I often listen to music whilst working. One day I switched on the radio and a piece of orchestral music was playing that I did not know. There was something about it, however, that caught my attention and stopped me from working; it was something about the way the woodwinds were playing. The composer had given them a prominent part that rode above and through the orchestra much as a surfer rides above and through the waves of the sea.

I knew that I had heard this type of woodwind writing before (it was almost like a cold wind cutting across a vast frozen landscape), but I had not previously heard it in this style of music, which was that of the early to mid 19^th century romantic period. I waited until the end of the piece and found that the Swedish composer Franz Berwald had written it. Immediately, the penny dropped: I had heard this type of prominent woodwind writing in the orchestral work of the Danish (again Scandinavian) composer Carl Nielsen. Nielsen was a composer of the mid 19^th to early 20^th century who’s music, although stemming from the earlier romantic style, wrote in a much more individual and modernistic way. To my ears, however, Neilsen’s woodwind writing bore a remarkable similarity to that of Berwald’s in the way it cut through the rest of the orchestra like a chill wind cuts through warm clothing.

Recognising the influences that led to something’s existence and subsequent development can enhance our understanding of its nature and if we are focusing upon a problem, knowing what shaped it can help us address it effectively.

The next time you need to address a problem explore its history and ask:

• What demands and other external pressures helped to influence and shape it?
• What customs and practices influenced and contributed to it?
• What types of thinking and perceptions influenced and contributed to it?
• What individuals and groups of people have been central to its development?
• What is unique and interesting about the influences and pressures that led to its existence?

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