What can I do to improve my cognitive prosessing speed?

By defining the question better

Most people waste time and processing speed trying to answer a question when they're not sure of the question they're asking.

I have a catchphrase that annoys everyone:

"When you've adequately defined the problem, you will have arrived at the solution"

Let's take your question above. It lacks definition. So let's define it a bit better

"Is your cognitive processing speed the same under all conditions?"

I can tell the answer to that question is no. There will be days and times when you amaze yourself at the speed of your processing. Athletes call this "The Zone". And there will be days when tying your own shoelaces requires real effort.

So your original question is better defined by saying

"Under what conditions does my cognitive processing speed perform at its best?"

Now that's something that can be measured and studied.

So you see how the slightest improvement in definition helps us speed towards a solution that much faster

 

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How can I become a successful board game designer?

You've picked a great time to be a board game designer.

According to Wizards of the Coast, last year's Gencon was all board games

Dungeons & Dragons is booming online, but not in the way you think

There has been a return to conventional board gaming from computer graming for the very reason I never left it - the social side. You get together with a bunch of friends and enjoy an evening's interaction. Computer games just don't give the same experience yet.

So this means that there is an ever growing number of people ravenous for board games.

And there are more board games than ever.

1. Are you a one-hit wonder? Do you have a great idea for a board game or do you want to be create more than one? That's an important question because it will influence how you approach this problem.
2. Start with what you love. There looks like a lot of competition but there isn't because keen "Monopoly" players are not that interested in "Trivial Pursuit" or "Rail Baron" and vice versa. So start with the games you love. I demand that a game should have everything in it needed to win and so that it can be won by anyone playing it. This is why I hate "Trivial Pursuit" because it depends on a large wealth of general knowledge and so is prejudiced against children. I see that there's finally a kid's version so that they now have a chance.
3. Treat it as fun. If you're not having fun, how will others?
4. Look at Variations. Pick an existing game and take it new directions. For example, "Kill Dr Lucky" is the flipside to "Cluedo". In "Cluedo", you try to work out who the murderer is, in "Kill Dr Lucky", you try to become the murderer.
5. Simple design. You need a game that can be easily learned but that can also be played again and again. So you need both simplicity and complexity. The complexity can come from randomness (thus the use of dice and cards) and/or by expansion packs. Or both.
6. Protoype. Make a physical version of the game and play it.
7. Go to Kickstarter etc and see what's out there and what's been successful in raising its crowdsourcing targets. Are any similar to your game? Do you get any new ideas about additional features you can add to your game?

History of Board Games, Playing Cards, and Puzzles

5 Much Better Alternatives To Famous Board Games

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How can I become great at problem solving?

1. Choose your problems

There are some problems that have no solutions:

"Show me infinity"

"Is there life after death?"

"Is this all there is?"

"What is the colour of sounds?"

"How do you solve world hunger?"

There is no point trying to solve a problem that cannot be solved - except for fun. You could ask yourself

"If I could prove one way or other that there was/wasn't life after death, what would I need to have and do?"

But, of course, you have to understand that you cannot prove it one way or other because people will not acccept an answer that they don't like, no matter how true it is.

So when faced with a problem, my first question has to be

"Can I actually solve this?" If the answer is yes, then I ask myself

"Can I actually solve this now or do I need to solve something else first?" More on that later

2. Make sure you have the right problem

Half the problem with problem solving is that people are trying to solve the wrong problem.

For example, they will say "I don't have enough web sales so the problem is traffic". Really, the problem wasn't traffic, it was getting in touch with their customers. Having a million people come to your site when they're not interested is just wasting everyone's time and money - especially yours

When I'm called in to solve the problem, I start with the question

"What actually is the problem? Not what we think the problem might be but what is it really?"

If I'm stuck on a problem, I ask myself

"What if I'm wrong and I'm trying to solve the wrong problem?"

Let's review the "solutions" to the problem "How do we solve world hunger?"

In the 70s, the problem was defined so "World hunger exists because we're not growing enough food, so we need to grow more"

And the "solution" was the Green Revolution. Corn yeilds were increased by twofold or even threefold. Except that it was all a con. But that's another story for another day. So, the Green Revolution was rolled out, corn yield increased (allegedly) and the result - more world hunger. Oops

In the 80s, the problem was re-defined as "Well we're producing more food and the problem is worse. It's because food isn't getting through to the hungry. Instead we're stockpiling it in food mountains. So, we need to release it" So, the "solution" was Band Aid, Live Aid, Sports Aid. Money was raised. Trucks were bought and food was shipped out. The result - no change.

Since that time, the problem has been re-defined as "Let's stop talking about world hunger because we can't solve it. Instead, let's focus on a small village, a family, a single child - something small enough that we can make a difference with"

Since the 80s, there have been a small number of people who asked

"We've been trying to solve this problem for decades and put huge amounts of resources into solving problem and none of it has made matters better. So what is the real problem of world hunger?"

