Karl Popper, the great philosopher, said “All problems are either clouds or clocks.” To understand a clock, you take it apart and study the individual pieces. In the case of a cloud, there’s no way to take it apart. It’s a dynamic, emergent system that must be studied as a whole.New York Times columnist David Brooks says that as a society we tend to take cloud problems and pretend they are clock problems. This is true in cases like the human brain, national and organizational culture, team spirit, and poverty. If we thought in terms of emergent systems, he says, we would have a more supple view of the way the world actually works.In this module, Brooks discusses the merits of shifting your approach to creative problem-solving.