People never ask me for problem solving advice, and if they did, I would say you shouldn’t ask me for problem solving advice. So, I suggest you don’t take my advice and solve all your problems using my tried and true method of problem solving.

I like to call it – The Breakdown.

The Breakdown strategy comes down to one simple rule: Break it down.  When trying to solve a complex issue I find its best to break the problem down to its basic elements, and then deal with those elements individually. Once you have solved all of those individual elements, the collective resolutions of those smaller problems will add up to your main problem being solved.

Example time.

Let’s say I’m single. I want a girlfriend but can’t seem to get one. If I look into why I’m single, I’ll begin to see a large subset of problems that are causing me to be single. I smell bad. I dress like a bum. I don’t know the difference between there, their, and they’re. I respond to text messages with K. I speak like a pirate half the time. I own multiple Snuggies. I wear sunglasses at night. I call the cops on parties I wasn’t invited to. I wear a cape.

As you can see, once I start breaking the problem down to more digestible pieces, the reason I’m single becomes clear and solvable. Although none of the things I listed are bad traits, they are counterproductive when trying to find a girlfriend. If I begin to change some of these things, girls will start being attracted to me and I’ll find a girlfriend.

To make things easier for you, I’ve created a three-step formula will help guide you through this process and make you into a professional problem solver. You’ll solve so many problems that your only problem will be that you have no problems to solve.

Step 1 – Identify the problems

You have a problem, and you need to solve it. In this very first step you’ll want to identify the problems within that main problem. You’ll want to list all the things that are causing that larger problem to be a problem. Having these listed out will help you understand the overall picture clarify the overall situation.

For example, maybe you are short on money. That is your problem. However, if we break it down and list the reasons we don’t have a lot of money, we start to understand the bigger picture. We see that you owe Tom $100, you need to pay rent, and you need to buy groceries. All of these problems are reasons why you have a shortage of money.

Problem: You don’t have a lot of money in your bank account.

Subset of problems: You owe Tom $100. You need to pay rent. You need to buy groceries.

Step 2 – Explore Solutions

Once we have identified the subset of problems, we can begin to explore solutions to those smaller problems. Pick one from your list and begin exploring how to solve that problem. List as many solutions as you can think of no matter how ridiculous or simple they may be.

Here we have identified a problem; Tom loaned you $100 and now you need to pay him back. Now it’s time to brainstorm solutions. One solution is to pay Tom the amount we owe, a simple and easy exchange. Another solution, since Tom is such a nice guy, is to offer him services such as cleaning his car, or walking his dog, in exchange for the $100 you owe. Another solution is to kill Tom and take whatever is in his wallet.

Solution 1: Pay Tom $100

Solution 2: Offer Tom other services to exchange for $100, such as mowing his lawn, or walking his dog.

Solution 3: Kill Tom and take whatever is in his wallet.

Step 3 – Evaluate and Select Solutions

Once you have the solutions outlined, you’ll need to evaluate them and determine which one is the best for your situation. You should consider how each solution effects not just the smaller problem, but the overall problem as well. You want to select the option that will benefit your situation the most. Below I list the net gain from each solution.

Solution 1: Pay Tom back $100 in full. This will resolve our small issue of owing Tom money but will negatively affect our larger issue of being poor. Effect: Negative

Solution 2: Offer services in exchange for Tom’s $100. This would resolve our small issue while not affecting our main problem at all. Effect: Neutral

Solution 3: Kill Tom and take whatever is in his wallet. This would resolve our small issue of owing Tom money, and depending on what he has in his wallet, it also has the potential of improving the outlook of your main problem. Effect: Neutral to Positive

Each solution will resolve the smaller problem, so how it will affect the larger problem will be the determining factor. Solution 1 will have a negative effect. Solution 2 will have a neutral effect. Solution three will either be neutral or have a positive effect. Based on this evaluation, we can see that Solution 3 has the biggest upside for our main issue and can confidently move forward with killing Tom and taking whatever is in his wallet.
Once this problem is resolved, you just go back up to step one and repeat the process until you are problem free.