Tom,
This is a great question and I very much enjoyed the replies.My observations
pretty much follows the other replies, but I would like to add one other
observation. Engineers are born engineers. Universities do not make
engineers, they give engineers tool bags. If a graduate did not arrive at
the school an engineer, he will not leave as one either. Too many very
valuable people have been excluded from opportunities simply because they
did not possess a sheepskin.
Steve

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...
On one of my recent posts, you kind people pointed out that there are many
ways of doing something. Simple observations are often the most profound.
I'm not a master at being able to see a problem from different angles and
visualize different solutions. It seems that some parts of one idea
affect another so the ideas are not independent, not "clean" and
compartmentalized. I met with my guys today and discussed if we could
figure out how to think about different ways of doing things we are
developing. I want multiple solutions presented and thinking out of the
box. It seems there is always a brute-force method of doing something yet
the "other" idea, the one that springs into existence at the odd hour, is
often better, cheaper and more elegant. How do you attract those "other"
ideas?

Is there a method or exercises to develop creative thinking? Cutting
metal and drilling holes is the easy part, how do you completely forget an
idea in order to "see" a new idea? This may come easily for an
intelligent person but I struggle with my mental limitations.