Life is full of obstacles. However, sometimes, confronting an obstacle head-on doesn’t always lead to the kind of outcome you’re hoping for. Sometimes, a problem can stump you because you just don’t know how to approach it. Sometimes you will need to find your way around it.
Changing the way you think about and approach your problems can make things much easier. Let’s look at some tried and tested ways you can approach problems from a different angle, which can lead to much better results.
1. Invert or reverse engineer the problem.
Many people ask, “How do I succeed?” when they are trying to better understand and solve a problem. They are trying to map the journey from the start to finish.
But instead of doing that, try inverting it or approaching it in reverse.
The idea of inversion has been around since the ancient Stoics, but it was popularized in modern times by billionaire investor Charlie Munger. To employ it, ask yourself, “What would cause me to fail this endeavor?” Then, once you identify those obstacles, you can take steps to remove them.
The idea of reverse engineering, which is as old as human invention itself, can also help you find a more direct path to your solution. Instead of asking “How do I get there?” start at the destination and work backward, step by step, until you reach where you are now.
What’s more, when you know the destination you want to arrive at, you can look and see how other people got there.
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel if someone has already found their way to your destination. That’s just wasted time that could be dedicated to progress or overcoming other problems.
2. Zoom in on the problem.
We often focus on the big goal, but big goals are always composed of meeting many smaller goals. In psychology, this technique is known as goal decomposition.
For example, I wanted to improve my physical health because I haven’t taken very good care of myself. That is a big goal. If I stay focused on that goal, it becomes too intangible to make meaningful progress toward. After all, what does it mean to “be healthier” anyway?
In my case, a lot of it had to do with my relationship with food. A big step in improving my physical health was developing more mindfulness about how and what I ate and drank.
That is a much smaller problem to focus on that I can directly fix. I can control what I put into my body. What I can’t control is “improving my physical health” because that’s not specific enough.
3. Utilize “root cause analysis” to look for the underlying problem instead of patching up.
To piggyback on my previous example, the health problems I was running into were because I hadn’t been taking care of myself. And those health problems were being patched up with solutions. I went to a doctor, and they gave me high blood pressure meds and something to help out with my blood sugar. Those things are great and helpful, but they don’t address the actual root problem.
The actual problem is that I was not eating and drinking in a healthy way.
So I cleaned up how I ate a great deal, and I became more mindful of what I drank. We drink a tremendous amount of calories and sugar in sodas, juices, and coffees. I started swapping those things out with water and zero-sugar drinks, and it made a huge difference.
For you, this might look different. For example, if you’re constantly missing deadlines because you’re taking on too much work, buying a planner might help you track the deadline better, but it isn’t going to fix the root problem. The fix is going to be learning to say no to things that aren’t your responsibility.
4. Impose limits on your decision-making process.
As a young writer, I loathed the idea of putting limits on my creativity.
What do you mean I should limit what I have to say!? I’m a writer! If I deem it necessary, it should go into my work! No matter how many words!
But, as I grew and matured as a writer, I came to understand the value of adding restrictions to not only my work, but to problem-solving as well. It’s a technique known as “creative constraints” used as early as the 13th Century in poetry creation that can be incredibly helpful to unlock ideas.
Essentially, constraints force you to think differently. When you can’t rely on your usual resources, time, or approaches, you have to get creative.
Why? Because most humans are creatures of habit. If you’re left to your own devices without any constraints, you’re probably going to fall into your already established habit. But that habit might not lead you to a solution, or at least not to a solution you haven’t tried before, so you may need a different approach.
So try limiting the resources, time, or money that you’re dedicating to a problem to force yourself to think outside of the box.
And if you tend to panic under pressure, instead of thinking, “I only have an hour to research and figure out this problem!” you can reframe that to, “I have an hour to research this problem, then I will make the best decision I can with the information I have.”
5. Know when to stop tinkering by adopting the “satisficer” mindset.
Perfectionism is a fairly common trait. It often stems from anxiety and feeling out of control. It’s that mindset of, “If nothing else, I can attempt to control whatever is right in front of me.”
Well, sort of.
The reality is that perfectionism is an illusion. Not every problem needs to be perfectly solved, and not every problem can be perfectly solved, because perfection is subjective.
