Thinking is limited by prejudice

I think everyone has encountered the following puzzle: connecting the nine dots with four consecutive straight lines:

*  *  *
*  *  *
*  *  *

The old and honorable answer (see below) would demonstrate, as psychologists say, the ability to break out of conventional thinking patterns and come up with creative solutions.
Personally, I consider it more of a short-sighted solution: I guarantee that, with just a little imagination, it is possible to connect the dots with only THREE straight lines and, if you are truly creative, with ONE (give it a little thought before checking the answer).

Although this is a simple example, it demonstrates how, most of the time, when we face a problem or a decision (which amounts to much the same thing), we operate within limits that have nothing to do with the problem itself, but are the result of biases or unchecked beliefs.
If we transfer this self-limiting attitude to the real world, it is very easy to understand why we often fail to reach a beneficial solution. Usually, even specialists in a particular field are the ones who face such difficulties, since their “certain” knowledge of what is possible and what is not, combined with a lack of a holistic view of the situation, prevents them from coming up with creative solutions.

Traditional tools of knowledge are most often additional sources of confusion

I do not wish to diminish the importance of formal education in any way; what I mean is that the world is so complex and constantly changing that traditional problem-solving methods prove to be utterly insufficient.
Moreover, anyone who wants to succeed in the business world must “navigate” a vast amount of material: law, economics, marketing, computer science, advertising, etc., in addition to the specific knowledge of the market in which they operate.
Recognizing that one cannot possibly know everything and that it is far more important to know where to obtain specific information when you need it, rather than filling your mind with useless facts, I believe that today, in addition to specialized training, you should equip yourself with basic mental tools that allow you to handle most situations (no matter how much you prepare, you will always encounter a situation where you are forced to solve a completely new problem without being able to draw on someone else’s experience).
Anyone wishing to research classical methods need only visit a bookstore, where they can find a significant number of texts on Operations Research, Linear Programming, Decision Trees, etc.
Personally, I have always considered them almost useless, in the sense that either you take them seriously and then become the “specialists” yourselves, or they are nothing more than a source of further confusion.
On the other hand, quantitative methods help optimize solutions that have already been found and almost never leave room for brilliant ideas.

A new method, in which thinking is replaced by… thinking modules

I therefore propose a “problem-solving” method, the inventor of which, of course, is not me (I recall reading a description of this method in a psychology test from the early 20th century), but which I have applied countless times with positive results.
Using this method in my work as a consultant, I have solved legal problems for lawyers, IT problems for engineers, business-related problems for top managers, etc., without having even the slightest formal training in the field, receiving praise that I have always considered fundamentally undeserved, since it was not due to my “genius,” but simply to the use of effective thinking frameworks.
At the same time, it’s remarkable how even usually intelligent people make mistakes when approaching a problem, trying to solve it through thought alone.
Right now, I don’t think any of you would attempt to mentally multiply 72,398 by 95,876 when this can be done very easily with pen and paper.

In the same way, don’t even think about solving a complex problem by trying to keep all the aspects in mind; the first step is actually writing the data down on paper. But even when writing down and listing the facts and variables of the problem, we often find ourselves confined within the same limits of linear thinking, preventing the brain from utilizing its intuitive resources.
What I want to describe to you is the most effective method I have found, and it is the only one that truly allows your own creative and intellectual potential to express itself freely.

How I Became a Marketing Expert

I remember that once the president of a company came to me and described a complex issue involving international cross-border procurement that had been stalling the firm’s team of experts for months.
Every proposed solution ran into a roadblock, and the entire operation had reached a standstill. During our two-hour discussion, I tried to get as clear a picture as possible of the facts and variables, taking as many notes as I could.
When I gave him the solution the next day, he nearly fainted (I still don’t know if it was because of how quickly I came up with the solution or because of the fee!).

Anyway, what had I done? After the meeting, I transcribed all aspects of the problem under discussion onto a series of index cards the size of business cards, one idea or fact on each card.
As I wrote, I tried to establish a logical relationship between the various cards, and soon I began laying them out on the floor of my office.
After writing about 200 cards and arranging them in the most logical order possible, I began experimenting, moving them around to make new associations and writing additional cards whenever other interesting connections emerged.
After a short while, I had already begun to see the situation from a completely new perspective.
When I felt I had moved past this phase, I shifted to a more systematic analysis of what I had written, using the questions from the linguistic metamodel.
This allowed me to discover that a whole series of limitations were artificial and could have been overcome without too much difficulty (and so I wrote a series of other index cards).
At this point, I moved on to a more rational analysis of the problem, combining the use of the index cards with the “what—how—why—who—where—when” method, obviously dividing the cards into 6 groups according to this classification and asking myself the corresponding questions:
What is happening? In what way? Why? Who stands to gain? etc., writing more index cards.

After three hours of work, I was able to reorganize the information in a way completely different from the initial one, with the final solution becoming clear before my eyes.
Could I say that I found it myself? Honestly, no.
The index cards and well-posed questions found it; I wouldn’t have been able to do it even after a year of diligent study.
The index cards have done this for me countless times, and anyone with a normal level of intelligence can verify it for themselves.
There is, of course, an explanation for why this procedure is so effective, but unfortunately it would take up too much space. It involves the different functioning of the two cerebral hemispheres and the way information is combined and reworked at the neural level.
Just try it out on the problems you’re facing; you’ll be surprised at how easily you come up with solutions.

The 6 steps of the super-method I propose

1. On index cards the size of a business card, write down the known elements of the problem, a single fact or a single idea on each card.

2. Don’t proceed logically at first; let the ideas flow spontaneously—you’ll have plenty of time to organize them later.

3. Start organizing the cards, preparing new ones whenever new elements arise. If you feel like you’ve hit a dead end, gather the cards, shuffle them, and toss them randomly; you might discover connections you hadn’t even considered.

4. Use the metamodel questions when you find the appropriate categories (Universal Words – Obligations – Verbs – Nouns – Comparatives: Everyone? None? What would happen if…? Who says it? More specifically, how? What? Too much compared to what? etc.).

5. Divide the cards into groups: what – how – why – who – where – when, writing the answers on other cards.

6. Organize the information again based on what you’ve discovered. If the problem still isn’t solved, start over.

With a little practice, you’ll be able to apply this method in a wide variety of fields; not only in business, human relations, marketing, scientific research, and political analysis (if you use the method in this field, you’ll be surprised to discover how clear the moves and intentions of the parties involved become!), but even for choosing a product name, a book title, etc. Give it a try, and you’ll agree with me that, in fact, the best computer in the universe is the human brain.

Good luck with your work and… good luck with your solutions!