The Brainstorm Zone

  • In one of my past projects, I worked in a database team of 7 developers and we would compete with each other to come up with a solution. This usually happened because our manager would throw a problem at all of us and pit us against each other. So there were lots of discussions, arguments, and each of us was under lot of pressure to come up with a quick and easy solution. Competition can be good sometimes to improve productivity but now as I'm older I like my current office with lots of space and privacy and where everybody is quiet and you can only hear keyboard typing sounds.

  • I definitely come up with the best solution by thinking about it when stumped. If I try to just play around with code to find a solution, it will usually keep my mind too occupied in the wrong directions. This will only prolong or prevent the best solution from being found.

    I go read some forum or news site, or occasionally play a game to 'take a breather' from the coding and logic problem solving. The answer usually comes to me fairly soon.

    As I am primarily a coder, I often have to visualize all of the required and possible issues with whatever I am working on. I just can't imagine any other way to work on these types of issues other than to think them out first. (Well I can, and have tried them years ago, but they didn't work as well)

  • Grab a hacky sack and a couple co-workers and have fun. I have found the results to be amazing!

    David

    @SQLTentmaker

    “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose” - Jim Elliot

  • I tend to use the internet to completely distract me from the problem I am trying to solve for about 10-15 minutes. Then I try again. If I still can't find an answer, I move on to something else and leave that problem to the next day so I can sleep on it. I usually find the answer somewhere between leaving work and arriving at work the next day. I sometimes get too focussed on the problem and my brain seizes up - can't see the wood/forest for the trees! Doing something else is a way to allow my brain to relax again. This is similar to playing sport. If you get too tense you are unable to react quickly enough, your muscles get stiff and lock up. Relax and breathe!

    Nicole Bowman

    Nothing is forever.

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