Adapted from Marwin Minsky: Emotion Machine, Part VII
Knowing how. But you may not know how to retrieve what we know.
Extensive Search. Product finishing. DPLL.
Reasoning by Analogy. CNF to CSP.
Divide and Conquer. Break it down into simpler parts.
Planning.
Simplification. Make a simplified problem by ignoring some aspects of the original one. Abstract away from details of CNF and CSP.
Elevation. If you are bogged down in too many details, describe the situation in more general terms. But if your description is too vague, switch to one that is more concrete. DemeterF. Requirments document.