I have taken on intractable problems and succeeded in finding novel solutions to them (with a team) Here's some advice.
Don't give up before at least you:
1. Prototype many solutions, and identify their "dead ends" through engagement with reality.
2. Share your progress as widely as you can - If at a company, share your progress internally once you reach a dead end / challenge you can't overcome. "Many minds make light work". Your challenge might not be the same as a colleague or leader has encountered before, but it may be similar in some way, and there may be a smaller piece of the puzzle that they have solved before. Have faith that creative solutions you could never have anticipated at first most likely will emerge, but maybe not first from your own mind. If a public project, share as widely as you can. When sharing, skip to the dead-end part quickly so you can spark the minds of your audience and engage them in the search for solutions.
3. Use true "design thinking" which is abductive reasoning and reframing. For more on what exactly that is, and how to do it, I recommend the writing of Kees Dorst in his book "Frame Innovation". "Universal Traveler" is another good resource.
Don't give up before at least you:
1. Prototype many solutions, and identify their "dead ends" through engagement with reality.
2. Share your progress as widely as you can - If at a company, share your progress internally once you reach a dead end / challenge you can't overcome. "Many minds make light work". Your challenge might not be the same as a colleague or leader has encountered before, but it may be similar in some way, and there may be a smaller piece of the puzzle that they have solved before. Have faith that creative solutions you could never have anticipated at first most likely will emerge, but maybe not first from your own mind. If a public project, share as widely as you can. When sharing, skip to the dead-end part quickly so you can spark the minds of your audience and engage them in the search for solutions.
3. Use true "design thinking" which is abductive reasoning and reframing. For more on what exactly that is, and how to do it, I recommend the writing of Kees Dorst in his book "Frame Innovation". "Universal Traveler" is another good resource.
https://www.amazon.com/Frame-Innovation-Create-Thinking-Desi...
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Traveler-Soft-Systems-Creat...
Here's a good video of a talk by Kees Dorst that can help you understand what Reframing is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60jMV00kfk