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🍰 BakeIT

Problem Solving

“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions” — Albert Einstein

There’s no silver bullet, yet here is my personal bullet-list:

  • Do the Right things – then do things right 🎯
  • Upstream thinking – proactive mindset, lasting impact 📈
  • Root Cause – look beyond, dig down to the fundamental truth 🌰
  • Long-term ownership – see the mountain top first, then go 🗻
  • Low-hanging fruit – the simplest solution with the highest value 🍐
  • Explore first, judge letter – thinking out loud out of box gives air 🪽
  • Embrace change due to fast feedback – single change at the time reduces false beliefs 🏹
  • Visibility & transparency – communicate clear solutions, show roadmap progress 👓🐾

First Principles thinking

“When you struggle with a problem, that’s when you understand it” — Elon Musk

  1. Define the Problem clearly – find the core question
  2. Break it down – decompose into the elementary parts that’re undeniably true
  3. Rebuild from the ground up – reconstruct the solution from found fundamental truths
  4. Question first – avoid automating/optimizing wrong thing before understanding root cause
  5. Simplify & focus – strip away unnecessary complexity, focus on the essentials

Now, Let’s boil it down to the First Principles thinking:

{
  motorboat: [🛶,🎿,⛽,🌊]
  tank️: [⚙️,🛡,🔫️,💣️]
  submarine: [🛳,️🐋,🔭,🌊]
  bicycle: [🚶,🛞,🪑‍,🔁️,🛣]
  snowmobile: [🛵,🎿,⏱️,❄️]
}

Fast Decisions making

The key is to make decisions quickly and adapt as U learn:

  • Avoid analysis paralysis – don’t get stuck in overthinking, ditch ideological purity 🙉
  • Accept & Prioritize – reduce the number of tasks to N < 5 (Miller’s Law) 🧮️
  • Next single task – focus on the most important single task 🎯
  • One thing at a time – change one thing, so U could analyze and learn 🩻
  • Make First step – take the smallest action, to build momentum 🚶
  • Day One – start all-over, like it’s the first day of Ur project 🗓️
  • Minimal Viable Work – focus on the smallest set of features that deliver value 🛠️

CIA method

  • Choose a solution
  • Implement it
  • Adjust based on feedback

Act instantly, then iterate based on new information

5 WHYs

Repeatedly ask “Why?” (~five times) U can move beyond the immediate symptoms and uncover the foundational issue

SWOT analysis

  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats

Add a valuable context into the problem-solving process

Eisenhower Matrix

Important
Not important
Urgent Not urgent
DO
Tasks with deadlines or consequences
SCHEDULE
Tasks with unclear deadlines that drive long-term success
DELEGATE
Tasks that must be done, yet don’t require Ur skill set
DELETE
Distractions and unnecessary tasks

Solution oriented quotes

“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them” — Albert Einstein

“Turn your obstacles into opportunities and your problems into possibilities” — Roy T. Bennett

“Every problem has a solution; it may sometimes just need another perspective” — Katherine Russell

“Don’t find fault, find a remedy” — Henry Ford

Further reading