I write to help me better understand and solve problems and I’ve practiced this throughout my career. As an undergraduate student studying journalism, I discovered the power of written words to help explain issues and information, and I’ve continued to write because it helps me clarify my thinking, better define problems and find solutions more quickly.
Writing things down to solve problems is a vital first step but one that all too often we tend to neglect.
Think of business plans and how crucial they are to funders for understanding whether the entrepreneur has a financially sound idea. How can you be convinced a business will be successful without a detailed plan regarding the opportunity and the problem it is attempting to solve?
Or the Amazon Memo that is distributed at internal meetings rather than PowerPoint presentations. Amazon demands these documents because they provide deeper analysis, encourage accountability, and improves overall decision-making.
In my work as a leadership coach, I help clients develop SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals to ensure their progress. Without writing these down and committing to them, goals are not likely to be reached.
Kidlin’s Law is a problem-solving strategy positing that by simply writing down a problem, it is half solved. Clearly defining a problem is crucial to solving it as you are forced to organize your thoughts and identify the more manageable components. These smaller components are less complex and more easily solved to make steady progress.
This problem-solving principle and can be applied both in your professional and personal life, but will require self-reflection, being honest, challenging your beliefs, and getting outside your comfort zone.
- Self-reflection – This means stepping back from the problem at hand and discovering whether you are clear in your assessment of it. Are you seeing it accurately or is there confirmation bias at play? Reflect on the actions and decisions you’ve already made to evaluate what is right and what is not right.
- Be honest – Face the fact that what you are taking for granted may not be true. How much are your unconscious assumptions preventing you from solving the problem? And rather than blame yourself for this, take responsibility and own how this impacts your current perspective.
- Challenge your beliefs – Limited or negative perspectives (e.g., this will never work) only reduces your ability to make progress. Determine whether your current view is helping or holding you back from facing the situation accurately. Play devil’s advocate and look for the opposite perspective.
- Get outside your comfort zone – This is where courage comes in as you move from comfort to discomfort. From where you have some ideas, convictions, and firmly held beliefs to where you may be unfamiliar and even reluctant to go. You may begin to feel difficult emotions, but this can be managed and might be easier given that it is written down potentially for your eyes only.
Applying Kidlin’s Law can be difficult to apply because it requires confronting your insecurities and potentially causing emotional pain. The mind will avoid this discomfort, but it’s essential to push through it as that is where you can confront the reality of your flaws, mistakes and missteps. The very act of writing about this can help you deal with difficult emotions in a safe place where you can address them appropriately.
The real power of writing about problems comes from gaining clarity, organizing your thoughts, challenging your assumptions and exploring this in a thoughtful manner that taps into your emotions in a safe space. This can then result in better and quicker solutions.