Unpacking How My Mind Solves Problems
One is what you want; the other is what the other person wants.
This afternoon, I spent an hour or two helping a friend analyze and resolve a sticking point in a business partnership.
The feeling was both familiar and distant.
Because... it seems like it's been a long time since I represented anyone in negotiating a partnership with someone else.
I think I really do have a bit of a knack for business positioning and partnership models (bringing resources together)! Hahaha
I never used to think much about why. There were just results to show for it.
Today, I suddenly wanted to unpack how my mind does the thinking.
And then I realized:
When discussing a partnership model, my mind ultimately goes back to two fundamental questions—
One is what you want; the other is what the other person wants.
As for the thought process,
I remember a product colleague once asking me:
‘How do you judge whether a model or a path is feasible?’
I said, ‘Generally, there's a starting point, and from that point I explore many different paths. Along each path, I quickly work through all the nodes. Problems and potential risks arise along the way, gradually reducing the chances of getting through. If I reach a node I can't get past, I stop immediately, return to the starting point, and try another path. I repeat this until I find a path that works. Then I exhaust the possibilities to see whether any other feasible paths exist. If not, that's the one. If there are others, I work through the combinations or compare them, and choose the best one.’
It's not a structure with a single point and a single line, but an outward-branching network. When it hits an obstacle, it bounces back. Closing a branch on one line might become a prerequisite or an extension of another line.
Of course, all of this assumes that enough information is available. How to uncover and build up that information is another subject.
This thought process may look complicated, but if you use the skill regularly, once you're practiced, judging a complete path may take only a few minutes. Running through all the paths and nodes in your head doesn't take very long either, so you can usually reach a result quickly. Unless the problem is highly complex: there have also been times when I've spent a week or two working through possibilities, recording them in a mind map.
I probably used the same logic to solve today's problem.
Start at the starting point, work through a circuit, then return to the beginning. Repeat a few times, and the answer comes quickly.
At its core, it's still about answering and connecting those two questions about what each side wants. That's the key.
This skill sometimes feels like a sharp knife.
Though I haven't used it in a long time, thankfully it hasn't rusted.
It suddenly reminded me of those unpleasant days in the past.
They were certainly unpleasant, but they were also continually sharpening my knife.
So tonight's little treat before bed is—
Don't be too frustrated, complain too much, or dwell on the difficulties and hardships you're facing now.
They may become your sharp blade someday.
No path in life is walked in vain. Every step counts.
