The brain works in mysterious ways. The first solution you come up with maybe
a very good one. This is because your brain processes information at a
subconscious level, turning things over and making comparisons you are not
even aware of. Suddenly you have an *idea* which turns out to be good. It
didn't come from nowhere. In some cases I have deliverately tried to improve
on my first solution, only to make things worse.

Grist for this (creativity) mill:

The human brain processes information associatively. "This is like that."

Great designers work in visual metaphors, we know this because they create in a
concious manner and they know how they solve problems. For instance, "I'm going
to turn a bowl that reminds me of a farmer and his John Deere tractor."

Just for fun, try that on for size, imagine such a bowl and you'll see the
possibilities spring to mind. Note how it gets your brain buzzing. Much
differently than, say, leafing through a book of bowl patterns.

If the problem is a simple one like, "How to I get these apples in that bushel
basket" then the first idea may be a good one. It may not be the best, but it
probably will suffice. But we are not talking about day-to-day problems in this
thread, but artisitic creativity in our work. If you want excellence, not
mediocrity, in your craft, then tossing out the 'obvious solutions' will not
only put your mind into 'creative mode', but also separate your work from others
who chose their 'first idea.' You can chose the well-traveled road, or blaze
your own path. Its up to you.

Me? I toss out the obvious solutions if I want to end up with a creative
result. What I want is a non-obvious solution that will Wow! people. I want the
solution that people will say, "I wish I'd thought of that!" or "That's so
elegant, why hasn't anyone done that before?'

Dan