#256: Typology of Problems, Tower of Knowledge Problem & the Feynman Algorithm
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Problems with Problems
I. Typology of Problems
One of the most underestimated problems when facing problems is knowing what type of problems you’re facing. There are several Typologies of Problems. Intel person Gregory F. Treverton distinguishes between puzzles, mysteries and complexities, located on a spectrum from solvable to unsolvable:
Puzzles: Answer exists but may not be known
Mystery: Answer contingent, cannot be known, but key variables can, along with the sense of how they combine
Complexity: Many actors responding to changing circumstances, not repeating any established pattern
But there’s a problem. As intel analysis lecturer Charles Vandepeer points out, not everyone will agree on the type of problem they’re facing.
Consequently, we might find ourselves working on a problem we believe to be unsolvable alongside someone who believes that the problem is solvable. In this instance, it is worth clarifying which aspects of the problem each of us believe to be solvable and which we believe to be unsolvable.
II. Tower of Knowledge Problem
Imagine you have a particular set of skills. Specialised knowledge nobody else in your company has. You’re the expert on everything about a certain subsystem of a jet engine, or the only one who knows how the new coffee machine works. It may sound like you’re indispensable, unfireable, and everyone needs your help.
But it creates the Tower of Knowledge Problem. Because you’re indispensable, unfireable, and everyone needs your help. Richard Sheridan described such a case in his book Joy, Inc: How We Built a Workplace People Love. The essential employee in question was never able to take vacations without his laptop and a pager [a thing people had before mobile phones were ubiquitous]. Whenever something broke in his area, he had to be reachable and fix it.
III. Feynman Algorithm
Problem-solving can be so easy. World-renowned physicist and science communicator Richard Feynman had it all figured out. Here’s the Feynman Algorithm, as suggested by author Murray Gell-Mann in a New York Times interview.
Write down the problem.
Think real hard.
Write down the solution.
🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com