The Overall Key To Being A Better Problem Solver – Find Your Groove, Not A Move

Without a doubt, we live in a society that craves easy, quick-fix solutions.  We are sold on the premise that if we get one thing straightened out, purchase one additional item, or talk to this one person, then by magic, our problems and worries will melt away as our lives change to live happily ever after. 

Whether as children or fully grown adults, we’ve experienced these deceptive messages at every stage of life. Whether our goal is to ace our school exams or prepare our case to achieve the next big promotion, there’s always something pushed onto us as “the solution”—that is, the “this is it” type of proposition. 

As students, we were sold on the importance of getting at least an ‘A,’ scoring in the top 3% on a standardized test, or achieving a lucrative award in sports or arts that led to scholarships. These distinctions were supposed to act as an exclusive key that opens one gate and acts as a passport to a better life. 

Even if we didn’t achieve these awards on a bigger scale, this premise was disguised as the goal in mathematics when solving for x.  Our teachers assigned truckloads of problems where a generic recipe existed to guarantee success as long as we understood the process and its context.  All we had to do was apply it again, and again, …, and again. 

While problem-solving strategies taught in math develop problem-solving confidence, they often miss the mark due to oversimplification.  Reality is full of dynamic intricacies, where solving for a solution to a single variable isn’t likely to resolve a real problem.  In some instances, focusing on a single objective is important, but the machine has so many moving parts that it should not be ignored to focus only on one. 

Unfortunately, teenagers and young adults experience this mindset outside of schoolwork. Whether mastering an ultimate skateboard trick, clapping back at an insult from a peer, or posting one viral video, they are often caught in the trap of seeking one-trick gimmicks to hyperinflate their sense of importance and accomplishment. 

Thinking that this approach stops disappearing in the workforce is a careless expression of naivety.  The worst bosses are often known for constantly seeking one-hit-wonder solutions because they think it’s easy (often at the expense of others).  Poor marketing techniques lean heavily on selling the gimmick in front of them as the ultimate solution that will bring the buyer joy for years. 

Let’s think back to the solutions we were sold throughout our lives. Maybe it was a product such as a piece of sporting equipment, a hot guitar pedal, or the newest phone. In other instances, services such as a new and lucrative marketing strategy, a revolutionary health service, or even an app on our phones are promoted as real game changers. 

Maybe we were sold on it recently, a few months ago, a year ago, or 5-10 years ago, but the real question remains — did it deliver on its promises, or does the problem lurk in the shadows? 

The unfortunate truth is that in the overwhelming majority of cases, it fails to deliver.  Well, maybe it didn’t, but we swore it was supposed to do a lot more than it did.  Maybe it delivered on its true purpose. 

But the old saying goes: As we conquer our problems, new ones will fill the void.   

Suddenly, that new phone we bought needs a new set of wireless headphones for completeness. The app delivers minimally but requires in-app purchases to maximize its capacity.  Maybe the distortion pedal for our guitar needs to be paired with a compressor to scream.  That camera?  It needs this lens and filter to produce those dreamy pictures. 

It never seems to end.  We find ourselves sucked into the void of chasing the milestone.  As we feel the chasm widen between our reality and the solution, we grow anxious and frantic that we’ll be stuck in this state forever.  How do we overcome this? 

Simple Works Until It Doesn’t 

K.I.S.S.  Keep it simple, silly.   

We’ve all heard not to overcomplicate our problems in business and school, and this is fine wisdom for those who tend to spin their tires and overthink everything.  Professionals identify ways to separate the wheat from the chaff by simplifying problems with a few underlying assumptions about reality. 

Injecting simplicity reduces the mental power required to digest a problem or accomplish a task.  In a world with numberless details, reducing our situations to a handful of important circumstances clarifies what details act as the big contenders in making decisions. 

All things being equal, it becomes easier to achieve quality when we know we only have to do one thing rather than fifteen.  Rather than buy seven items, the convenience of purchasing one draws us towards that solution.  Why shop at five other smaller stores when that superstore has everything? 

This is where we fall for the lull of simplicity, which gets us drunk on finding an easy solution. 

One overarching principle of life we must abide by is that everything has balance — The Goldilocks Principle.  Deviations from the balance lead to more problems as follows: 

If we aim to oversimplify, we miss out on important information to solve the problem accurately. Oversimplifying can also make problems boring by removing color and detail, making them appear dull. 

However, if we get too complicated, we risk information overload and being overwhelmed by our circumstances. Overcomplication creates friction by making problems unmanageable, making it difficult to prioritize details, and creating information overload. 

Therefore, we should aim for that sweet spot in each situation—one where we have enough information about our problems to solve them without getting lost in a thicket of details. With enough complexity, we prevent ourselves from falling for the one-solution mindset, while with enough simplification, we make the problem easier to digest and manage mentally. 

