We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein
What’s it all about?
Problem reversal focuses on solving an identified problem by turning it on its head and encouraging you to think about it differently. One recent example of a practical problem reversal is how arts and cultural organisations had to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of asking the more traditional question of how do we get audiences or participants to come to us, we had to ask how do we get our work out to them creatively and safely.
What’s it for?
In many cases, the problem definition is what limits our ability to generate new ideas. The meaning of the words or their order can put blocks on our thinking. Taking a problem and reframing it in terms of its opposite can change the direction of your thought and generate new solutions. It can throw people slightly off balance and into the unexpected, getting the creative juices flowing.
In his ‘Key to Dreams,’ Magritte causes us to ask new questions: some of the labels and their associations we recognise but others are disconcerting. He has caused us to consider again what we are looking at and what it means.
Using the tool
The principle of this tool is simple: take a problem and then reverse it. For example, “How do I gain more customers?” becomes “How do I drive customers away?” Now work through a series of steps to see what ideas you can develop. This tool is suitable for any scale of business in any sector and can be done on your own or with a group. It is a technique that can take as much time as you choose.