finds a promising one. With lateral thinking one goes on generating as many approaches as one can even after one has found a promising one. With vertical thinking one is trying to select the best approach but with lateral thinking one is generating different approaches for the sake of generating them.

Lateral thinking... is the process of using information to bring about creativity and insight restructuring. Lateral thinking can be learned, practised and used. It is possible to acquire skill in it just as it is possible to acquire skill in mathematics.

Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently promoting what’s not working.

Never worry that rote exercises aimed at developing skills will suffocate creativity. At the same time, it's important to recognize that demonstrating great technique is not the same as being creative.

If you are creative enough to imagine a problem, you're clever enough to discover a solution.

For uncommon solutions, you have to look in uncommon places.

Always remember, however, that there’s usually a simpler and better way to do something than the first way that pops into your head.

The best place to solve a problem is on paper.

As long as you can Houdini your way out of the Sisyphean constraints then originality happens.

New ideas are sometimes found in the most granular details of a problem where few others bother to look.

Being creative isn't confined to a specific set of professions -- everyone can and should be innovative.

In all cases where doubt crops up, ask yourself, "If I had a gun to my head and had to do it, how would I do it?" It's not as hard as you think.

If you can talk brilliantly about a problem

Creativity is the ability to see and to respond.

I always thought problem solving was greatly overrated - and that the most important thing was problem creation.