There's a crucial, and wonderful, distinction between mazes and labyrinths.

A maze is a multi-branching, complex structure with twists, turns, choices, dead-ends and treasure or Triwizard cups in the centre. It's confusing, daunting, exciting, fun, challenging, maybe deadly. A maze heightens awareness, concentration, and your heart rate.

A labyrinth has a single path. One long, twisting, but unwavering path towards the central destination and back out. It's simple, calming, straightforward, reassuring and satisfying. Every step is progress. There are no tough choices to make. No paths, maps or mental models to balance in your head. Nothing to intrude on your thinking, just your next step. A labyrinth gives space for your thoughts, and is calming and peaceful.

If you want adventure and action, find a maze. If you'd like calm and contemplation, find a labyrinth.

No wonder then that walking a labyrinth has been found to reduce stress, increase calm and aid recovery in hospitals and centres for therapy and mental health care. Try tracing your finger over the paths of each to feel the difference. Also see: solvitur ambulando.

The two are based on the hedge maze at Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace near where we live, and the wonderful Land's End Labyrinth (video) near where we used to live.

The original labyrinth of Crete, of Theseus and the Minotaur fame, was complex and confusing and no doubt not like the labyrinths that have now evolved from it.

Labyrinths and mazes

Solvitur ambulando: This phrase from the Greek philosopher Diogenes translates more or less to ‘it is solved by walking’. And, indeed, there is something about walking that helps both clear the mind and think clearly.

Try a walk to get a different perspective on a problem when you’ve been banging your head against one sat at your desk. Or try a walking a meeting with the bonus that you get a bit of exercise in too.

Solvitur ambulando

Did you you know, a rubber duck can help you solve your problem? Or, a teddy bear, or, heck, a table, whatever. Have you ever been called over to someone’s desk to help them solve a problem, and as they explain what they were doing to you they figure out the answer themselves?

Rubberducking is the simple technique of explaining your code, or whatever you’re working on, to a rubber duck, and, in the process of explaining it, finding the answer yourself. Rubberduck debugging is a term in software development as the process of figuring out a solution to a bug or problem. Surprisingly effective, and way cheaper than hiring a contractor for the day.

Rubberducking

I love this little problem solving tool from TRIZ that invites you to compose your problem of smart little people and ask, “what would they do?”

I was trying to illustrate how they might find a solution to a cut with what is effectively a clot.

Smart little people

The classic thinking framework from Edward De Bono. Though I’m yet to be in a meeting where everyone’s familiar enough with it that it wouldn’t sound a bit nuts to propose it. Ah well.

Six thinking hats

One of the 40 inventive principles. Application not limited to mechanical engineering.

Cheap disposable objects

The idea of resolving contradictions I was taught by Darrell Mann. This neat example from Simon Dewulf.

Sketchplanations tagged with problem-solving