Problem Solving: Insights From A Sailing Lesson

I just returned from a week’s sailing instruction, where I was reminded of a crucial insight into effective problem solving.

To put this story in context: Right off, here’s something you should know…I’m an expert with a piece of rope…I’ll rephrase that! As a kid, I loved doing magic tricks with rope. Over the years I became really expert at tricky knots. In fact, somewhere I have a video of me (from about 15 years ago) doing a rope trick. If I can track it down I’ll update the post. The jokes are a bit cheesy, but you’d get the idea.

So, back to my recent sailing adventure and a crucial lesson about problem solving. The instructor asks me to tie down the boat to the dock…

Oops!

I grab the bow line (the rope attached to the front of the boat) super-confident that I can tie a cleat hitch. I know exactly what I’m doing. Past experience has taught me how a rope can twist, flipping the end in the wrong direction and complicating the knot. Honestly, I suspect I know more about rope than any student this sailing school has ever taught, blah, blah…

My full attention is focused on the knot, until I hear my wife cough sharply in a “Hey Steve” kind of a way. I glance up to see the back of the boat drifting sideways and about to crash into the yacht adjacent to ours.

Luckily (as you can see from the photo) the boat survived my incompetence. I’ve described this incident because it illustrates a broader issue.

When A Problem Needs Solving

In my story, what was the problem I needed to solve? To tie the boat safely and securely to the dock, right? In my attempt to solve the problem, I focused on one aspect of the situation, tying a secure knot. In fact, I focused on the part of the problem at which I’m an expert…and ignored everything else (at which I’m definitely not an expert).

Restating this observation in broader terms: I tried to solve a multifactorial problem (managing the momentum of the boat, the direction of the wind, avoiding adjacent boats, etc) by focusing on my area of expertise (tying a secure knot) and ignoring everything else.

Here’s the thing: When we try to solve a real-world problem, we have a bad habit of viewing it through the lens of our own expertise. (And, as a result, miss clues to other possible solutions along the way.)

Next Time You Have A Problem

It’s vital that, next time you face a significant problem, before seeking answers you reframe the problem itself from different points of view. And one way of reformulating a problem (and ensuring your point of view isn’t overly skewed by your areas of expertise) is to identify other people affected by it (or the solutions you might implement) and ask: How do you see this situation?

Have you had any experiences that illustrate this crucial point. I would love to hear about them…