Design Solutions Like a Mathematician: Watch and Practice

In this video, mathematician Po-Shen Loh explains how mathematicians boil a problem down to its essential elements. This approach can help you significantly in communicating with others about any complex problem and its possible solutions.

Over to You

After you watch the video consider the following questions and feel free to share your thoughts with your fellow learners in the comments below. Please be careful to not reveal any personally identifiable information about your place of work, or your colleagues.

• What is Po-Shen Loh getting at with the example of abstract art? How does it relate to problem solving in general?

• Consider a solution your company has implemented in the past. What were the core elements? The abstract skeleton? What were the secondary elements of the solution?

• In the example above, did your company’s process follow the approach Po-Shen Loh outlines here? What were the results of the process you followed?