Albert Einstein famously said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.”
Lynn Christensen, senior vice president of product development at Workday, dug deeper into the meaning of Einstein’s observation during a recent Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner hosted by Workday. She asked the audience, “How long would it take you to solve a problem?”
Many of the attendees initially responded that they would try and solve it as quickly as possible. However, Christensen suggested they spend more time thinking about the problem. Speaking from her own professional experience, she said software engineers should always take a step back to understand why they’re developing something in order to come up with a creative solution.
The mission of the weekly Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners, which companies throughout the area take turns hosting, is to connect women in the technology field. In addition to Christensen, other featured Workday speakers included Greg Pryor, vice president of leadership and organizational effectiveness, and Ali Fuller, director of UX product management. They discussed how they innovate within their respective organizations and gave tips to the audience on how they can be innovative in their own roles.