Solving complex problems by making toast

Today I stumbled upon a nice TED talk about complex problem solving.  The presenter, Tom Wujec asks “Got a wicked problem?  First, tell me how you make toast.”  As a full time web developer, I’m constantly breaking down complex problems into simpler more manageable tasks, and think there’s definitely a connection between this process and the writing process as well.  Mr Wujec identifies the common things people come up with when they are asked to draw out the steps in making toast.   These common things are NODES and LINKS, ITERATION and SYNTHESIS.  Watch the video and see how it parallels story telling.