ADAPTABLE

What could you adapt to in this problem?

What other players are least adaptable?

Can a person be too adaptable in this situation?

ADVENTUROUS

How would the situation play out as an adventure story?

What is the most boring way to resolve the problem?

Who else might see the adventure in this problem?

AIKIDO

What are the strengths of the other players?
What are the obstacles other players see?
Which of your strengths best fit this contest?

Thinkerer.org

AMBIGUITY, TOLERATE

Can other players tolerate ambiguity?

Can ambiguity interfere with solving this problem?

How do people interpret tolerance for ambiguity?

AMBITIOUS

What other players are ambitious?

Can ambition get in the way of solving this problem?

How will the other players react to your ambition?

ANALYTIC

What are the main parts of this problem?
Would somebody else analyze the problem differently?
Is there only one way for the parts to work together?

ARTISTIC

Can you illustrate the situation with your art?

Can you see the problem as a work of art in progress?

Can you see what would be the most beautiful outcome? 

ASSERTIVE

What players are assertive? How will they affect things?
Can a person be too assertive here?
Is it more important to be assertive than to be right?

AUTHORITY, CAN DELEGATE

What authority would you want to delegate here?
Who could take some responsibilities here?
Who else needs to hand out responsibilities here?

CAN ASK FOR HELP

Who could you ask for help on this problem?

How would you help someone else on a problem like this?

Could you help another player in the situation?

CAUTIOUS

What will the incautious players do?
What other players are cautious?
Is it possible to be too cautious here?

COMPASSIONATE

Can you sympathize with your adversaries?

What would other people see as flaws in your position?

Why can’t you find a win-win outcome?

COMPETITIVE

Can you turn the problem-solving into a competition?

Can you turn the situation from win-lose to win-win?

Are other players competitive?  How can you tell?

CONCRETIZER

Pick an abstraction in the problem. Concretize it.
Pick an value term in the problem. Concretize it.
What other player in the problem is a concretizer?

Can Keep my cool

Do other people interpret calm as unconcerned?

Do other players need to vent their feelings? 

Do other players know your feelings? 

COOPERATIVE

Who might cooperate with you on the solution?

What solution would suit the other players in the problem?

Who could you cooperate with on the solution?

CREATIVE

Can you brainstorm with some of the players?

What analogies would make sense to other players?

How would the situation look to another creative person?

CURIOUS

Is there more to find out about the matter?

How do other people handle similar matters?

Are there similar problems that you could investigate?

DECISIVE

What is the tough decision? Who will accept it?
What would be the wimp decision in this situation?
What other players are decisive? What have they decided?

DELIBERATE

What will the impulsive players do?
What other players are deliberate?
Is it possible to be too deliberate here?

Thinkerer.org

Dependable

Can a person be too dependable?

How would things look to someone who is not dependable?

Is someone depending on you right now?  For what?

Determined

What players are determined?  Do their goals fit yours?

Are there players that you wish were more determined? 

How did you get to be determined? 

Energetic

What could you do right now to start solving the problem?

Could someone be too energetic here?

What player is not energetic enough?  What can you do?

Enthusiastic, Can Be

Do other players share your enthusiasm?

Are there obstacles that will affect your enthusiasm?

Can a person be too enthusiastic in this situation?

Entrepreneur

Is there a market for solving problems like this?
Who would pay for a solution to a problem like this?
Who could you hire to solve this kind of problem?

Thinkerer.org

Feelings, Can Express

How do your feelings affect other players?

What feelings may other players feel, but not express?

Can you help other players express their feelings?

Focused

Do other players need to change their focus?

Do you need to change your focus?

Have you looked at the big picture?

Follower, good

Who do you want as a leader here?
Who else is a good follower?
Who are the leaders?  How do they see things?

FOLLOW-THRU

Is turn-around sometimes better than follow-thru?
Is another player weak on follow-thru?  How could you use that?
Is there more than one way to follow through here?

Thinkerer.org

FORECASTER

What happens if you do nothing?
What happens if you argue for a particular solution?
What happens if you endorse a solution already on the table? 

Forgiving

What kind of forgiving would help in this situation?

What players need to be forgiving in this situation?

It is possible to forgive too easily?

Friendly

If a friend had this problem, how would you help?

How would a stranger see this situation?

Focus on your own interest.  How does the problem look?

GIFT, SEE LIFE AS A

Is there a gift for you in this problem?
Is there a gift for someone else in this problem?
Do you see a gift that you can show to someone else?

GOAL ORIENTED

How many different goals are involved here?
What goal is most different from yours?
Could you miss a good solution because it doesn't look like your goal?

Goal Setter, Good

What is the best goal statement for this problem?

What are the goals that other players might have?

What are the goals you wish other players had?

Hard-working

Is the reward for hard work sometimes more hard work?

Are any of the other players hard-working?

Can you make a detailed plan for a solution you like?

Can Keep my cool

Do other people interpret calm as unconcerned?

Do other players need to vent their feelings? 

Do other players know your feelings? 

Honest, Sincere

How would things look to someone who is dishonest?

Are you being honest about the outcome you want?

Is there some other player who is not being honest?

Humor, Sense of

How would you use this problem to get a laugh?

Can you think of jokes that fit the situation?

Would other players enjoy your humorous viewpoint?

