Ben Wilson

Maybe that reframe would help for George Washington, but even when you reframe it, the solution isn't immediately obvious. So these are the sorts of situations that are really difficult, right? You know, when I talked about reframing the problem, that's high agency 101. Okay, now we're onto 201. So the first thing you do is get really clear about the problem. Define it in excruciating detail.

Steve Jobs comes back to Apple and he's got a similar thing. The workforce is demoralized. The market doesn't trust Apple anymore. They're hemorrhaging money so fast that in 1997, A Wired magazine has a magazine cover with the Apple logo on the front and it has one word, it says, pray. So again, you have tons of problems and they all compound on each other.

Steve Jobs comes back to Apple and he's got a similar thing. The workforce is demoralized. The market doesn't trust Apple anymore. They're hemorrhaging money so fast that in 1997, A Wired magazine has a magazine cover with the Apple logo on the front and it has one word, it says, pray. So again, you have tons of problems and they all compound on each other.

And even when you frame it that way, it's not necessarily going to give you a solution. This is a highly stressful situation. But Steve talks at length with his CFO and he wants to know exactly how much money do we have left? How much runway do we have and how fast are we losing money? Because when it's just we're hemorrhaging money, ah, what is the solution to that? It's vague.

And even when you frame it that way, it's not necessarily going to give you a solution. This is a highly stressful situation. But Steve talks at length with his CFO and he wants to know exactly how much money do we have left? How much runway do we have and how fast are we losing money? Because when it's just we're hemorrhaging money, ah, what is the solution to that? It's vague.

And so you can't have action oriented solutions to vague problems in the same way that if I tell you I'm depressed.

And so you can't have action oriented solutions to vague problems in the same way that if I tell you I'm depressed.

what's the solution there there is no if i start to define it of i am depressed because i'm not sleeping well and i'm not sleeping well because of x maybe a overly simplistic reason to be depressed but okay it's just an example right once you start to define it the solutions even if the solutions aren't clear then parts of the solution become clear right at least small action items that you can take to make the situation better start to become clear

what's the solution there there is no if i start to define it of i am depressed because i'm not sleeping well and i'm not sleeping well because of x maybe a overly simplistic reason to be depressed but okay it's just an example right once you start to define it the solutions even if the solutions aren't clear then parts of the solution become clear right at least small action items that you can take to make the situation better start to become clear

So you want to define the problem very exactly. And then at least action items start to appear and you become high agency. You start figuring out things to do, to be active instead of ruminating, worrying, stressing the things that you can do when you get in one of these kinds of death spiral situations.

So you want to define the problem very exactly. And then at least action items start to appear and you become high agency. You start figuring out things to do, to be active instead of ruminating, worrying, stressing the things that you can do when you get in one of these kinds of death spiral situations.

And then the third thing to do when framing is almost never accept that anything is impossible. Napoleon famously hated the word impossible. Elon Musk has a great quote about this. He says, physics is the law and everything else is a recommendation.

And then the third thing to do when framing is almost never accept that anything is impossible. Napoleon famously hated the word impossible. Elon Musk has a great quote about this. He says, physics is the law and everything else is a recommendation.

And this is a good way to think about it because once you accept that something is possible, you just have to ask whether you are willing to pay the price. If something is possible, there's a price for everything. There's a famous Sherlock Holmes quote. He says, when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

And this is a good way to think about it because once you accept that something is possible, you just have to ask whether you are willing to pay the price. If something is possible, there's a price for everything. There's a famous Sherlock Holmes quote. He says, when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

And I would just change that last word to the solution. When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the solution. So... When you assume that a problem is possible, if it doesn't defy the laws of physics, then you get some pretty improbable solutions when you think about stuff.

And I would just change that last word to the solution. When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the solution. So... When you assume that a problem is possible, if it doesn't defy the laws of physics, then you get some pretty improbable solutions when you think about stuff.

Good example of this, again, going back to Elon Musk, there's a great story from, what's the biography? It's his SpaceX biography, where he needs to get his rockets from Texas, where they are built, to Florida, where they are launched. And he wants them there in three weeks, which is impossible. All rockets are moved via barge on the Gulf of Mexico, and there just aren't that many barges.

Good example of this, again, going back to Elon Musk, there's a great story from, what's the biography? It's his SpaceX biography, where he needs to get his rockets from Texas, where they are built, to Florida, where they are launched. And he wants them there in three weeks, which is impossible. All rockets are moved via barge on the Gulf of Mexico, and there just aren't that many barges.

They take a long time to get from Texas to Florida. It's just not possible on a barge with the existing system. So he says, what if we drive them? And they say, well, that doesn't really seem possible either. And he says, it's not impossible. It doesn't defy the laws of physics to drive a rocket ship from Texas to Florida.