[tigershark]

Maybe I go against the common thought here, but for me I think it is completely useless. Whenever I start working on a problem I obviously have an approach in my mind, but very often I find out that is the wrong one. And I can realise it only after I start working on the actual problem and solving it. At a certain point I will find some obstacle that will make me rethink the whole approach. For this reason I can't really see the added value in spending more time before actually tackling a problem once you have a plan in your head. The most important thing to do when solving problems is to be prepared to change your point of view multiple times and to attack the problems from several different directions. I'm sorry but I really can't see how writing in stone your approach before you fully understand the problem can help you in any way...

[andreareina]

The way I interpreted it was basically an iterated Feynman Algorithm[1]:

1. Write down the problem

2. Think real hard

3. Write down the solution

4. Write down how well it worked

5. GOTO 2

I do something similar using org-mode, and it's useful when, after some time has passed and I need to do the same thing again, I can go back to my notes and not start from scratch again.

[1] http://wiki.c2.com/?FeynmanAlgorithm