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title: Problem Solving
created: 2024-11-18T09:16:49
modified: 2025-12-23T16:21:10
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> _“The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution.” — Seneca_

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The Monkeys \& Pedestals mental model by Annie Duke

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[The PO Creativity Method](the-po-creativity-method.md) by Edward de Bono

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[Always start with end in mind](always-start-with-end-in-mind.md)

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Not just find solutions, find _scalable_ solutions.

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[Functional Fixedness: Duncker’s Candle Problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle_problem)

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[The MECE Principle](the-mece-principle.md)

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# Kidlin’s Law

> “If you can write down a problem clearly, you’ve already solved half of it.”

Writing is a powerful tool for problem-solving, because [writing is thinking](https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00323-4). You cannot write clearly if you aren’t thinking clearly.

It’s less about what you create on the page and more about what the page creates in you.

The clarity you seek is found on the blank page you avoid.

From [LEUCHTTURM1917 Notebook](https://www.google.com/search?q=LEUCHTTURM1917+Notebook)

> Writing by hand is thinking on paper.
> Thoughts grow into words, sentences and pictures.
> Memories become stories. Ideas are transformed into projects. Notes inspire insight. We write and understand, learn, see and think - with the hand.

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Most problems are more complex than they seem, but most solutions should be simpler than they are.