Sometimes, you just need to make progress. And often, a solution or progress that’s good enough rather than perfect is the better (and more feasible) approach. Herbert Simon, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and psychologist, called this “satisficing.”
What’s more, not only is perfection not possible, but over-tinkering with a problem can actually make your work worse.
For example, a bad writing habit I used to have was to try to include every relevant point I could to make myself understood. That made my writing incredibly dense and hard to follow. I eventually learned that using one, maybe two, of the strongest points was a much better approach.
6. Think in the context of probabilities, not certainties.
Certainty is not something that is ever guaranteed. You can lay down the finest, most detailed plan, and it can completely blow up in your face because of some unexpected event.
As such, instead of aiming for a certain outcome, opt for increasing your chances of attaining the outcome that you’re looking for. You do this by employing a strategy used by mathematicians, behavioral economists, psychologists, and decision theorists called “probabilistic thinking.”
Ask yourself: what is most likely to help me overcome this problem? Think about the options available to you and mentally rank them.
Which approach has worked for most people in a similar situation?
Which solution has the most things going for it?
You don’t need to have exact numbers, just a rough sense of “this is more likely to work than that.” This can help you make better decisions and focus your energy based on the likelihood of success.
Then, you can just keep trying the things that are most likely to get you closer to the solution.
But remember, nothing in life is certain, so don’t aim for certainty. You’ll only set yourself up for failure and disappointment. Instead, be prepared for things not to go according to plan, so you can stay flexible and adapt.
7. Separate facts from opinions using critical thinking skills.
Opinions can lead you down the wrong road because an opinion is often heavily influenced by personal experience. And your personal experience may be drastically different from mine, or from the next person.
What worked for me may not work for you, and vice versa. For example, let’s say you landed a job and it was due to your excellent cover letter and resumé. I could ask you for help with mine, but it may not be as good due to differences in the jobs we’re applying for or skills that we have to highlight.
It would be incorrect to assume you can help me land a job because you landed a good job.
Instead, it’s a better idea to get to the facts of the problem to find a solution using critical thinking, which has roots dating back as far as Socrates. Ask yourself, “What are the facts of this situation that would be true for anyone? And what is unique to my circumstances?”
In the job example, the facts might be the specific requirements of the role, the unique skills needed (and the unique skill I possess), and the resumé format the employer prefers.
You don’t need to discount other people’s experiences altogether, but work with the facts and hold the opinions loosely.
8. Consider multiple perspectives.
In my mental health recovery, one problem-solving skill I came to develop was considering the exact opposite of my perspective.
Why? Because everything that I thought I believed was tainted by my own experiences, which included years of mental illness. That included feeling hopeless about certain problems, like improving my mental and physical health.
Instead, I had to break out of those old patterns of thinking by looking for alternative perspectives. It’s a well-known de-biasing strategy originating in the 1980s known as “considering the opposite.” Essentially, I took everything that I thought I believed, and I actively looked for the counterarguments.
The same approach works with problem-solving, because it helps you break out of your habitual patterns. And we all have habitual patterns influenced by our experiences, mental illness or not.
9. Know when to stop trying to solve a problem.
Sometimes, life gives us problems that do not have a solution. And you can burn many late nights by trying to force your way through them.
There will be times in life when you’re confronted with a problem that just doesn’t have a solution.
It helps to be able to identify and accept when you aren’t able to solve a problem yourself, so you can ask for help or know when to give up.
There are times when all you can do is accept the problem. Maybe it will be solvable later with new information or additional resources, or maybe it won’t – and that’s okay.
The Buddhist-inspired practice of “radical acceptance” can help with this. Radical acceptance is to acknowledge and embrace reality as it is, without judgment or resistance. You don’t have to like or approve of it; you simply stop fighting the facts to reduce your suffering.
Closing thoughts…
You’ll be confronted with many problems throughout your life. Knowing how to troubleshoot and approach problems from different angles can help you find solutions that work for you.
Sometimes, the best you can hope for is an imperfect solution. Learn to be okay with that. A solution doesn’t always need to be perfect. In many cases, a solution just needs to be good enough.
Lastly, know that it’s okay to give up on a problem if it doesn’t seem to have a solution. If you’ve exhausted every approach trying to find a solution, and there doesn’t appear to be one, there might not be. That’s just life.
