How Paradigms Stymie Problem Solving
I’ve never been a fan of paradigms. I’ve broken rules for as long as I can remember. I have yet to come across a problem that I could not solve, and so I call myself a problem solver, crisis manager, and entrepreneur.
The Problem with Paradigms
Paradigms distinctly define the boundaries of what we can and cannot do.
My printer stopped working properly two hours ago, at midnight. As a binary person, option 1 was to email everything to Staples or FedEx Office and wait until morning or option 2 was to fix the printer; in the words of the great Yoda: “Do or do not. There is no try.” As a decision scientist, I already eliminated options 3 through 10 in seconds.
I opened up the printer and fiddled for a bit. There was an oddly consistent pattern to the paper jam. I took out the toner cartridge and peered around. “Looks good to me,” I thought, a response no different than one I’d give were I to inspect a space shuttle — with patently leaking fuel cells — that I would have to board.
I put everything back, snapped the front panel into place, and sent a test page. Whirrrrrr, schooooop, kachunk. Exact same thing. I opened the front panel, took everything out and took another look. The paper pick-up roller rubber had broken, and a broken rubber never bodes well.
I deferred to Youtube on how to remove the part and took it out. After a minute of pacing and working through the logic of necessary static friction required to feed paper, I grabbed eight rubber bands and wrapped them around the broken rubber and roller.
There you have the 10 cent fix. It’s two hours later and I’ve printed about a ream’s worth on eight rubber bands, entirely problem-free.
I’m not all that proud that I temporarily fixed the printer, because then I should also be proud about the fact that I dressed myself today (and yes, that happens to be the exact shirt I am wearing at the moment). I place as little limitation on my capability to dress myself as I do on solving problems — approximately none.
This is where I stray from paradigms. We’re brainwashed with “supposed to” and a hell of a lot of them. Gender roles. Job roles. Limitations. Scopes. Rules, rules, rules.
We’re only supposed to perform within the scope of our duties. We’re supposed to go about our lives a certain way. We’re supposed to only do what we’ve been trained to do. We’re supposed to call the plumber when a pipe breaks. We’re supposed to _____________.
As an entrepreneur, I have never limited myself to my education, granted it’s an unfortunate run on. I have no formal training in coding, marketing, machine learning, data science, analytics, social media, operations, strategy, and so on, but I’ll be damned if I ever sit here mum and useless.
Sure, you might be an accountant who’s only supposed to crunch numbers. But take a deep breath and tell yourself that your problem isn’t rocket science. Give yourself some credit. After all, you did dress yourself, right?
For more ranting on how paradigms quash innovation, read this.
