Breaking Free From the Analytical Mold

We, as developers, are required to be analytical to solve the problems that arise in day to day work. We use our analysis skills to break a problem down into smaller parts and offer solutions to each one, and in turn, create a solution to the larger problem.

While this is great, and it typically solves all the problems we run across, I’ve noticed that it begins to get into our code as well, making it overly procedural. We begin to think just like computers work – logical and procedural.

It’s always good to be logical. It’s one of the things that keeps our code working and understandable. Other developers won’t have much trouble following logical code, that is coded well (both are not always present together).

But…

A logical, analytical solution to a problem may not always be the best solution, just as a logical, analytical process to find that solution may not be the best method to employ.

Often some of the best solutions are those that analysis would quickly write off as being an inferior solution. Upon further investigation though, these quirky, creative, solutions can be exactly what is needed to get a job done, and done well.

Creativity

Developers work with computers so much, and are so used to feeding them instructions that they get stuck in this “logic rut”, which makes them miss certain solutions because they can’t make the intellectual jump to another thought path. This is where creativity comes in. If you’ve ever spent a couple hours talking with an Art Director, or any other creative person, you may have noticed that they’re able to bounce around from subject to subject without giving it a second thought.

Everything triggers a new idea for them, and most of the time (to us developers anyway), those ideas seem totally disconnected. It’s this kind of thinking that we as overly-analytical developers need to begin to use. It will allow for much more dynamic and robust solutions, as we’d be able to cover every angle and think of many more of those “one off” situations that always seem to happen.

The bottom line

You really have two options – learn to be creative and think creatively, or get someone who can. Learning to be creative (it’s a skill, just like being logical is) is a long road, but it can be fun and very rewarding. I’ve been spending the past two or three years learning to be creative. Some of the things I’ve focused on are web/brand design, since they can be simple and still attractive and effective. It gives me a great challenge, and I’m interested in it.

At work it’s not only helped me come up with better solutions to problems, but it’s changed my coding a bit too. I have simpler, more creative solutions to complex problems.

As a backup, I’ll usually run solutions to larger problems by our Sr. Art Director to see what he thinks about it. There have been a couple times when he’s said “Why don’t you just do this…” and has totally blown my socks off with a simple answer that none of us developers were able to see. And this comes from a non-technical person.

So give it a whirl. Download a trial of Photoshop, or try your hand at Flash or Flex. If this is something you’re already doing, and you have additional advice or resources for others, leave a comment with the info.