7 Surprising Mistakes that Wreck Your Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Not knowing these is a good recipe for frustration.

Photo by Timothy Dykes on Unsplash

Most of you do at least 1 thing well when solving problems.

• Maybe you’re good at understanding the problem
• Likely, you have concrete goals and plans
• Or, you consider the whole system

That’s good. But it may not be enough. That’s why the problems either come back or pop up in a different shape.

I have made my fair share of mistakes in problem-solving. As a consultant, entrepreneur, and manager, every failure has taught me something.

The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple — Albert Einstein

I see the following mistakes a lot. And yet pointing them out surprises most people.

But first, what types of problems am I talking about?

Types of Problems

I cluster problems on 2 dimensions:

• The complexity of the problem
• The impact of solving this problem