Got problems? Stop staring at them

Whether it is your set of keys, cellphone or your favortite short, the place you wont look is right in front of you. But when faced with problems in life or business, the only problems we can see are the ones before us. And they look like massive brick walls that just cannot be conquered. We keep circling in an infinite loop going over the problem again and again. We often find no solution in sight.We decide to use brute force and bang our heads against this problem just to make sure it is as solid as we’d feared and only compound our worries further, making a ghost out of the problem.

Why banging your head doesn’t break down walls

Finding a solution requires a different perspective than the one you used to define the problem. It also requires a different brain state. The creative problem-solving activity is a completely different brain function from the analytical problem-defining activity. The wall is not the problem.

The real problem is your relationship to the wall. You aren’t likely to solve your problem with your nose pressed up against it.Here are three ways you can move away from the wall and free your mind to identify and create solutions for even the most stubborn of problems.

Get your brain out of problem mode

Our brains need us to push the reset button. In our office building we have a ping pong table and a quiet corner with a chess board. You might assume that the entrepreneurs whacking at little white balls or furrowing their brows while resting one finger on the bishop's hat aren’t as driven as those who are frantically pounding away at their keyboards, but you’d probably be wrong. Ping pong and chess both excite areas of the brain that aid in creativity.

What activities free your creative mind? Is it physical exercise? The stimuli of the outdoors? Maybe you have a drum set you bang on or you play solitaire. Whatever it is, do that. Then take another look at your brick wall, you’ll likely see cracks or even big holes that weren’t apparent before.

Challenge your programming

Our brains, much like our computing devices, work on a series of if-then statements. This programming is efficient at keeping the wheels turning when we’re barreling along life’s highway, but not so effective at navigating crossroads and detours.

What assumptions are you making that might not be true? Probably they were true at one time, maybe as recently as yesterday, but perhaps they aren’t true right now. Or maybe it’s true that the condition exists, but not true that it cannot be changed. Test everything you believe to be true about your problem and you’ll probably find that you are operating on at least one false premise. When you change the “if” the “then” will change as well.

Explore unknown territory

Chances are, if you are having a problem someone else has experienced the same problem, or at least one similar enough that you can borrow a solution. But the solution may not be in your own backyard. Most innovative problem solvers have become masters of adapting a solution from another application to overcome “impossible” in their own business.

What other business or industry has similar problems? More to the point, what other industry depends on successfully solving that problem in order to survive? How can you adapt their solution to your situation?

Not only will you find inspiration by examining other industries, you’ll challenge your brain to connect new dots. By adding unusual elements to the equation you force your brain into creation mode and out of the analytical or overwhelm state you were probably in when you were nose-to-brick with that wall.

While none of these three suggestions will magically solve your problem, they will shift your brain into a state where the solution has a chance of getting through. Because the solution is there, you just have to be in the right brain state to see it.