Imagery, Good

Pick a promising solution. Imagine the result.

You have one wish. What do you wish for to fix things?

Imagine what happens if you do nothing.

Imaginative

Imagine a story that starts with this situation.  How does it end?

Imagine you don’t do anything.  What happens?

Imagine what happens if someone else picks the solution.

IMITATOR, GOOD

Can you find something worth imitating in a player?
Can you imitate to predict what a player will do?
Can you imitate  to show the results of a choice?

Independent

Who else is independent in this situation? 

Is it possible to be too independent?

How would you fix things if you were in control?

Thinkerer.org

INTUITIVE

Do your intuitive modules need more time?
Do you know what your intuitive modules are telling you?
What does your intuition tell you about the other players?

INVENTIVE

Can you see a novel way around this problem?
Can you turn this problem into opportunity?
Can you twist the standard standard solution to fit this problem?

JOBLET joyful

Do other players know the joy of joblets?
Do you know the joblets in this problem?
Can you help other people know the joy of joblets?

Thinkerer.org

Leader, Good

What teamwork would help to solve this problem?

How would you handle this problem if you were in charge?

How would a poor leader handle this problem?

Learn, Willing to

Can you learn how other people view the situation?

Can you learn what solutions other players like?

Can you find ideas and resources on the web?

LISTENER, GOOD

Can you hear what the other players want?
Can you hear what the other players feel?
Can you help other players understand their wants?

Thinkerer.org

Logical

Analyze the situation in terms of goals, costs, benefits.

What emotions do you expect?  How will you handle them?

Prioritize what you want to accomplish.

Loyal

What would you do if a friend has this problem?

Is there more than one way to be loyal?

How would things look to someone who is not loyal?

Mechanical

Can you look at the problem as a machine needing repair?

What parts are not working well?

Can you repair or replace parts?

Optimistic

What would be the best possible outcome?

Are some of the players too pessimistic?

Are some of the players too optimistic?

Organized

How would you pair players with solutions/

Can you find an optimal solution?

List what you want to accomplish.  Can you set priorities?

Patient

Is anybody being patient with you?

How will the other players interpret your patience?

Can a person be too patient in this situation?

Peacemaker

What outcomes would minimize conflict?

What outcomes will get conflict over quickly?

What outcomes would see that nobody loses?

Persistent

Are some of the other players also persistent?

Can a person be too persistent?

Is there more than one way to keep trying?

Planner, Good

Can you think of several plans of action? 

What plan would some other player devise?

What plan would a poor planner devise?

PLAYFUL

What would be the funniest way to solve this problem?
Who else is playful in this situation?
Are some people too serious here?

Thinkerer.org

Practical

What are the obstacles you foresee?

What can you do if you run into obstacles?

What solution would be easiest to carry out?

Principled

What principles are guiding the other players?

Do some of your principles conflict with others here?

Do you need to find a new principle for this situation?

Problem-Solver

Are there several different ways to describe the problem?

Why can’t you just ignore the problem?

What problems like this have already been solved?

Reality, Negotiates with

What are outcomes will Reality let you have?

Are some of the players doing wishful thinking? 

What other players negotiate with Reality?

Religious

Do you have faith that this problem will be solved?

What would your favorite religious figure do?

Can you seek guidance from a higher power?

Resilient

Who are the least resilient of the other players?

What other players are resilient?

How does being resilient relate to problem-solving?

Resourceful

What solution is nobody else likely to think of?

How could you do the opposite of what people expect?

What would be an obvious way to handle the situation?

Responsible

What are your responsibilities in this matter ?

Do some other people have a share in the problem?

How would things look to someone not responsible?

SCHEDULER, GOOD

What is your schedule for finding a solution?
What other schedules are there in this game?
How will you know you are on track and on schedule?

Self-ACCEPTING

What other players are self-accepting?
What other players are short on self-acceptance?
How will self-acceptance affect what people do?

Self-AWARE

What other players are strongly self-aware?
What are players missing by lack of self-awareness?
Can being self-aware ever be a disadvantage?

Self-DISCIPLINED

What other players are self-disciplined?
What is the discipline the other players?
Can a self-disciplined person chose the wrong discipline?

Self-confident

What other players are self-confident?

What other players are short on self-confidence?

How will the self-confidence affect what people do?

Self-directing

What other players are self-directing?

What is directing the other players?

Can a self-directing person ever change directions?

Self-STARTING

What other players are self-starting?
What other players need a start that you could give?
Is how you start as important as when you start?

Sensitive to Needs of Others

How will this problem, and the solution, affect others?

Pick someone you disagree with.  What do they need?

How would things look to a disinterested party?

SHARE THE WINS of Others

Whose win would you like to share?
Who would like to share your win?
Who else can share the wins of others?

SKEPTICAL

A player has a solution. Whose problem are they solving?
Somebody offers you something. Why?
You have a solution. Who will be skeptical?

STRENGTH FROM ADVERSITY

Where is the adversity that you could use here?
What strength do you want to draw from this adversity?
How will you feel if you draw strength from this adversity?

Thinkerer.org

Writer, Good

Write a description of the outcome you want.

Write a story about how the problem gets solved.

Write advice on how to solve problems like this.

Thinkerer.org

Thinkerer.org