Sometimes life throws us problems that feel unsolvable. It feels like no matter what we do (or don’t do) we can’t solve them. Sometimes unsolvable problems like this are referred to as a “Gordian knot,” a term that beckons back to the 4thcentury AD.
The Gordian Knot
Legend has it, that King Midas tied an Ox-Cart to a post with an intricate knot. An oracle had promised that anyone who untied it would become ruler of all of Asia. Alexander the Great arrived and determined that he would have to solve this differently than untying each strand. He took his sword and sliced right through it to the shock of the village. He later did conquer the area and became a powerful ruler true to the oracle’s words.
Solving a Gordian Problem
Many people had tried to untie it before, but it took approaching the problem differently to solve it. Similarly, to unravel an unsolvable problem sometimes requires thinking outside the options we are considering.
The following are three ideas are helpful for solving a Gordian-type problem.
Ask Why
The solution to untying the knot came from thinking differently about the same problem. If he had tried the same things that had been tried before—he would likely have gotten the same results as others had gotten before. Nothing. He had to be willing to try something new.
Sometimes new possibilities don’t even occur to us because our brains can only think about what’s been done before. One way to think differently is to start by asking why we’re doing something. Getting to the purpose can sometimes open the mind. Then we can ask, is there another way we could accomplish the same purpose?
When I Asked Why
I was recently asked to be the President of the Relief Society at my church (a women’s organization). I help minister to almost 100 women all across Shanghai—some living quite far (over an hour away). I was feeling quite concerned about how I would visit and help many of these women given the distance; I have a young family and doing visits can take several hours. As I thought about this, I began to feel very overwhelmed feeling I’d have to choose between spending a significant amount of time away from my family or not caring for these women in a way that felt necessary. It felt unsolvable.
As I began to ask why visits were important, I realized the purpose of visits is to get to know the women, to check in on them, and see how they are. While in many places Relief Society Presidents do this by visiting, I began to ask myself if there was any other way to accomplish this?
Of course. Telephone, texting, visiting at church, having people to my home and even video conferencing. While some visits will still be needed to be sure, it made the load seem much more manageable. In was important to ask why and if there was another way to accomplish that why in order to solve the problem.
Failing Often Tells Us How NOT to Do It
Even after we’ve asked why and brainstormed different ideas, sometimes we have to fail in order to find what works. Going back to Alexander and the knot, he certainly wasn’t the first to attempt to untie the knot. Many people had failed. The failure was what made the ultimate success so incredible.
The way to success is usually paved with failure.
Failing My Way to Success
I recently failed my way to success with something small but important. My daughter is ready for pre-school but pre-schools are extremely expensive here in Shanghai. The more I looked into them the more I felt like it was a lose-lose decision. Either I could put her in pre-school but feel nauseated by the cost, or I could keep her home and save the money but instead feel bad that she was under stimulated and following me around the house whining. Either way didn’t seem like the right decision.
I dug in to find a solution. I tried to put together a play group for her. No luck. Then we tried a mommy-and-me pre-school once a week, but Shanghai is so large it took over an hour to drive there and my daughter threw up on the way because she gets car sick! Fail.
Then, I decided I could not only save money by doing my own commercial pre-school I could makemoney. Turns out with restrictions for diplomatic visas it wouldn’t work. Fail again. I was feeling pretty discouraged. I felt like I had tried everything I could think of and kept hitting dead ends. The problem felt unsolvable.
Finally, I decided maybe I could send her to part-time pre-school and work part-time to pay for the tuition. We applied, were accepted and she has been talking excitedly about it ever since. It took a lot of fails, but we finally reached a good solution. Each fail, as disappointing as it was helped me realize what wouldn’t work. Each time I got closer to the solution that DID work.
Failing can help us solve impossible problems simply by ruling out what doesn’t work.
Take Bold Action Instead of Passive Action
As we’re moving closer to the solution by asking why and failing, it’s important to take the right kind of action. It’s possible to take lots of action that ISN’T getting us closer to a solution. Passive action won’t get us there, but bold action will.
Passive action means taking steps that are small, conservative and preparatory—things like learning about it. Watching others do it. Thinking about it. Bold action is actually risking something by creating, doing or trying it.
Alexander didn’t sit around watching others, thinking about it or preparing. He took bold action.
When I Took Bold Action
I wanted to start blogging for a long time. Honestly it felt sort of overwhelming. I didn’t know the ins and outs of the technical stuff and figuring it out felt impossible. I took passive action, I threw around the idea, I looked at other people’s blogs and even brainstormed names and blog articles.
Finally, one day I listened to a podcast about setting impossible goals. I accepted the challenge. I didn’t know exactly how or what but I decided to take some bold action. Without knowing everything I just dug in and started googling and looking. I found a blogging course and started working on it by trial and error. Within 6 months I had launched my blog with several articles on it! It was so exciting and motivating it propelled me forward.
I realized I could figure it out as I went. Passive action kept me stuck. Bold action moved me forward.
Bold action helps us solve difficult problems because it gets us moving and actually creating. Often problems aren’t as hard as we THINK they will be once we get moving.
Courage Can Help Us Get to Solutions
The solutions to unsolvable problems require some discomfort. But staying stuck in our “unsolvable problems” is even worse. It’s worth it to ask why, to be willing to fail, and to take bold action even if it means being a little uncomfortable because it will bring solutions to Gordian Problems.
Solve a Gordian Problem
What’s a problem you would like to solve, that feels impossible?
- Ask why?
- Be willing to fail.
- Take bold action.