Musicians Know Why The Groove Matters 

As we look around us in bustling cities and nature, we notice the presence of repetitive cycles.  These grooves vary dramatically in length, from nanoseconds to the end of the universe. 

Shorter grooves are usually everyday experiences we take for granted.  The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.  Our heart beats to a certain rhythm.  Traffic lights go from red to green, to yellow, then back to red again.  Birds fly from their nest and then return at the end of the day. 

Longer grooves are much more gradual, and we tend not to notice them. The seasons changing throughout the year, the rhythm of a college semester, and growing up from children to adults before having children of our own are grooves that require far more time. 

Of course, disruptions to any cycle can occur to cut it short or bypass certain stages. However, these are generally exceptions to the rule. 

Musicians know that all songs have a groove to them.  No matter the genre, most songs have a generic pattern: Verse - Chorus - Verse - Chorus - Bridge - Chorus.  Of course, deviations from this pattern are also common, but this is what we usually expect. 

The musical mix requires musicians to cover a wide swath of tones and pitches, entering at the right times and delivering rhythms ranging from simple to complex.  Have you ever seen a cover band where someone sticks out (and not in a good way)?  That’s because they’ve violated what makes for a good musical mix. 

There are aspects of each groove that remain consistent, such as melodies, drum patterns, and lead guitar solos. There are also aspects that change to give each song its unique signature, such as chords, dynamics, fills, and more. 

We can dissect parts of a great song into components, such as lyrics, melodies, horn sections, bass lines, rhythms, and much more.  However, unless these elements are iconic and popular in culture, they don’t mean much standing alone.  Combining these elements tactfully to full effect is much greater than the sum of the parts. 

The synergy experienced from combining all of these elements cannot be replicated.  Even with cover bands that reverse engineer their tones and play to the original, the personalities of the instrumentalists and singers will add a small splash of uniqueness that distinguishes them. 

Getting Into The Groove 

The groove involves a lot of moving parts that change rapidly.  It can be difficult to pick where to start as everything spins around us, but here are some principles to guide us as we get into our grooves: 

Pick A Place To Start 

When we’re presented with tons of moving parts, selecting a single place to start can be overwhelming.  However, a pitfall we want to avoid is paralysis by analysis. 

By selecting a starting point, we can acquire some momentum and quickly determine whether our choice was a good one. The goal is not to select the best starting point but one that will get the ball rolling. 

If the starting point is a dead end, simply start somewhere else from the knowledge given. 

Connect To Something Nearby 

After we’ve latched on and picked a place to jump into the mix, our goal should be to connect the dots.  Nearby dots are easy, low-hanging fruit to make a connection.  Like starting points, it usually doesn’t matter how we connect the dots as long as we get moving. 

The principle is similar to getting to know a new town. First, we find the best place to live. Then, we find suppliers that provide essentials such as groceries. Then, we connect ourselves to other shopping and business centers. Finally, we connect further with our town by filling in the rest of the gaps. 

In our grooves, we want to get in the habit of making connections.  The first connection might be daunting, but after it’s achieved, the process gets easier. 

Keep Connecting The Dots 

After we’ve made our first successful connection, the goal is to keep it going.  We must keep connecting the dots to understand the groove and how everything changes over time.  To do that, we want to be curious with our questions. 

How does A relate to B? How does B relate to C? Allowing our curiosity to drive the bus is the best way to connect everything together. 

As we connect more and more, our momentum creates connections faster and faster until the bigger picture emerges before our eyes. 

Master The Groove & Enjoy The Bigger Picture 

As the dots are connected more and more, a picture emerges in which we have a better understanding of how everything gels together. The upfront investment of finding a starting point and connecting the dots pays off.

This is where we enjoy the fruits of our labor. It's easy to get into the habit of never-ending tinkering, but ask yourself – does it need to change in this moment, or can I enjoy it?

Change It Up 

Once we’ve mastered everything, we now hold the power to change it.  Using our influence, we can tweak little changes here and there that cause a chain reaction. 

Not all changes are made equally, so we must be mindful of how we change things depending on the impact we wish to create. Understanding the initial groove and how it morphs over time becomes easier and easier. 

An example is with musicians.  Drums may change their drum patterns to give a song a different feel mid-song and captivate the audience.  Singers might add a little bit of flair to certain words for emphasis.  The bassist might change their playing from straight 8ths to a more staggered feeling to feel punchier. 

The changes don’t have to be dramatic, but they should be impactful by making subtle adjustments that transform the groove into something new and refreshing. 

Embrace The Groove 

Finding our groove at first is challenging. By nature, grooves appear complex and beautiful due to the countless contributions to the melting pot that make each groove unique. It's hard to jump in without knowing how things work.

However, we don't have to jump into the groove. We can create one by starting small. Find a working starting point and connect the dots to embrace our grooves best.

From there, we will understand the parts and how they work alone and with each other. In time, we will understand the bigger picture and be able to own and change the groove to fit us better as we move along.

What grooves have you been missing out on? Leave a comment below.