Get to know your problem…intimately

You’ve found your why and hopefully settled on a problem you want to solve. Exciting! Do you feel ready to start working on how you can build the business, solve the problem, and start raking in customers?You do?

Hang on. Not yet.

That excited i-need-to-fix-this-now feeling is your old neanderthal brain jumping into the solution space. Our brains love rushing into problem-solving mode. It’s exciting. It feeds into our desire to take action. And biology has literally hardwired it into us since the hunter-gather days of oh-no-theres-a-bear-what-do-I-do-how-do-I-live.

“Embrace your struggle, because it’s real and not going away. Everyone else has it, too — even when it doesn’t look like it. Use your struggle as a fire under your butt to change things, rather than resisting it. Turn it to your advantage!”– From Impossible to Inevitable, via​ Predictable Revenue

These biological triggers make it hard to realize when we’re nosing along toward a solution in the back of our minds. Things will feel right and so we’ll soldier forward. So your best bet is to just learn to recognize when this is happening.

Solution space speak: That really scrambles my eggs. Somebody should do something. Maybe I could do something. There’s such an obvious fix, too. Maybe it’s a little tricky to pull off, but come on! How has no one done this yet?!

A few signs you’re stuck in the solution space:

• You’re coming up with new little fixes and adjusting your hypothetical plan accordingly

• You’re chasing the fastest path toward what you can fix, not working slowly and methodically toward a deeper problem

• You have a preferred conclusion that’s driving the slant of your thoughts

• You’re thinking in terms of outcomes and somethings instead of about experiences and emotions

No shame in finding yourself here again and again. Subconscious bias will keep pulling you toward the solution space. Even those same startups we’ve been pointing to as models of success have a tendency to get this one a little wrong.

Paul Adams, Senior Vice President of Product at Intercom (the software juggernaut that popularized website messengers), has described the lopsided development timelines he’d seen at different tech companies.

These move-fast-break-everything juggernauts focus on building solutions to the detriment of prioritizing and defining the problem.

You will want to make the same mistake. But.

When you feel that irresistible pull, you’ll remember these tips and keep the faith.

Tips to return to the problem space

Start with the who

Nothing backs you into the solution space as quickly as starting with the problem itself (ironic, we know). Instead, remember, step back and think about who you want to help. What are their issues and woes?

Stop, drop, and ask.

Is your thinking truly centered on helping someone or are you looking ahead toward what you want to make? Let go of those ideas completely and explore with a blank slate. If your initial solution worked, it’ll still be there later.

Rewind.

Think back to those Whys. They were probably mission-oriented – but without a clear understanding of how to get there. How you get there is the solution, so consider ideas that speak to your big dreams more than your goals