Wednesday, April 1, 2020
https://www.jmakoetla.com/adventures in creative thinking exercises to help you fortify your creative processes
How many times have you caught yourself saying that there could be no other solution to a problem – and that that problem leads to a dead end? How many times have you felt stumped knowing that the problem laying before you is one you cannot solve. No leads. No options. No solutions.
Did it feel like you had exhausted all possible options and yet are still before the mountain – large, unconquerable, and impregnable? When encountering such enormous problems, you may feel like you’re hammering against a steel mountain. The pressure of having to solve such a problem may be overwhelming.
But rejoice! There might be some hope yet!
With some creative problem-solving techniques you may be able to look at your problem in a different light. And that light might just be the end of the tunnel that leads to possible solutions.
First of all, in the light of creative problem-solving, you must be open-minded to the fact that there may be more than just one solution to the problem. And, you must be open to the fact that there may be solutions to problems you thought were unsolvable.
Now, with this optimistic mindset, we can try to be a little bit more creative in solving our problems.
Number one; maybe the reason we cannot solve our problems is that we have not really taken a hard look at what the problem is. Here, trying to understanding the problem and having a concrete understanding of its workings is integral solving the problem. If you know how it works, what the problem is, then you have a better foundation towards solving the problem.
Not trying to make the simple statement of what problem is. Try to identify the participating entities and what their relationships with one another are. Take note of the things you stand to gain any stand to lose from the current problem. Now you have a simple statement of what the problem is.
Number two; try to take note of all of the constraints and assumptions you have the words of problem. Sometimes it is these assumptions that obstruct our view of possible solutions. You have to identify which assumptions are valid, in which assumptions need to be addressed.
Number three; try to solve the problem by parts. Solve it going from general view towards the more detailed parts of the problem. This is called the top-down approach. Write down the question, and then come up with a one-sentence solution to that from them. The solution should be a general statement of what will solve the problem. From here you can develop the solution further, and increase its complexity little by little.
Number four; although it helps to have critical thinking aboard as you solve a problem, you must also keep a creative, analytical voice at the back of your head. When someone comes up with a prospective solution, tried to think how you could make that solution work. Try to be creative. At the same time, look for chinks in the armor of that solution.
Number five; it pays to remember that there may be more than just one solution being developed at one time. Try to keep track of all the solutions and their developments. Remember, there may be more than just one solution to the problem.
Number six; remember that old adage,“ two heads are better than one.” That one is truer than it sounds. Always be open to new ideas. You can only benefit from listening to all the ideas each person has. This is especially true when the person you’re talking to has had experience solving problems similar to yours.
You don’t have to be a gung-ho, solo hero to solve the problem. If you can organize collective thought on the subject, it would be much better.
Number seven; be patient. As long as you persevere, there is always a chance that a solution will present itself. Remember that no one was able to create an invention the first time around.
Creative thinking exercises can also help you in your quest be a more creative problems solver.
Here is one example.
Take a piece of paper and write any word that comes to mind at the center. Now look at that word then write the first two words that come to your mind. This can go on until you can build a tree of related words. This helps you build analogical skills, and fortify your creative processes.
So, next time you see a problem you think you can not solve, think again. The solution might just be staring you right in the face. All it takes is just a little creative thinking, some planning, and a whole lot of work.
Monday, March 30, 2020
J Makoetla Article Marketing https://www.jmakoetla.com/ Articulate How to Make Money
Money-Is This How You Make It?
There are several methods to make extra money which you may not have tried yet. Most people have jobs and work for someone else, but there are many ways in which to be self-employed. It just depends on harnessing skills and knowledge you already have, and finding clients to pay you for them.
With their busy schedules, many families do not have time to make home-cooked meals. If you have cooking skills, advertise in your local paper that you will prepare food to order. If you are dealing with a family or a small party, you can handle the job yourself and won’t need any helpers. And who knows, as your client base expands, you may want to hire an assistant and become a professional.
If you are retired professional, think about working part-time from home. For example, an accountant could do income tax, and an ex-office worker can type student essays.
If you can’t find a full-time job and have typing and word processing skills, think about applying to office temp agencies. The work can be irregular, but it pays fairly well.
