"A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points."
-- Alan Kay
My biggest hurdle solving new problems is divining a unifying, simplifying metaphor. Once you have the right notion, that Eureka! moment, everything falls into place, like magic.
Like how Kepler was able to fully explain Bache's astronomical data once he realized the planets orbits the sun.
Personal example: I used to write print production software. Placing pages onto much larger sheets of paper that get folded and bound into a book. A task called image positioning aka imposition. It took me years to figure out how to model the problem. Key insight was simulating the work backwards, from binding back to the press. Then when I showed the new solution to my coworkers, the response was "Well, duh."
Like how Kepler was able to fully explain Bache's astronomical data once he realized the planets orbits the sun.
Personal example: I used to write print production software. Placing pages onto much larger sheets of paper that get folded and bound into a book. A task called image positioning aka imposition. It took me years to figure out how to model the problem. Key insight was simulating the work backwards, from binding back to the press. Then when I showed the new solution to my coworkers, the response was "Well, duh."