Search

  
   

Problem Solving

Work Backwards

Start from a desired result and develop the process step by step from there

 

 Problem is an opportunity to grow: Work Backward

 
Vadim Kotelnikov (VadiK) business guru, teaching by example

The most important is to find the most important difference that makes the difference

~ Vadim Kotelnikov

  

Think Systematically and Creatively

To achieve success, vividly imagine that you have already achieved your goal,  visualize the whole picture, then walk back and examine the pathway toward your goal. Engage you superpowerful superconscious mind.

  

 
 

Don't treat complex problems as something to be fixed, treat them as opportunities to grow.

To solve some problems, you may need to undo the key actions in the problem.

Start consciously from the end of the process and develop it step by step from there.

   Work Backward Problem Solving Strategy, Working Backwards

 
   

Example

“You know the famous kid's puzzle in which there's a picture of three fishermen each with a fishing rod connected to a long winding fishing line. One fishing line leads to a fish, and the other two lead nowhere. The question is, which fisherman has caught the fish? Most kids try answering this puzzle using trial and error. In each trial they select a different fisherman and carefully follow the line from there,” says Roni Horowitz, the author of Advanced Systematic Inventive Thinking (ASIT) technique. “There is of course a better method, which would be to start from the fish and follow the string to the fisherman. When thinking about a process, we're often fixated to follow the same sequence in our mind, as it would be in the "real" world. This way we miss opportunities to use insights that stem from following an alternative sequence, such as working backwards.”

 

  

 

 

 
   

When To Use the Work Backward Strategy

The Work Backward strategy may be appropriate when:

 

  

 
 

→ The final result is clear and the initial portion of a problem is obscure.

→ A problem proceeds from being complex initially to being simple at the end.

→ A direct approach involves a complicated equation.

→ A problem involves a sequence of reversible actions.

A Sample Problem Solving Process

① State the problem and identify the measures that most clearly indicate the problem you are seeking to solve, and the time over which the problem has changed, and will be solved. Reframe the problem to discover new ways to the desired state.

② Work back through the logic of what is causing the problem, using the '5 WHYs' process or any information that may be relevant, to the 'resources' that are driving it.

③ Look at the history of the events that have brought the situation to its current level.

④ Sketch out how you think a solution for the future might work, by changing the input flows and working through what could happen to input and output levels.

 

 

 
   

A Joke about Creative Problem Solving (CPS)

Wise vs. Fast

A farmer buys a new rooster to replace his old one, and puts him in the chicken coop...

The new rooster walks up arrogantly to the old rooster and says "out of the way old man! These are my hens now. Your time is done." The old rooster rolls his eyes.

"Alright, fine, I get it. I'm old. But I still have some living left to do, and won't give up my hens so easily. There is only room in this coop for one of us. Let's settle it this way: we race around the coop. The winner stays, and the other goes." The young rooster agrees to the challenge.

The old rooster says "but listen, I'm not the young cock I once was. You have to give me a 5 second head start to make it fair." The young rooster agrees to these terms.

When race time comes, the young rooster counts down to start it. "3... 2...1... go!" The old rooster takes off running, giving it his all. After 5 seconds, the new rooster takes off after him. As they round the first turn of the race, the new rooster is already about to catch up to the old one, right on his heels.

Then the farmer's wife shouted to her husband: "Who did you bring? He's chasing our old rooster!"

The farmer grabs his shotgun, and shoots the young rooster, leaving only some blood and feathers. He exclaims angrily,  "Damn it! That's the third gay rooster I've bought this month!"

 

  

 

 

 

 
Vadim Kotelnikov

Keep learning forward. If you strop learning, you stop creating history and become history.

Vadim Kotelnikov, founder of 1000ventures - personal logo VadiK

Inventor

Author

Founder

 

Slides

  

Great Problem Solver

 

Notes