Problem Solving 101

Problems that need to be solved in general can vary dramatically and yet through the years I’ve found that there are certain key ways of thinking and actions you can take that you should carry with you in problem solving in almost any area.

I found this great quote in the book “Digging Into WordPress” by Chris Coyier  and Jeff Starr:

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. The inverse proposition also appears to be true: A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system.

— JOHN GALL

The same I think then is true for all complex problems!

So what’s the first step in problem solving?  Make more problems! – Don’t try to come up with a solution or even start planning a solution for the main problem just yet. Instead think of a smaller problem that will be easier to solve than the bigger problem and work on finding a solution to that.

Starting this way has a lot of benefits.

Firstly I personally find it very engaging as a problem solver myself as it allows me to think freely with a “problem solving” mindset before I put on my organization and planning hat.

If you’re able to solve the simpler version, then stop and ask yourself what you’ve learned.

Also you may even find that not even the smaller problem can be solved, which sounds negative but if through rigorous logic you’re 100% certain of this and that by extension the larger problem isn’t solvable then you may have just saved yourself a ton of time!

I also like to use the metaphor of digging a tunnel. We want the tunnel to go to a certain destination, but we have very primitive tools to help us navigate to the destination so we’ve got to do some “trial and error digging”. We start to build very small and narrow tunnels that can only fit our tiny scouts. They dig off into underground oblivion with their limited understanding of the destination coupled with their innate instincts and years of experience of knowing where the destination might be. If they poke a hole out into the atmosphere and find they’re in Papa New Guinea rather than China then they haven’t wasted too much time and resources getting there. Finally if they’re able to find the destination then the larger team can get to work with planning the actual tunnel build with much rigor. It will be able to carry large loads of goods and people, it will be secure and long lasting.

Allow for that time of initial research when problem solving that is unstructured and free because different results will be yielded in such an environment. Then when it’s time for the heavy lifting put your planning cap on and bring that rigor, knowing though, that you will need to make time to solve other problems along the way applying the same method as you work on the rest of the project.

As a corollary: Similarly in teaching a concept to someone: Always start with a simple example, a story, then when that example is understood, explain the general concept.