Emergency Help for Your Next Ambiguous Problem
Once in a while, you get hit with a problem you find difficult to tackle. You don’t know where to start and how to approach it.
For example, imagine the situation where you are tasked to research a topic you know nothing about, or you think about moving to a new apartment and trying to weigh the pros and cons of different places, or you have competing job offers from two different companies you like and don’t know which one to choose.
The dilemma in all these situations is, whether you trust your gut and pick what you feel is right, or you make an intentional effort to choose the best option given all the information you have. What road you take will impact the chances of getting the positive result you want. And while the first path might seem easy, the second path boosts your chances of getting high-quality long-term results.
Regardless of the path you choose, you will still be a subject of a fundamental limitation of any decision-making — that is, you will never have all the data you need to make the perfect decision. You have to rely on what you have now and make your best effort to get more information, balancing it with spiraling down to the analysis paralysis.
As with any activity, the first step is the hardest one. This article presents a simple framework for getting you out of the initial stupor of making progress in your problem-solving. It is not aimed to give you an instrument to find a solution itself, but rather gives you a tool to make the first step towards finding one.
CPR
When faced with a problem you don’t know how to approach, you risk getting into a state of frustration going around the problem in circles never really attempting to make progress. There are few things that can help you start with the right foot.
First, you can explicitly state what you will focus on and what you will not focus on during the decision-making process. Second, you might want to tap into the wisdom of others who have different values and points of view. Lastly, ensure you leave yourself enough time to reflect and relax in order to turn on your creative thinking.
These three activities are bundled into a CPR (Constraints, Perspective, and Recreation) framework — your emergency help to start cracking your next problem.
Constraints
Constraints are some hard or soft limitations that impact how you get to your final decision. The magic of manifesting the constraints is that you make it clear for your own brain what is that you want and can control, and what is outside of your responsibility. These constraints can be applied to the process of finding a solution or to the solution itself.
For example, you can set a time constraint on your research activities or on the timeframe when you make a final decision. Also, you can make visible constraints that are present in the real world — for example, you might decide to avoid buying an electric car if there are no charging stations in your area.
Constraints might also materialize in a list of tenets that will help guide your thinking. For example, when looking for a new place to rent one tenet might read: “I want a new apartment to be the walkable distance from at least one grocery store”.
List all non-negotiable, as well as nice-to-have constraints, and be explicit about what is what. The list will help narrow your focus and free your mind from things you don’t care about. Setting limitations and making them explicit will make the process less overwhelming and as a result, will enable you to make your first steps towards the solution easier.
Perspective
While setting constraints helps you narrow your choices, seeking different perspectives enables you to uncover new and illuminating alternatives. The fastest and easiest way to explore these new perspectives is to ask around.
Start a conversation with your friend, a spouse, or a colleague. If you are not comfortable talking about the topic itself, use some tangential issue that will help you gain insights without sharing too much. When listening, seek something that you didn’t think about before. Pay attention to what is important for them? Should their priorities impact your thinking? Probe if your conversation partner has any specific constraints. Be cautious though not to blindly adopt new values that are not yours. Guard your own perspective but still keep an open mind for different points of view.
Here are a few questions that might help you start with the conversation: Have you ever thought about X? What would be important for you if you did Y? In your past when making a decision about Z, what did you consider?
In fact, talking with somebody might also bring a side effect of getting to a solution by vocalizing the problem. Sometimes when we hear ourselves out loud something clicks in our head giving us new comprehension. At the same time, if the conversation is not an option for you, check out books, articles, and forums that are all great sources of new and versatile viewpoints.
Seeking divergent perspectives is an invaluable instrument in getting you out of analysis paralysis in the decision-making process. Tapping into the knowledge and experience of people around you will reward you with a better and more balanced solution.
Recreation
It might feel counter-intuitive but once you dipped your toes and started to think about the problem, it might be helpful to pause and give your brain some time to reflect. Once you worked on setting up some constraints and engaged in fruitful conversations with people around you, take a break and do nothing. Don’t try to switch to another problem or another mentally strenuous activity. The opposite rather, do some breathing exercises, do some sports, stare out the window, or go take a nap.
Research shows that in moments of calm our brains are able to find hidden connections, establish effect-causes relationships, and level up the overall topic comprehension. Apparently, similar to our digestive system our brains need time to digest the information we received.
Taking a break in the middle of a problem solving when you feel energized and driven might be the last thing you would want yourself to do. However, it will pay off to stop well before you become too agitated or even drained to avoid burnout. Finding the balance between effective problem-solving and refreshing breaks is a skill that needs development. To aid yourself, set up a reminder to take a break once every few hours, or follow the Pomodoro approach.
Regardless of the issue’s complexity and your problem-solving skills, thinking too much about the problem can lead to an unhealthy strain that will fog your judgment and take you further away from the balanced and satisfying decision. Regular healthy breaks will improve the likelihood of getting over the hump on a way to find a solution for your problem.
Making a decision whether large or small is not an easy task. It could easily overwhelm and create unhealthy stress. The pressure of making the best possible choice might cause us to behave in unexpected ways, especially when the potential choice has a long-lasting impact (career, relocation, corporate strategy, etc.). If coin flip is not your preferred approach you can employ a CPR framework to get going on a balanced and educated decision-making process — set constraints, search for new perspectives, and don’t forget to relax and recharge.
