Michael Neill - a renowned success coach and a licensed master NLP trainer- once wrote:  “I was once hired to model the problem-solving strategies of a top Silicon Valley troubleshooter. When I asked him how he would begin to solve an extremely difficult problem, his surprising answer was, "I never solve extremely difficult problems. If I find a problem is too difficult, I know I've defined it wrong."

While I marveled at his reply, it reminded me of one of my favorite stories from the world of psychotherapy.

Jay Haley, one of the most prominent therapeutic innovators of his time, was reportedly asked at a conference where he was presenting how he would treat a patient diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Haley paused to reflect before answering.

"Schizophrenia," he mused aloud. "We still haven't come up with a cure for that, have we?"

On being reassured that the newly categorized disease was still without a cure, Haley replied:

"Then I would never diagnose one of my patients with it. Why would I diagnose a patient with a disease I didn't know how to cure?"

Defining our problems (or more accurately "explaining" their cause) in terms of an easily implementable solution works because the way we explain the cause of our problems predetermines the solutions we will attempt to implement. Therefore, if we are stuck or unable to solve a problem, we need to come up with an alternative diagnosis, definition, or explanation” – End.