If you have specialized knowledge, such as a trade or profession, write an e-book with tips the public can use. For instance, an electrician can write down simple steps to installing a light fixture; a nurse can advise middle-aged baby boomers on how to care for elderly, debilitated parents. With a tight economy, many people are trying to save money by doing household repairs themselves. Step by step advice on dealing with common household emergencies or car problems is useful to many people. Medical advice is extremely valuable, and there are many online books being sold successfully to help patients deal with common medical problems such as diabetes and heart disease.
Also, if you have a college education, think about tutoring students. You don’t need a teaching diploma to help a grade-school child who is having trouble reading; often the most important skill in this instance is patience. If you know how to play a musical instrument, give music lessons.
If you have a website or are considering starting one, place Google Adsense ads on it. It will pay for the maintenance of the website at the very least, and if you get enough traffic, it can provide an extra income stream. Consider becoming an affiliate for other companies featuring products and services related to what you are selling. For instance, a website featuring autoparts could do affiliate sales for car companies and tire suppliers. These items would enhance your own website by expanding the available product line without detracting from sales of your own product.
People with no knowledge skills can often make money through doing physically tough jobs that unathletic or elderly people can’t do. Washing windows, cleaning rain gutters, moving, landscaping and housecleaning can pay up to thirty dollars per hour, and are really no more demanding than the jobs offered for minimum wage, such as flipping burgers or waiting on tables.
If you own your own home, consider renting out the basement to students or pensioners. These are usually quiet tenants who will respect your privacy, and provide a steady rental income of up to several hundred dollars a month, depending on the size of the accommodations you have available. If you live in the country or some scenic area, it may be possible to run a bed and breakfast, but being an innkeeper takes more time and effort than renting to long-term tenants.
Many communities have free local bulletins which charge only nominal fees for advertising. Public bulletin boards are often available at the local mall. Create many copies of an ad briefly describing the service you are offering and how much you charge, with tear-off tags at the bottom with your name and phone number. Post the ad all around your neighborhood and you are bound to get a few replies.
There are several methods to make extra money which you may not have tried yet. Most people have jobs and work for someone else, but there are many ways in which to be self-employed. It just depends on harnessing skills and knowledge you already have, and finding clients to pay you for them.
With their busy schedules, many families do not have time to make home-cooked meals. If you have cooking skills, advertise in your local paper that you will prepare food to order. If you are dealing with a family or a small party, you can handle the job yourself and won’t need any helpers. And who knows, as your client base expands, you may want to hire an assistant and become a professional.
If you are retired professional, think about working part-time from home. For example, an accountant could do income tax, and an ex-office worker can type student essays.
If you can’t find a full-time job and have typing and word processing skills, think about applying to office temp agencies. The work can be irregular, but it pays fairly well.
If you have specialized knowledge, such as a trade or profession, write an e-book with tips the public can use. For instance, an electrician can write down simple steps to installing a light fixture; a nurse can advise middle-aged baby boomers on how to care for elderly, debilitated parents. With a tight economy, many people are trying to save money by doing household repairs themselves. Step by step advice on dealing with common household emergencies or car problems is useful to many people. Medical advice is extremely valuable, and there are many online books being sold successfully to help patients deal with common medical problems such as diabetes and heart disease.
Also, if you have a college education, think about tutoring students. You don’t need a teaching diploma to help a grade-school child who is having trouble reading; often the most important skill in this instance is patience. If you know how to play a musical instrument, give music lessons.
If you have a website or are considering starting one, place Google Adsense ads on it. It will pay for the maintenance of the website at the very least, and if you get enough traffic, it can provide an extra income stream. Consider becoming an affiliate for other companies featuring products and services related to what you are selling. For instance, a website featuring autoparts could do affiliate sales for car companies and tire suppliers. These items would enhance your own website by expanding the available product line without detracting from sales of your own product.
People with no knowledge skills can often make money through doing physically tough jobs that unathletic or elderly people can’t do. Washing windows, cleaning rain gutters, moving, landscaping and housecleaning can pay up to thirty dollars per hour, and are really no more demanding than the jobs offered for minimum wage, such as flipping burgers or waiting on tables.
If you own your own home, consider renting out the basement to students or pensioners. These are usually quiet tenants who will respect your privacy, and provide a steady rental income of up to several hundred dollars a month, depending on the size of the accommodations you have available. If you live in the country or some scenic area, it may be possible to run a bed and breakfast, but being an innkeeper takes more time and effort than renting to long-term tenants.
