Have You Ever Inverted Your Thinking To Solve a Problem
We often struggle to solve problems. At the moment we might not even have the right physical or mental tools with which to solve the problem.
The problem often stems in that we might know what we want BUT we are not super clear as to how to go about getting the problem solved. Most often we can not define what we want really well.
What is interesting is that we seldom struggle to define what we don’t want. We can identify our pain points BUT moving towards pleasure is not so clear.
Let me give you an example…
Suppose you asked 100 people for their secret to career success. They will probably give you 150 different theories as to why they succeeded. Some might insist that their strategy is the best and only one to be followed.
BUT when you pull back you closely examine their success they could not explain how their strategy from the beginning led them to their success. They have often modified their story to fit the positive narrative that they believe.
So is there an alternative to getting to a solution?
I believe that inverting our thinking gives us a lot of clues and a strategy for how to potentially solve our problem. It starts with identifying what we don’t want.
For our career example if you asked people what it takes to really screw up a career they will quickly generate a list of what not to do. Things such as not showing up for work, doing poor work, being a bad team member, not understanding office politics, envy, ego, etc.
So maybe when we struggle to solve a problem we could get a better start at it by simply NOT doing the opposite. By not doing the opposite might lead us to a better solution eventually.
I recently watched a video on Charlie Munger’s mental; models and this is one that was mentioned. What was interesting was the quote used to explain Warren Buffett’s and his success.
“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently NOT stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”
So according to Charlie, practicing NOT being stupid is a better strategy than trying to be very smart. Is it easier to identify what is the stupidest thing you can do in a situation? Yes, it usually is very obvious.
NOT doing stupid things is still a challenge for people and companies because individuals and companies want to be seen as intelligent. But it seems that a great starting point is simply NOT being stupid.
Notice that in the picture the inventor was very clever. They solved a real problem for many people. What was the stupid thing? Well, from a person’s point of view it was having to squeeze catchup over fries. From a fast-food restaurant’s point of view, it was to have to buy small catchup packets that people simply tossed. Powerful ideas could be developed by identifying these inverted models and then possibly the solution will become more obvious.
My four cents…
