HOW TO SOLVE BIG PROBLEMS.
HOW TO SOLVE BIG PROBLEMS
In
late November of 1991, a three-year-old girl was diagnosed with leukemia. There
was a 30 percent chance she would die.
In
the coming months, she would receive a long list of chemotherapy drugs: 6MP,
asparaginase, methotrexate, prednisone, and vincrinstine. The miracle was not
only that these drugs could potentially cure her, but that they existed at all.
In
his fantastic book, The Emperor of All Maladies (audiobook), author and physician Sid Mukherjee explains the
history of cancer and how brilliant physicians and scientists finally began to
discover cures for the disease.
You
see, for many years, doctors and scientists dreamed of finding a single cure
for all cancers. They searched for a radical surgery or a miracle drug that
could cure everything from breast cancer to leukemia to prostate cancer.
According to Mukherjee, however, breakthroughs finally came when scientists
stopped trying to tackle this large-scale problem and made the problem smaller.
The
first breakthrough came when Sidney Farber, now known as the Father of Modern
Chemotherapy, decided to focus exclusively on treating leukemia. He was one of
the first physicians to dedicate his efforts solely to a single type of cancer
and by narrowing his focus Farber was able to make significant progress against
this single condition.
Eventually,
the drugs and treatments Farber uncovered for leukemia led to new solutions for
other cancers. By focusing on one tiny vertical, Farber uncovered answers that
could be used to treat the larger problem. As Mukherjee put it, “[By] focusing
microscopically on a single disease, one could extrapolate into the entire
universe of diseases.”
This
central idea, that solving large complex problems is often accomplished by
first attacking smaller micro-problems, is useful not just for cancer
treatments, but for life in general.
How to Solve Big Problems
The
main lesson mentioned above is simple: When you're facing a complex problem or
trying to do something bold, start with a smaller version of the larger
problem. Focus exclusively on that small problem and solve it. Use the answers
to this small issue to expand your knowledge of the larger issue. Repeat.
If
you take a look around, you can see this pattern playing out everywhere.
For
example, consider Amazon. The company started by selling books. Once they
mastered the online purchase and delivery process of books, they moved on to
other products. Today, they sell just about everything.
Amazon
could have started by trying to solve the big problem: how do we master digital
commerce? Instead, they started with a narrow focus and expanded from there. It
has been proven many times that this small-to-large approach works well for
businesses, and I think it can be very useful for our personal goals as well.
The Idea in Practice
Let's
consider a few examples of how we might put this idea into practice to develop
our own problem solving skills.
Creativity. BIG
PROBLEM: How do I become more creative?
Small
solution: If you want to become a good photographer, then start small. Learn
how to take a really good picture of a chair. Once you can take a fantastic
picture of a chair, use those principles — light, composition, lines, curves —
to take better pictures of everything.
Exercise. BIG
PROBLEM: How can I start exercising consistently?
Small
solution: If you can't crack the fitness code and struggle to exercise
consistently, then forget about every other exercise and just learn how to do
one pushup. Use the steps I describe here to increase your number slowly.
Stick with that one exercise for days, weeks, months. Once you prove to
yourself that you can solve this small problem, use the lessons you learn to
become more consistent at exercise in general.
Nutrition. BIG
PROBLEM: How can I eat healthy each day?
Small
solution: Want to improve your nutrition? Maybe you should ignore switching to
a new diet at first. You don't need to change all of your food habits at once.
You could start by solving a very small segment of the problem: eat one
vegetable today. Master that. Do it for four weeks. Or longer. Take what you
learn about being consistent with that one thing and apply it to adding a
second healthy food.
And
finally…
Narrowing
your focus is a mental model that you can apply whenever you want to
start a new behavior or take on a new project that seems too big or
overwhelming or complex to handle. It is a filter you can run larger problems
through to approach issues from a more useful place.
So,
how do you solve big problems? Start with a smaller one.
my reference
1.
The Emperor of
All Maladies by Sid Mukherjee, pg. 159
Compiled by OKELLO ELIOT OTWAO
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