Many communities have free local bulletins which charge only nominal fees for advertising. Public bulletin boards are often available at the local mall. Create many copies of an ad briefly describing the service you are offering and how much you charge, with tear-off tags at the bottom with your name and phone number. Post the ad all around your neighborhood and you are bound to get a few replies.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
JMakoetlamktgbiznet: Expanding The Definition of Consulting
As women have broken the glass ceiling in almost every industry and enterprise over the last 30 years, so has the consulting business become more accessible to the fairer sex. I wouldn’t dare proffer the case that ANYONE can consult and leave out half of the population!
Until about a decade ago, the title “consultant” was more or less limited to retired diplomats and top corporate officers, recruited more because of their “contacts” rather than their practical knowledge. In other words, until recently, the consultant’s position was more honorary than actual. But that has also changed dramatically.
The number of consultants for almost any problem in life has increased tenfold or more during the past ten years and the field of consultants is continuing to grow. In fact, independent consulting is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world today!
Let me give you a simple and easy to understand definition of a consultant:
A consultant is an expert at recognizing problems and shaping solutions to those problems. The need for problem solvers among large and small businesses worldwide has never been greater. The ever-changing moods of the buyer plus the myriad of crisis situations that business people face almost daily, have created a “seller’s market” for the alert consultant.
So, in expanding our definition of what a consultant is and what he does we come to the inevitable question:
What area of work have you been involved in over the years? Remember, you don’t have to have a quarter of a century of work behind you in order to consult. Consultants come in all sizes and with all manner of backgrounds.
My mission has been to convince my readers that it’s true; anyone (YOU) can consult, using what you already know to help others and make a substantial extra income!
You can consult on any subject that you have top-notch experience in. Maybe you know how to sew with great precision; you have tons of tips and tricks that other seamstresses can take advantage of. You may start to consult clients on a part-time basis. You could offer a booklet of those sewing tips and tricks to clients.
In other words, if you’re an expert in any field, you can ‘farm out’ your expertise and gather increasing amounts of revenue in the process.
Reaching for a consultant when problems arise is as natural as looking for the sun to come up every morning. When you’re not feeling well, you call for the services of a doctor. If your car isn’t running right, you take it to a mechanic. And so it is with a businessman when he encounters a problem– whether it is in the field of accounting, legal, sales or customer relations.
Your field of expertise is valuable to some person or company right now!
Let’s stretch the commonly assumed boundaries of what a ‘business consultant’ is and realize that experts are needed for almost everything a person tries to accomplish in life:
Car Repair
Homemaking
Studies
Travel
Employment
Hobbies
Another side of this need for consultants is in the case of the over-enthusiastic entrepreneur who rushes headlong into a business where he has little or no experience. Many such dreamers invest their life savings in questionable projects without even considering the idea of bringing in a competent business consultant to analyze and evaluate their plans.
Even experienced people are prone to over-rate their own ideas. The image of the end result, and dedicated enthusiasm toward the attainment of one’s goal are prime requisites for success; however, un-merited enthusiasm and dedication can also be very dangerous; if it is not based on solid research, it may cause people to chase headlong after non-existent rainbows.
And that’s where you can fit in as a business consultant.
Please accept that it is not necessary for you to have owned or operated a successful business to become a successful business consultant. Nor is it imperative that you have been in management or have a titled position. You will, however, need the ability to sell yourself, and an up-to-date understanding of the area in which you intend to assist others.
Finally, I’d like to paint a picture of what the consultants’ life can be like. Though each consultancy is unique, just as each human being is different, there are some things that you can look forward to experiencing.
Another title for a consultant is: an ‘Independent Professional’.
Let that title troll around your lips for a moment, say it out loud. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
That all-important independence is delicious. You are truly your own boss. While others may have to punch a time clock, adhere to many frivolous company policies and find themselves in a rut of sameness, the independent professional never does!
You don’t have to play ‘office politics’ because you’re independent.
You never have to go against your own inner truth to placate some ‘boss’.
In fact, you will be PAID to ‘speak your mind’. You can shock, surprise, and discover whole new areas of development for your clients. You never get bored because you’re always finding yourself in a fresh environment with new faces, new personalities and new projects.
The independent professional finds deep satisfaction in the work he or she does because each idea, projection, and solution comes from within them and has his or her unique style and content stamped to it.
