Starting afresh: Solving difficult problems

What difference does it make to start afresh in solving a really difficult problem? After all, it’s not for nothing that we have so much literature available, recorded by our fellow humans. From research papers to coaching Gurus, traditional cookbooks to the whole internet, we honestly have more guidelines than ever to solve any problem or questions we face.

In all fairness, it makes sense to make use of this advantage of knowledge to tackle the problems that we face. Be it academic, personal, financial or any day-to-day challenges. They are all documented for a reason. But even then, sometimes when we act out the recommendations and suggestions, they don’t seem to have an expected effect on the problems we face.

Now there could be many reasons why it doesn’t work for us. What could one do in such circumstances? Let’s dive in to find the answers with an example of a real-life incident of a student.

George Dantzig, was a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkley. One day he arrived late for the statistics class and found two problems written on the board. Thinking of them as assignments to be solved, he quickly copied them down on the way home. Now these two problems seemed to be incredibly difficult for Dantzig to solve, nonetheless taking some extra time, he got one solved and the other half solved.

Unsatisfied but constrained by deadlines, Dantzig submitted his version of solutions to the professor. The Sunday morning after he did, he heard a door knock. He was surprised to see the professor at his door.

The professor exclaimed, “The last two problems were not homework but rather two problems that hadn’t been solved! I had mentioned that but you were too late for the class. Now look, you’ve just solved them!”

Now, this real-life story is every student’s dream to solve the unsolvable. But just think about it. There were many other students in the same class, that were quite capable of doing what Dantzig was able to do. One can probably argue that Dantzig was the smartest of them all.

But this argument falls short when one realizes that Dantzig only tried to solve the problem because he didn’t know that these were unsolvable problems. He began solving without bearing in mind any limitations of the approaches that were unsuccessful in solving the problem.

In the end, no credit is to be taken away from Dantzig’s intelligence and capability to deal with mathematical problems. But had he arrived on time to class, had he known that these two problems were not solvable by the existing techniques, it would have taken the sting out of his approach in attacking these problems.

How many times has it happened to you? You do all that’s advised or recommended to do but it didn’t seem to work for you? Aren’t these becoming unsolvable problems for you?

It’s here where the big catch is. Should you immediately start afresh forgetting all bits of advice you collected so far and go all out with what you know?

Well, not always.

Maybe the one approach you chose was not as good as the other approaches you didn’t try? Maybe your application was not the way, the prescribed path suggested? And you didn’t realize it?

An introspection, a course correction would be the first logical steps before radically changing your approach to the problem.

But even after you’ve exhausted the options, made attempts for course correction, if the problem stays untouched; it’s then when you need to start afresh. Looking beyond your past attempts and approaches, begin with an empty slate.

Almost as if you haven’t tried it at all, begin at it afresh. It could very well be the case, the earlier approach was holding you with some strings that couldn’t make you reach the solution. And this can especially be very tricky to spot, as it seems it taking you closer to the solution but can’t help reach it.

Many times it occurs to us but we don’t realize it. That time when we programmed to reach an outcome and tried very hard to patch around the original logic, but it missed the mark. And then one day, we completely scratch out the original logic; reached the desired result in a matter of hours. Been there?

Maybe concerning cooking, a presentation or a report or maybe even conversations on a specific topic?

If there are repeated failures despite course corrections, it’s time to scratch out everything you know and start afresh. Maybe it won’t solve the problem for you in the worst case, but hey! At least now you know what doesn’t solve it!

And that’s how you learn. That’s the beginning of wisdom.