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Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson
There Are No Right Answers To Wrong Questions
Welcome back!
“It is the theory that decides what can be observed.”
Albert Einstein
Do you have a problem you can’t solve? Have you looked everywhere for answers? Maybe the reason you cannot solve the problem is that you are looking for answers to the wrong question.
This morning, my husband and I finally solved a problem that has been annoying us for several weeks. We had a chirping alarm in our hallway. We assumed the problem was one of the smoke detectors, but the smoke detectors are hardwired into the electrical system, and so there are no batteries to replace.
It was hard to diagnose the problem because the chirping was so intermittent. It would go off once and then not again for several hours, and so we couldn’t figure out which unit was the problem.
We also have a burglar alarm system. Those alarms run on batteries. So we changed the batteries in the alarm units, even the 12 volt battery in the control panel.
This morning, we lost electrical power for about an hour. With the power off, the chirping occurred every few seconds. In the narrow hallway, we couldn’t figure out what alarm was making the sound. The sound was obviously coming from the hallway, but where?
Did you ever see the episode on “Friends” in which Phoebe tries to silence a smoke alarm? It was something like that. With no electrical power, with all of the units disconnected, with the alarm system disconnected, one of the units kept chirping every few seconds.
“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.”
Thomas Berger
Finally, finally, my husband asked a better question. “What else runs on batteries?” As soon as he asked the question, I stopped looking at the smoke and burglar detectors in the ceiling and looked down to see the carbon monoxide unit plugged into an outlet just about the baseboard. We found the chirping culprit.
All the time we were looking at the ceiling for our answers, sure that the problem was with the smoke detectors, the real problem was the carbon monoxide detector a few inches above the floor.
With hindsight, it seems so obvious. Why didn’t we think of the carbon monoxide detector earlier? The answer is simple. We had made up our minds early enough that we knew the source of the problem and so we simply stopped looking elsewhere. We didn’t even consider another option and that is why we couldn’t figure out the source of the problem.
“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.”
Albert Einstein
Contrast our inability to solve this practical problem with the method Albert Einstein used to solve problems.
“Solutions that have been kicked around for years should be temporarily off-limits in defining your problem…You must ignore old answers for now so they don’t mislead you. If they were a real solution to the problem, then your problem would already be solved.”
Scott Thorpe, “How to Think Like Einstein”
The wisdom in this statement speaks volumes. If the problem had been with the smoke detectors, we would have figured it out weeks ago. But while we were trying to solve a problem without seeing the real problem, we never asked the better question. What else could be causing the problem?
In the book I have just completed, I identify a solution to money problems for real estate investors by looking at the Monopoly game. Just as the carbon monoxide detector was obvious, the solution to money problems is obvious in the Monopoly game as soon as you ask another question. We knew the carbon monoxide detector was there, but we didn’t even consider it as the source of the problem because we were certain that the problem was the smoke detectors.
In the same way, the Monopoly game has the answer to money problems, but most players don’t see the solution because they are too busy playing the game according to rules designed to produce more losers than winners. Once you see the solution, you will wonder why you never noticed it before.
“There are no right answers to wrong questions.”
Ursula K. LeGuin
And so my question for you today is this? What unresolved problems are you attempting to solve? They could be big problems or they could be minor annoyances, such as our carbon monoxide detector that needed new batteries. If you have tried to solve the problem, but are getting nowhere, it might be time to stop and ask yourself, “What is a better question?” What are you not seeing because you are looking in the wrong direction? What new question do you need to ask?
FREE EBOOK: Do You Know The Money-Making Secret In The Monopoly Game?
Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.
Author of “No Money Limits For Real Estate Investors: Discover The Money-Making Secret In The Monopoly Game That Will Turn Your Money Struggles Into Money Abundance
http://www.nomoneylimits.com/
kalinda@nomoneylimits.com
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