5 Ways to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills on an Internship

The word ‘problem’ takes its roots from Ancient Greece. It was used to describe something ‘thrown or put forward’. That is, something thrown at you. Hence the phrase, ‘when life throws you a curveball’… make… curveball… lemonade. Or something…

Bad analogy aside, after a certain age, curveballs start coming in all shapes, sizes, and shades. There’s emotional pitfalls, career hesitations, shifting priorities and everything else that makes life a curveball in its own right. 

The origins of these problems may vary, but luckily they are resolvable with a few small changes in your habits or mindsets. And since an internship, however exciting, is packed with things to throw at you, here are Beyond Academy’s top five habits to improve your problem-solving.

Thousands of years after Homer’s debut epic poem The Iliad and its highly-anticipated sequel The Odyssey, many of us are still engrossed in reading. 

Evolution has made reading such a core trait of human development that we’ve started to creatively use the word. For example, we ‘read a person’ or ‘read minds’. 

By now you’ve probably seen hundreds of videos on YouTube debating the worth of reading fiction as opposed to non-fiction. And while each genre has different benefits, reading in general has the same impact on your brain overall.

Research involving MRI scans reveals how your brain quite literally lights up as you read. One reason your ball of gray matter glows is that it reacts to reading the same it would to walking.

It is no surprise William Styner thought that reading should ‘leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end’.  After all, you are walking through lives you never realized possible! 

Tons of research goes into reading every year, and none of it shows reading in a negative light. It engages a huge portion of your cognitive abilities and compels you to question your surroundings. 

Some look at reading and think that is just another form of passive entertainment. But what they fail to see is that reading invites you to actively communicate with the book – and yourself.

Perhaps the biggest benefit in terms of problem-solving is reading’s visualization factor. To fully enjoy reading, one has to imagine the plot inside his or her thinking box. 

As it turns out, visualization is an integral step of problem solving. ‘The first stage in a skilled problem-solving process’, Erik Corte writes, ‘is structuring an appropriate initial representation of the problem.’

You’ll recognize this moment every time you’re struck by a memory or movie reference and exclaim, ‘o-o-o-oh, it’s like that one time when…’ Most problems don’t ask for a solution from scratch, but require a visualization of something familiar. 

The more books you read and problems you solve, the higher the volume of representations of problems you’ll accumulate. 

No, this is not paid advertising. It’s a term that describes a scientific phenomenon that takes place inside your cereal bowl every morning.

Dubbed the Cheerios Effect, this phenomenon involves the clumping of leftover cereal on top of your milk. While scientists use the effect to explain how cereal stays afloat, there’s a romantic analogy to be made. 

What we can make of it is that you can never solely rely on yourself for a solution. Teamwork is constantly in demand and is a strength that reappears time and again in hiring criteria.

It gives off a huge cliché vibe, I know. But companies with strong teamwork and good communication are 50% less likely to have lower employee turnover. 

Also, great teamwork increases innovation by 15%, which has something to do with the vortex of ideas churned by everyone.

All in all, a solution shouldn’t always come out of you. Sometimes it’s a collective product. 

As simple as it sounds, communication can be a tiresome task. And even awkward if you’re not the social type others think you are. That’s why Beyond Academy’s team of career experts can prepare you for your real-life internship experience, and Beyond.

With easy first steps and digestible bites, it’s high time you get a total career makeover! 

While the term was coined by British psychologist, Tony Buzan, for many, myself included, mind maps first caught our attention when the hit show Sherlock was on air. 

The TV series introduced us to the idea of a ‘mind palace’ – a mental depository of facts and ideas. Sherlock accessed his ‘mind palace’ by descending into a semi-conscious state. Though we don’t suggest you go to such extremes.

Instead, try out and experiment with the plethora of mind map software available. 

Once you get the hang of the layout, the rest is a piece of cake. Mind maps help you to alleviate the instinctive stress that comes with solving problems. 

A mind map allows you to lay out all your thoughts and ideas externally. Contrary to the idea of forcing a solution out of our brains, mind maps are the perfect way to gain a comprehensive, objective view of your situation. 

Where mind maps truly shine is their versatility. If done communally, you can even collate your colleagues’ ideas to get a sense of the bigger picture. 

Steven King was once asked if he keeps a journal. In response, he answered that ‘a journal is a good way to immortalize bad ideas… good ideas stay around’.

You probably expect all tips to add something to your problem-solving process, but it’s better to have some things out than in. 

Now is Stephen King right about journaling? We’ll get back to that in a minute. First, let’s focus on what it can do for you. 

As just noted, journaling is a proper outlet your emotions and problems. It gives you a bird’s eye view of where you currently are – both emotionally and intellectually. 

Plato once wrote that if people rely too much on writing, eventually they’ll spiral into utter forgetfulness. Thankfully, he was wrong. But he was right about one thing – writing declogs our minds and lends us a wider perspective on how we confront problems.

Without mentioning all the other studies done on the benefits of writing, writing by hand is a criminally underrated mental exercise!

Let’s return to the issue we left behind – is Mr. King speaking the truth about ideas that stick? To a certain extent, yes. 

If you’re unfamiliar with peripateticism, allow me to give you a quick overview. Put simply, it’s walking while discussing ideas. 

The philosopher Aristotle reasoned that the best way to construct meaning and ideas is to flex your head muscles while walking outside. And now you know why universities have such large campuses. Those swathes of land are your ‘thinking zone’. 

Aristotle wasn’t far from the truth. When you walk, blood gets busy and asks for more oxygen. This naturally increases our oxygen levels and gives us a nice ‘idea buzz’. That’s why most of us tend to get our brightest epiphanies while walking or running.  

As an additional bonus, you’re not only training your problem-solving skills – it’s good exercise too!

If you hoped for solid answers to your questions on problem-solving then I’m sorry to disappoint you. 

Training your mind to detect problems, analyze probabilities and come up with answers is a long-term development program. There’s no hack or quick fix!

It takes attention, awareness, and discipline to hone these traits. But don’t panic, because we can help.

Beyond Academy helps young graduates and aspiring professionals find the right role for them. We’ll carefully design a training program tailored to your unique strengths and weaknesses; and our skills workshop and 1-to-1 career coaching session are available to every intern who enrols with us.

No matter your background and education, we at Beyond are ready to analyze every nook and cranny of what makes you – you. And figure out where you feel most comfortable! 

To find out more about our immersive, internship programs, why not take a look at the range of internships we offer. From Art to Engineering, HR to Law – in a plethora of countries worldwide – find out how we can take you Beyond!