Three Ways to Solve Problems

(andreasfragner.com)

59 points | by 42point2 5 hours ago ago

14 comments

  • 1970-01-01 2 hours ago

    There's a 4th way, but it works least often. Maybe Method 2.5 fits better: Wait for the problem to fix itself to your level of risk. Ex: This road is blocked. I have a good news it won't be blocked in X days/months/years. Let's just wait until it's a little better for us to travel down and do something else for a just little while. It's a hybrid between waiting for the path to open up for everyone and forcing your way through. Taking a stepping stone between changing the world and changing your solution to the problem.

  • nine_k 3 hours ago

    There's way number 1.5: Solve a different but related problem, which gives you like 80% of the benefits of solving the original problem, but at 20% of the cost. This allows you to experience much less pain without an investment of resources you can't afford.

    Aka "quickfix" or "hack".

    • asplake 3 hours ago

      Rinse and repeat

  • CapitalistCartr 4 hours ago

    Two methods I have found useful. If it seems an intractable problem, you've made two goals equal. Figure out the conflicting goals and decide which will give way, such as once I think about it I realize the unspoken goal is I don't want to challenge Mom, M-I-L, Boss, etc.

    Second method is 6 steps: Intel, intel, intel, always be gathering intel. Clear mind, set aside emotions. Clear vision of what I want, the more clear and detailed, the more likely I'll get the result I want. Detailed plan to get from current reality to vision. Execute plan. Debrief: what worked, what mistakes, etc.

  • pyrolistical 4 hours ago

    This is why you schedule angry emails to be sent the next day. Maybe you’ll wake up and realize it’s not a problem at all

    • bob1029 4 hours ago

      I do this with emails I'm not even angry about. Wait for your audience to come to you wherever possible. It's a lot cheaper to leverage the momentum of other people than to get them started from zero every time. I find the desire to author angry emails is often a side effect of trying to go too fast.

  • RobotToaster an hour ago

    Where does "Make the problem worse so someone else fixes it" fit?

    • porise 30 minutes ago

      It's in own category for higher level beings who make pot holes bigger until it gets fixed.

  • erichocean 2 hours ago

    A favorite of mine: assume a sub-problem has a solution (even though it doesn't), and solve everything else assuming that solution holds.

    I find that after I do that, once I have a solution for everything else, a less-general solution to the sub-problem is often sufficient to keep the global solution valid.

    • n3t an hour ago

      I wonder what a specific example of this approach would be.

  • fragmede 2 hours ago

    I wrote this up as the four disagreements.

    https://blog.onepatchdown.net/philosophy/2023/10/03/four-pil...

    • JackSlateur 9 minutes ago

      This misses bad faith, lack of good will and assume an aligned objective (i.e. lack of selfishness)

  • journal 3 hours ago

    be first, smart, or cheat.

  • bhhhhhhcc an hour ago

    y