As well as making them tall, the Dutch can also churn out some pretty imaginative and smart people. None more so than in our eyes than Simone Ritter and colleagues. Some years ago we came across her work in the field of creativity and the social factors that govern our ability to solve problems through moments of inspiration.

Well we had layer upon layer of problem to solve. The techniques that Simone developed are frequently employed in an effort to break intellectual impasses. We have also tried the alternative approach of sitting and staring and it truly sucks!

The great aspect to her work is that it can be customised to suit any situation – basically one aims to shock the mind into action by changing everyday tasks around, outcomes remain the same but the process of task completion is turned on its head. Fun and seriously effective – if you have a problem then read up on their techniques and wait for your brain to work its magic!