Comment by josh33
16 years ago
This is very high level, but: take a step back and remember who it is you are trying to serve/help with the problem you are solving. If it is a particular market/industry, often the answer can be found by trying to focus on how to help them than by trying to solve a problem. I think there is something about focusing on a problem that makes it bigger, whereas focusing on a solution can make the solution more evident.
I often find it instructive to solve a simple example problem by hand. This can give you the insight needed to solve it computationally