Finally, as we expand our definition of consulting, it is important to know that it can be taken as far, or as little, as you decide to go with it. You may find yourself on the international stage traveling extensively, or you may work right in your own backyard a mere stone’s throw from your client base. You will set the perimeters of your lifestyle; no one else will control your destiny.
Until about a decade ago, the title “consultant” was more or less limited to retired diplomats and top corporate officers, recruited more because of their “contacts” rather than their practical knowledge. In other words, until recently, the consultant’s position was more honorary than actual. But that has also changed dramatically.
The number of consultants for almost any problem in life has increased tenfold or more during the past ten years and the field of consultants is continuing to grow. In fact, independent consulting is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world today!
Let me give you a simple and easy to understand definition of a consultant:
A consultant is an expert at recognizing problems and shaping solutions to those problems. The need for problem solvers among large and small businesses worldwide has never been greater. The ever-changing moods of the buyer plus the myriad of crisis situations that business people face almost daily, have created a “seller’s market” for the alert consultant.
So, in expanding our definition of what a consultant is and what he does we come to the inevitable question:
What area of work have you been involved in over the years? Remember, you don’t have to have a quarter of a century of work behind you in order to consult. Consultants come in all sizes and with all manner of backgrounds.
My mission has been to convince my readers that it’s true; anyone (YOU) can consult, using what you already know to help others and make a substantial extra income!
You can consult on any subject that you have top-notch experience in. Maybe you know how to sew with great precision; you have tons of tips and tricks that other seamstresses can take advantage of. You may start to consult clients on a part-time basis. You could offer a booklet of those sewing tips and tricks to clients.
In other words, if you’re an expert in any field, you can ‘farm out’ your expertise and gather increasing amounts of revenue in the process.
Reaching for a consultant when problems arise is as natural as looking for the sun to come up every morning. When you’re not feeling well, you call for the services of a doctor. If your car isn’t running right, you take it to a mechanic. And so it is with a businessman when he encounters a problem– whether it is in the field of accounting, legal, sales or customer relations.
Your field of expertise is valuable to some person or company right now!
Let’s stretch the commonly assumed boundaries of what a ‘business consultant’ is and realize that experts are needed for almost everything a person tries to accomplish in life:
Car Repair
Homemaking
Studies
Travel
Employment
Hobbies
Another side of this need for consultants is in the case of the over-enthusiastic entrepreneur who rushes headlong into a business where he has little or no experience. Many such dreamers invest their life savings in questionable projects without even considering the idea of bringing in a competent business consultant to analyze and evaluate their plans.
Even experienced people are prone to over-rate their own ideas. The image of the end result, and dedicated enthusiasm toward the attainment of one’s goal are prime requisites for success; however, un-merited enthusiasm and dedication can also be very dangerous; if it is not based on solid research, it may cause people to chase headlong after non-existent rainbows.
And that’s where you can fit in as a business consultant.
Please accept that it is not necessary for you to have owned or operated a successful business to become a successful business consultant. Nor is it imperative that you have been in management or have a titled position. You will, however, need the ability to sell yourself, and an up-to-date understanding of the area in which you intend to assist others.
Finally, I’d like to paint a picture of what the consultants’ life can be like. Though each consultancy is unique, just as each human being is different, there are some things that you can look forward to experiencing.
Another title for a consultant is: an ‘Independent Professional’.
Let that title troll around your lips for a moment, say it out loud. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
That all-important independence is delicious. You are truly your own boss. While others may have to punch a time clock, adhere to many frivolous company policies and find themselves in a rut of sameness, the independent professional never does!
You don’t have to play ‘office politics’ because you’re independent.
You never have to go against your own inner truth to placate some ‘boss’.
In fact, you will be PAID to ‘speak your mind’. You can shock, surprise, and discover whole new areas of development for your clients. You never get bored because you’re always finding yourself in a fresh environment with new faces, new personalities and new projects.
The independent professional finds deep satisfaction in the work he or she does because each idea, projection, and solution comes from within them and has his or her unique style and content stamped to it.
Finally, as we expand our definition of consulting, it is important to know that it can be taken as far, or as little, as you decide to go with it. You may find yourself on the international stage traveling extensively, or you may work right in your own backyard a mere stone’s throw from your client base. You will set the perimeters of your lifestyle; no one else will control your destiny.
Monday, March 16, 2020
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