What To Do When You Think "WTF?"

To learn on the fly is a rare skill that is an often under examined area of personal development. Most people are pretty good at utilizing what they have either personally done in the past or have seen others do in the past. Applying solutions that worked in the past is something that we tend to do automatically. When a problem comes up that we have seen before, we are all pretty good at applying what we learned in the past in order to solve the present situation. It makes sense that we are programmed that way because it takes less mental energy and allows for fast action.

But, learning while doing, and then adjusting our strategy accordingly, is a rare skill. Solving problems and handling situations that we have never seen before is often more difficult. It involves trying solutions that we have never tried before and it requires quick analysis in creative new ways. People have to be willing to take risks, make mistakes, learn from failures, quickly toss out the past, and ignore disbelievers.

When faced with a situation that makes you have never seen before, the immediate internal response is to first quickly assess the circumstances. Then, second, search through your mental catalog of past experiences in order to find one that most closely resembles the current situation. The third step is to respond and behave as you did in the past. The logic being that if it worked before, then it will work now, too.

But, what about when the current situation doesn't match with your past experiences? When you recognize that you are in a situation that you have never experienced before, a lot of people get a slight adrenaline rush at entering unchartered territory. A response I typically have is, "What the f**k?"

Solution? Become a failure. When learning on the fly, failing quickly and often is one of the quickest ways to succeed. The old saying, "success through failure" definitely applies here. Perform fast and quick experiments in order to find a solution. A key skill that innovators have is that they recognize that many of their ideas won't work. It is a numbers game and the more ideas they try, the higher the odds are that one will be a game changer.

If one of your ideas for a solution isn't getting you somewhere fast, then write it off as a failure and try another one. Don't take it personally; don't get frustrated or discouraged.

The key is to manage your expectations about failure and to keep on trying. When you run out of possible solutions, then seek new sources of information (internet, library, colleagues)and keep on trying.

Your first solutions are typically not the best solutions - how could they be when you are still learning? Set aside at least 65% of your time to investigate - not solve - and, most importantly, to ask the question, "why?" The more you can ask "why" the more information you gather and it helps you to rethink and reassess the problem and come up with more solutions.

Get creative and "think outside of the box" by backing way, way back to find familiar ground. Focus on the similarities, not the differences, between what you know about the world and what you are currently working through. There are tons of examples of this everywhere, such as comparisons of dating to fishing: there are always "more fish in the sea", or that lawyers like myself are like sharks, or that a very large company facing bankruptcy is going down like the Titanic. Practice creatively drawing analogies between what you are dealing with and what happens in the world.

Be alert to patterns of similarity in regards to people, processes, systems, animals, corporations, and nature. What is common to all processes that do well? What is common to people that are skilled in the area you are learning to develop? Stating what is working well in other arenas helps you to figure out commonalities. If you can clearly state what makes people and corporations (for example) work well, then it is likely that you will see that certain things are on both lists. What works well in one arena, works well in another. They are general guidelines for success, no matter what the situation.

Find the opposite of the problem and turn it upside down. State the opposite of the problem or state what it is not. Determine what is the farthest thing from the current circumstance. What is it least likely to be? What is missing? This is a great technique for jarring people out of their current framework and fosters creative thinking.

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