Learn To Love The Problem
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Having problems is *not* the problem. Can you find the opportunity and build a better or novel solution?
SETTING THE SCENE
“Consensus makes you comfortable. Dissent makes you smarter. Integrity is trying to get it right, not being right”- Adam Grant
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise.”- F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.”- Walt Whitman
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”- Jane Goodall
“When we encounter changes, we need to make decisions and do something different because we face a different phenomenon. We need to decide and act, and whatever we decide to do is itself a change that leads to new problems. Every problem or opportunity introduced by change generates a solution, which causes more change, and we face a new reality and a new set of problems or opportunities. Thus as long as there is change, there will be problems and opportunities.”- Ichak Adizes
“It's not about being optimistic that things will work out. It's about being optimistic about what happens when they don't.” —Kfir Damari, cofounder of SpaceIL
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
What do you do when you're faced with a big decision?
What are the decisions that define you?
How do you reduce the loss of control that inevitably comes when a wild problem requires a leap in the dark?
Is there a better way to make quality decisions so you can think clearly, feel more confident, second-guess yourself less, and ultimately be more decisive and be more productive?
How can you adopt an experimentation mindset and make experimentation a continuous, repeatable process?
What mindset is needed for perpetual innovation and relentless experimentation?
How can you Work Creatively! to be more effective as a strategist, innovator or problem-solver?
How can you listen with systemic thinking to uncover what’s behind the apparent problem?
How can you seek viewpoints, be open minded, question your own judgement and conclusions, look for novelty, adopt integrative thinking and look for what you can learn?
What are the unexpressed needs of the other person, what’s missing or flawed, what are the possibilities in a situation?
Happy reading and stay curious!
Here is more information about this selection of books.
Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs (Watkins Publishing, February 2023) by Uri Levine. As the cofounder of Waze – the world's leading commuting and navigation app – Levine is committed to spreading entrepreneurial thinking so that other founders, managers, and employees in the tech space can build their own highly valued companies. Levine offers an inside look at the creation and sale of Waze and his second unicorn, Moovit, revealing the formula that drove those companies to compete with industry veterans and giants alike.
Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us (Portfolio, 2022) by Russ Roberts. This book draws on the experience of great artists, writers, and scientists of the past who found creative ways to navigate life’s biggest questions. Roberts lays out strategies for reducing the fear and the loss of control that inevitably come when a wild problem requires a leap in the dark. Ultimately, he asks us to see ourselves and our lives less as a problem to be solved than a mystery to be experienced. There's no right decision waiting to be uncovered by an app or rational analysis. Reality is harder than that and, perhaps, a little more interesting.
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making (Transworld Digital ; May 2022) by Tony Fadell. For every career crisis, every fork in the road, you need someone to talk to. Someone who's been there before, who knows exactly how wobbly and conflicted you feel, who can give it to you straight: how to be a better manager, how to approach design, how to start a company, how to run it. Tony Fadell learned all these lessons the hard way. He spent the first 10 years of his career in Silicon Valley failing spectacularly, and the next 20 building some of the most impactful devices in history - the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Learning Thermostat. This book has the stories and advice about leadership, design, startups, mentorship, decision making, devastating screwups, and unbelievable success.
How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices (Portfolio; January 2021) by Annie Duke. What do you do when you're faced with a big decision? If you're like most people, you probably make a pro and con list, spend a lot of time obsessing about decisions that didn't work out, get caught in analysis paralysis, endlessly seek other people's opinions to find just that little bit of extra information that might make you sure, and finally go with your gut. Making good decisions doesn't have to be a series of endless guesswork. Rather, it's a teachable skill that anyone can sharpen. In How to Decide, bestselling author Annie Duke and former professional poker player lays out a series of tools anyone can use to make better decisions.
Testing Business Ideas: A Field Guide for Rapid Experimentation (Wiley; October 2019) by David J. Bland and Alex Osterwalder. Testing Business Ideas explains how systematically testing business ideas dramatically reduces the risk and increases the likelihood of success for any new venture or business project. This book features practical tips for making major decisions that are not based on intuition and guesses. ‘Testing Business Ideas’ shows leaders how to encourage an experimentation mindset within their organization and make experimentation a continuous, repeatable process.
Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything (Wiley; February 2019) by Charles Conn and Robert McLean. The problem-solving technique outlined in this book is based on a highly visual, logic-tree method that can be applied to everything from everyday decisions to strategic issues in business to global social challenges. The authors, with decades of experience at McKinsey and Company, provide 30 detailed, real-world examples, so you can see exactly how the technique works in action. With this bulletproof approach to defining, unpacking, understanding, and ultimately solving problems, you’ll have a personal superpower for developing compelling solutions.
OUR RELATED ARTICLES AND READING LISTS
EVERY EXECUTIVE NEEDS A TRUSTED SOUNDING BOARD Most executives understand that the higher they are, the more difficult it is to talk about their real issues or concerns – and to do so free from the weight of company expectations. It is even harder to find effective and neutral listeners. Whether the objective is to be more effective in a role, to assess next-level strategies or contribute to a board, it helps to have trusted guidance.
WHERE IS YOUR PROBLEM-SOLVING FOCUS? Try an experiment. Think of three problems you have faced recently. Was your response situational or default? Did you change focus when needed to ensure better solutions and pathways?
VISUALISATION TO ACTUALISATION Mentor-Coach Conversation | Whether it is an enterprise-wide strategy, a transformation plan or a key piece of work, moving from visualisation to actualisation takes a specific execution skill set, an investment in mission-critical talent, the right resource allocation, hyper focus and discipline. Certain operating styles create differentiation and impact.
BE CREATIVE - CONNECT DIFFERENT DOTS Coaching Conversation: as an executive or a board director accountable for business direction, growth and differentiation, how can you Work Creatively! to be more effective as a strategist, innovator or problem-solver?
New Kind of Business Leadership As the business environment is transforming a new kind of business leadership is emerging. Contemporary organisations are seeking solutionists, activists, relationists, imperfectionists all with the curiosity and a mindset necessary for a fragmented, uncertain and non-linear future.
TENSIONS, DILEMMAS and PARADOXES Useful guidance about tensions, dilemmas and paradoxes by Wendy K. Smith and Marianne W. Lewis, authors of ‘Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems’
FOCUS SHAPES CONTRIBUTIONS Whether you are part of an executive team, in the c-suite or have joined the boardroom, one thing is certain, where you focus your attention and what you listen for, shapes your contributions.
Disruption and Transformation What is the relationship between growth and transformation? Why are some of the world’s most successful companies adopting and implementing innovative strategies, while others struggle? How do smart companies involve each and every stakeholder? What mindset is needed for perpetual innovation and relentless experimentation?
ANOTHER EXCELLENT ARTICLE
To Solve a Tough Problem, Reframe It Five steps to ensure that you don’t jump to solutions by Julia Binder and Michael D. Watkins (HBR Magazine (January–February 2024)
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