I just finished Problem Solving 101 by Ken Wantabe and found it a delightfully simple look at how to solve problems. Ken frames problem solving in this way:

Problem solving isn’t a talent some people have and others don’t. It’s a habit. By developing the right skills and adopting the right attitude, anyone can become a problem-solving kid.

Ken identifies four aspects of problem solving:

Understand the current situation.

Identify the root cause of the problem.

develop an effective action plan.

Execute until the problem is solved.

That’s a simple and accurate view of problem solving. Sounds a lot like Scratch programming or any computer programming, doesn’t it?

Ken originally wrote the book as a guide for Japanese schoolchildren, but it has gained an international business audience. It’s easy to see why.

Check it out for yourself. Purchase via Amazon affiliate link.

Do  you think creating games takes a magical touch of brilliance and creativity?

Andrew Woodbridge challenges your notion the click me challenge. [Thanks to David Barnes for the tip].

Andrew says:

One of the things I mentioned was to create a very simple game, as quickly as possible, to get that out of your system. You CAN make games. You can take all those half-created demos and random collection of code that you’ve amassed like a giant Tinker-Toy set and you can make that into a game. I flippantly mentioned something like “Click Me to Get Points” as a lame game that you wouldn’t share with your best friend, but that could help you realize that “yes” it’s easy and fun to make games.

This concept dovetails well with Scratch. Scratch makes it easy to create games that can start simple, engage the creator, and grow into something more complex and interesting as your skills grow.

If you’ve read Scratch 1.4 Beginner’s Guide, then you know that I’m not exactly the most creative game developer to ever write a computer programming tutorial. However, the projects cumulatively add programming concepts and complexity. I had fun writing it, and there’s lots of room for your own customizations.

I happen to believe the dirty secret with Andrew’s post is that it applies to other creative activities, such as writing. Start simple, move quickly, and iterate.

How about you? Do you wish you had what it takes to learn how to create games?

Scratch 2.0 features support for mobile devices, social media, group authoring, and web-based remixing.

Too bad Scratch 2.0 doesn’t exist yet. However, if the MIT team wins the Digital Media and Learning competition, those are the proposed features for the next generation of Scratch.

Andres Monroy-Hernandez from the Scratch team talks about the award in a forum post, here. The text of the competition submissoin at Digital Media and Learning is here: http://dmlcompetition.net/pligg/story.php?title=241.