Now, that's a problem worth solving

3. Define the problem

So when faced with a problem, my first question has to be

"Can I actually solve this?" If the answer is yes, then I ask myself

"Can I actually solve this now or do I need to solve something else first?"

It may be that the problem is complex and needs multiple solutions to different parts.

So break it down.

The obvious place to start is by defining terms

"What do we mean by 'world hunger'?"

"Is 'hunger' the same the world over?" In other words, are people hungry in different ways in different places?

4. Become better at defining problems.

I have always claimed that once you have a full and exact definition of the problem, that will automatically provide you with the solution.

However, it's not always possible to get a full and exact defintion in one go. In that case, the easiest and simplest thing to do is aim for a workable defintion and improve it.

In initial meetings with clients, I have often suggested a solution and got this conversation:

Them; "But that only solves 50% of the problem"

Me: "Great. Let's do it and then we can halve the problem."

Them: "But what about the rest of the problem?"

Me: "By solving part of the problem, that means we have more resources to devote to the unsolved bit rather than be distracted by the bit that we can already solve. Effectively, you've just doubled your budget on solving this problem by part solving it first"

The Japanese Method of "5 Whys" is great for doing this when there is causal chain

5_Whys

5 Whys

7 Steps

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So Is The Glass Half Empty Or Half Full?

You know the deal: take a glass and half fill it with water. So is it half empty or half full? Well, the correct answer is that it is always full - whatever room is not taken up by the water is filled with air. So it doesn't matter how much water there is, the glass is always full.

So what?

Well, the important thing to take away is not to take the most important things for granted. You can live without water for days, try living without air for that long - or half as long. There is a saying that I believe is from JK Galbraith: "If you want to know about water, don't ask a fish". This is true. Every year we celebrate the 9th August. That is the day World War 2 ended for my island. It was the day that the Nazi Occupation of the island ended. We call it Liberation Day. Since that time, we have had over 65 years of peace. But don't ask the average islander about liberation. It has been such a part of our lives that we take it for granted. What do you take for granted? Is it the most important part of your life?

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The Hidden Value of Secondary Skills

When I first started in business 25 years ago, I was a computer consultant. Now I am sure that it will not surprise you to know that I was not your standard computer consultant but that is a story for another day. Let's just say that my area of expertise was computers. However, because the bulk of work in computers came from the offshore finance industry that was very big at the time (unofficially 90% of our economy at the time), I had learned accountancy so that I could write accounting programs. Then I discovered that people were interested in my accounting expertise so I started offering that to my clients in addition to the computer expertise. Then, as I had a business, I had to deal with the Income Tax Department. As Tax Accountants were fabulously expensive, I decided to learn the Tax Law and do my own taxes. When other people found out about this, they were very interested. It got to the point very quickly where I would be lucky if 10% of my income came from my computer expertise. If I had just stuck to computers, my business would have been a fraction of the size. So when I come across a problem -something broken - which I needed to solve, I have learned to ask "How many other people have this problem and what would they be willing to pay to have it solved?"

So, what does that have to do with you?

Well, if you want more money than you currently earn, try asking yourself "What skills do I have that others would be happy to pay me to use?"

You may be surprised at the gold nuggets you've been walking by for all of this time

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The Right Tool For The Right Job

There are so much advice out there and so much of it is contradictory and incomplete.

"Your website should be well designed / It doesn't matter if your website is badly designed";

"Your website should be black and white with no graphics / No, you website should be colourful and full of pictures";

"You should only work with paid traffic / Paid traffic is a waste of time";

etc, etc, etc.

So what do you do?

What is the right advice?

I'm afraid that the correct answer is that it depends.

THere's an old saying that to a person with a hammer,e veryone problem looks like a nail. That is true. And the reason that it is true is because we are fundamentally lazy. We learn one tool and rather than learn when to use it, we rush ahead and use it in every situation whether it works or not.

So, I have come to the very annoying conclusion that it is all correct in the context of the RIGHT subject material and with the RIGHT person. So I am left with the task of asking myself "Under what circumstances does this piece of advice work and is that circumstance consistent with my situation?" In other words, "Is this advice right for me in my business?" 

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Getting Confused Over The Cause And The Symptom

It's like a conversation I recently had with an acupuncturist about some of her patients' attitudes. They moan that she fixes a problem and then it comes back. So I advised her to tell them that she didn't fix the problem, only the symptom. They want to eliminate the pain and then go back to doing whatever it was that created the pain in the first place. I have suggested to her that she be upfront with all her patients and tell that if they just want to fix the symptom without changing their lives to remove the cause, then they are just going to keep coming back.

This is why problems continue to exist - because we treat the symptoms and not the causes. We never fix the problem so it keeps on turning up - again and again and again.

If you have a persistent problem that doesn't seem to go away no matter what you do, then your efforts aren't fixing the problem..

I'm afraid that you're going to have to dig a little deeper

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