Here’s the problem with problems you already know how to solve: they keep you from the ones you don’t.

And we’re keen to do that. Just take a look at your standard approach. What problems do you find yourself running to fix? And which are you leaving for another time? 😉

It takes self-discipline and a healthy dose of living with discomfort. But choosing instead to zero-in on the problems we DON’T know how to solve will enhance the quality of your project, speed up your final delivery – and improve your problem-solving capacities, no end!

Focusing on the problems we don’t know how to solve is not what most people do. Most will spend the majority of their time focused on and solving the problems they already know how to solve. And that makes perfect neuro-sense. There’s a high level of certainty inherent in that approach, plus the craving-driven promise of a rewarding dopamine hit.

(It feels good to succeed – even at something that’s relatively easy or an absolute sure-thing.)

But the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine doesn’t reward right action. It rewards pleasurable sensations and success against expectation. Even if those sensations and behaviours are harmful and maladaptive. Just think of bad habits.

(That’s a useful insight, by the way. “Dopamine doesn’t reward right action.” Jot that down somewhere, if you care to.)

But back to solvable problems … As good as it feels, solving easy problems is not where to spend your time. Put those problems down the priority list and/or give them to someone on your team. Your time is best spent on the problems you DON’T know how to solve.

Stop focusing on problems you already know how to solve!

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