Whether at work, school or at home we are often faced with challenges, issues and potential barriers to our successful completion of a task or making a product. As we pursue the best way to approach what is confronting us, often we revert back to that sage advice, “go after the low hanging fruit first.” Do you remember the last time, if ever, that a co-worker, teacher or friend suggested starting with the unsolvable?

Why risk potential failure and setbacks? What can be gained from tackling problems that might not have clear solutions? Why solve the unsolvable?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discussed how the most valuable problems may often be unsolvable, especially when looking at the lessons that can be derived from the experience. An example of how this approach is applied when preparing aspiring engineering students for real-world challenges is the Design Thinking and Communication course offered as a freshman through the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University. This course was developed almost a decade ago as the result of an awareness that some academically successful students arrive on campus without ever having failed at anything. The university requires all new engineering majors to take this unusual course featuring challenges they often cannot meet; for example, working in teams, the students must design and build devices to help individuals with disabilities perform simple daily tasks. The focus is less upon the outcome as compared to the journey and lessons learned. When taking on problems that may not have a clear solution, the course uses a systematic method that combines left-brain logic with right-brain intuition to create strategies for how to tackle the task and also what can be learned in the process.

Strategy

Lesson

Ask, Listen, Understand

Empathy

Alternative approaches

Creativity

Seek help from others

Teamwork

Try many ideas

Brainstorm

Entrepreneurship

Risk-taking

Accept failures

Humility

Try & try again

Resiliency

Does this approach work for all issues and problems that we face? Certainly not, while the strategies listed above should be considered and can help build valuable life skills, more often than not it is the results that are important and necessary; thus, it might make more sense to start the process and work on those tasks that are the easiest to resolve and create some initial success. However, there might also be important information and value to be gained from the time and effort invested even if the target or goal was not achieved. But this should not prevent us from investigating problems without clear solutions.

The upcoming 120th Metalcasting Congress and CastExpo’16 (April 16–19) at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis will offer many unique approaches to problem solving and integrating technology development, including roundtables, panels, AFS Institute courses and excellent technical sessions organized by our technical committees. We will be offering an engaging and enriching event that will include a variety of education, career-building venues and opportunities. In particular, the keynote sessions offered each day will be presented by world-renowned speakers. By implementing these changes, AFS will continue to offer the highest quality product and best experience possible. We look forward to seeing you in Minneapolis.

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