ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how people can pull these two strands together into a coherent process for problem-solving. It examines some background ideas about problem-solving and a seven-step process for problem-solving that will enable to develop holistic solutions. The chapter considers environmental and intellectual obstacles and then looks at physiological and cultural ones, which are interconnected. Finding solutions to problems can be very difficult and requires a considerable investment of such precious commodities as thought, concentration and time. As both intellect and culture are connected with processing within the brain, it is useful to distinguish here that intellectual obstacles refer to those related to reason and knowledge, rather than the emotional activity associated with culture. Western thinking is largely derived from ideas that were formulated during the classical Greek period. A key concept that the Greeks introduced was that of personal agency, the idea that people are in charge of their own lives and can influence the environment around them.
