Most of us have a natural tendency to think that the sector we’re currently working in or the strategy we’re currently executing offers the most effective and indispensable approach when it comes to problem-solving.
Especially when tackling complex problems, it’s a mistake to confine the context, problem, and solution set within the exclusive lens of what you, your team, or your organization currently does. If you do, you’ll have a limited understanding of the problem space and unnecessarily constrain your options for forward motion.
Deep expertise is often an asset for problem-solving, but the best problem-solvers I know keep an open mind and suspend their assumptions when examining a problem. This mindset helps them be open to new possibilities instead of defaulting to familiar solutions and succumbing to the law of the instrument.
Moreover, the best problem-solvers I know recognize that great problem-solving is a team sport. They understand the indispensable value that comes from bringing other people with different experiences, worldviews, and vantage points into the problem-solving process: expanded perspective and collective wisdom.
When you combine mindset with a diverse team, problem-solvers can collectively shift between and combine their perspectives and expertise in ways that surface imaginative and viable options that aren’t confined to a singular lens of viewing the world.
When you remove the restrictions, the outcome is typically deeper understanding of the problem space and more and better solutions.
