The simplest, and best, solutions are counterintuitive…contrary to what our human nature suggests. Here are a few examples to illustrate this point.
Examples
A botanist working with violet and white African Violets wanted to intensify the violet color so he diminished the white gene. When the violets next bloomed, the white color was intensified. The plant replaced what it had lost. In order to intensify the violet color, he had to diminish the violet gene.
The Hippocratic oath requires physicians to do no harm. Yet cardiac electrophysiologists use ablations to create scar tissue in the heart to disrupt a-fib signals which minimize a-fib events. They have to “harm” the heart to get it to function properly.
We want our children to grow up to make wise decisions, yet continuously instruct them on what to do and how to do it, preventing them from making their own choices and learning from their mistakes. To help them develop good decision-making habits, and teach them how to live with the consequences of their choices, we need to craft choices that:
- Protect our kids from serious harm while they make their own choices.
- Help them develop good decision-making habits.
- Give them the tools to deal with the mistakes they’ll inevitably make.
In business, we want our employees to be self-motivated and work with minimal supervision. Yet, we train them to bring their problems to us by providing solutions for the challenges they face. In doing so we create a co-dependent relationship in which we feel good about ourselves because we know how to solve problems and they feel safe because, if the solution fails, it’s not their fault.
These examples beg the question: How do we train our minds to think counterintuitively?
Thinking counterintuitively
In order to develop the habit of thinking counterintuitively, we need to understand how both our conscious and subconscious minds work.
The conscious mind is linear in its thought process. It uses an “if, then” process. Conversely, the subconscious mind is chaotic in that it easily links seemingly disparate concepts in ways that provide much simpler, easier-to-implement solutions than the conscious mind can.
To engage your subconscious mind, assign the problem to your subconscious by asking: How can I solve this problem? Then devote your time and energy to a completely different task.
You’ll be amazed at how quickly your subconscious not only provides a solution, but how simple and easy to implement that solution is. Plus, you gain the advantage of having completed another task on your to do list while your subconscious crafted a solution.
In essence, this simple approach optimizes both your conscious and subconscious minds.
Caveat: Make sure that you’re asking “How” or “What” questions of your subconscious mind. How can I solve this problem? What can I do to solve this dilemma? “How” and “What” are terms that imply that a solution exists. All too often we ask “If” questions. “If” implies doubt. Our subconscious can’t find a solution when doubts exist about the existence of a solution.
Takeaways
The simplest, most effective, solutions are crafted by your subconscious mind.
Engaging your subconscious mind is as easy as asking it to answer: How can I solve this problem? or What can I do to solve this dilemma? Make sure that you’re using “How” or “What” questions, not “If” questions.
Your subconscious mind is designed to find simple, easy-to-implement solutions; something that your conscious mind is ill-equipped to do.
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If you’d like the leaders in your organization to learn how to use the numbers more effectively and dramatically improve the productivity of your workforce, contact me to learn more about these resources:
Resources
Making the EXCEPTIONAL Normal program helps you identify and nurture emerging leaders who elevate all around them to higher levels of performance and greater job enjoyment.
Financial Awareness & Strategy program where employees learn to identify opportunities to improve financial results and prioritize these opportunities on the basis of which produces the greatest impact with the least effort. Greater financial awareness = Better decisions.
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