Make Better Decisions (Faster)

Unconventional Problem-Solving for Multipotentialites

Creative Hackers

Aug 02, 2023

Nearly all the information you google is wrong.

It’s meh advice. Why?

Cos 99% of the information on Google and YouTube is advice created by neurotypicals for neurotypicals.

Our brains work differently.

We think differently.

Ideas and strategies that work for neurotypicals don’t work so well for us, and vice versa.

For example…👇

Niching down vs Niching up
Specialising vs Generalism
Convergent thinking Vs Divergent thinking
Using inauthentic creative, marketing or sales-y tactics, etc

There are two exceptions I have discovered so far:

Philosophy: Aristotle, Plato, Jean-Paul Sartre, Alan Watts, Frederich Nietzsche, Marcus Aurelius, etc. — all multipotentialites — in fact, I’m yet to come across a neurotypical philosopher in my research so far.
Mental models — again, all created by multipotentialites: Charlie Munger, Carl Gustav Jacobi, Richard Feynman etc

Mental models help us make better decisions.

And making decisions is a problem for us unless you haven’t noticed. 😬

To make better decisions, multipotentialites need to employ mental models.

Inversion thinking is one of my favourites. I’ve written about it before here, with many different applications.

WTF Is Inversion Thinking?

Thinking differently.

It’s thinking backwards.

It’s a mental model that involves reversing the conventional problem-solving process.

It was invented by German multipotentialite and mathematical badass Carl Gustav Jacobi.

Inversion thinking involves shifting the focus from what you want to achieve to what you want to avoid.

This approach challenges conventional problem-solving by encouraging individuals to identify negative outcomes or obstacles and work towards removing them.

Rather than seeking a direct positive solution, inversion thinking aims to eliminate the root causes that prevent us from achieving a positive solution.

The three steps of inversion thinking:

Define the problem clearly
Identify the potential negative outcomes
Devise strategies to avoid the negative outcomes

This is particularly helpful with abstract decisions and thinking.

How to be happier?

➡️ Inversion thinking: It’s easier to write a list of things that make you unhappy and avoid doing them.

E.g. — not exercising
Denying my creativity
Eating too many carbs
Sitting at my desk all-day
Not spending time with my daughter and partner
Not helping others
Not writing daily
Not doing 1:1s

When I invert all these things and do the opposite, this makes me happier.

How to fulfil my creative potential?

➡️ Inversion thinking: Write out all the things that STOP you from achieving your creative potential.

Don’t make any decisions
Don’t niche up and flip-flop from one idea to next
Don’t publish/ post any work
Be rigid, trying to be perfect
Don’t embrace uncertainty
Don’t turn negatives into positives
Compare myself with others
Don’t face my fears
Take the path of least resistance

Now if you avoid and do the opposite of the above, you will start fulfilling your creative potential.

Famous Multipotentialite Inversion Stories:

Florence Nightingale:

Nightingale's multipotentiality allowed her to revolutionise nursing through innovative strategies like statistical analysis and emphasis on prevention, whereas everyone else focused on cures.

This was Nightingale’s statistical analysis she used to solve the problem.

Prevention Vs The Cure

During the Crimea War, the British Army faced a death rate of 23% in hospitals.

Florence Nightingale used inversion thinking to reduce the death rate to 2.5% within a year.

How?

Nightingale was a talented statistician.

With her analysis, she recognised it was not the injuries that were killing the soldiers; it was the poor sanitation of the hospitals that were infecting the wounds.

This is common knowledge now but not in 1856

Conventional thinking: What can we add to increase the survival rate?
Inversion thinking: What can we avoid to decrease the death rate?

Listing the negative outcomes and avoiding them will naturally increase the survival rates.

Her use of inversion thinking helped her identify the unsanitary conditions in hospitals and work towards improving hygiene practices, saving countless lives.

Leonardo da Vinci:

Leonardo da Vinci, a quintessential multipotentialite, was a master of inversion thinking in his artistic and scientific pursuits.

He approached problems by understanding what could go wrong, which led to his groundbreaking work in engineering, anatomy, and art.

One example, Leonardo applied inversion thinking to military strategies.

He studied the weaknesses of existing castle designs to imagine how attackers could exploit them.

He then designed innovative defensive structures and siege machines to counter those weaknesses, making castles more secure.

To improve a situation, first seek out the weaknesses and then create strategies to counter the weaknesses.

Charlie Munger:

Charlie Munger is Warren Buffet's business partner and philanthropist.

He uses a series of mental models and his multipotentiality to be one of the world's smartest investors.

During the 2nd World War, Charlie was in air traffic control.

His job was to help US pilots land their planes safely in highly challenging conditions.

Charlie approached the goal backwards.

First, he considered all the human errors that would result in the planes crashing.

Once he knew that, Charlie inverted the negative and turned potential problems into solutions.

By avoiding all scenarios that led to failure, Charlie couldn’t help but succeed in helping more US planes land safely.

Why does this work?

All humans have negativity bias. We see the negatives before the positives. This is an evolutionary survival system.

Looking and avoiding the threats of sabre tooth tigers and pissed-off woolly mammoths ensured we survived as a species.

Multipotentialites have an amplified emotional system. Therefore we have an exaggerated negativity bias.

As a result, inversion thinking is a mental model that works exceptionally well for us.

It’s easier for us to see the negatives than the positives. We can be more successful by identifying the negatives or the weakness and avoiding them.

Your brain is wired differently.

Neurotypicals are convergent thinkers. They see the world through a very narrow lens.

Mulitpotentialites are divergent thinkers. We see the world through a very wide lens.

Neurotypicals like small talk

We hate small talk and seek out deep conversations.

This is why all the deep thinkers, philosophers, the creators of mental models are multipotentialites.

It is synthesising our multidisciplinary knowledge to create innovative and unique thinking that elevates our problem-solving abilities.

And every successful business on the planet exists because it solves problems in a specific way.

I’ve become a bit obsessed with creating a network of mental models to help us channel our divergent thinking brains.

Some will be original.

But most of them will be from the insight of multipotentiality’s brightest creative minds and philosophical thinkers.

This isn’t about changing the world ( although that would be super cool!)

It’s about leveraging divergent thinking.

It’s about seeing the world differently.

It’s about spotting opportunities where others see problems.

It’s about not fitting in. It’s about standing out and breaking free from the shackles of specialist societal expectations.

Divergent thinkers have challenges and our crosses to bear.

And it’s not fucking easy at times.

But we owe it to ourselves (and the world) to leverage our divergent thinking so we can share ideas so we help others and grow personally, professionally and philosophically.

Hope this helps

Peace Out✌️