Sometimes all it takes to find a solution to a problem is to change your perspective. Take an opposing point of view. Ask someone who disagrees with your stance to explain their side of things and just listen. Get down on the ground and look at it from another angle. Ask someone with absolutely no experience or understanding of the problem to suggest some answers. They won’t be inhibited by what they “know” won’t work because they don’t know whether it will or not.

Children seem to have a knack for cutting through the bullshit and expectations and seeing the solution where adults don’t. Rather than repeating the old “think outside the box” stuff….I think asking you to think outside your comfort zone is more applicable. We tend to settle for solutions that make us feel safe, comfortable and in keeping with the status quo. There may be better solutions or answers, but if our comfort zone gets binged by our considering those solutions, then we’ll dismiss them.

For instance, years ago a friend of mine had a recurring problem with warts on his hands. I told him about the old wives tale of duct tape on warts removing them, and he laughed, but tried it. It worked. So he’s an evangelist for duct tape on warts. His wife was horrified. It wasn’t medical. It looked horrible for him to walk around with duct tape on his fingers and hands. It wasn’t an over the counter medical solution, she didn’t understand why or how it worked when medicine didn’t, so it’s not a solution in her mind. She wasn’t willing to change her perspective on how warts get cured.

When looking for a cheap solution for a temporary grill for one burger patty, I opted to put sand in a clay flower pot, add small twigs and a couple of thicknesses of aluminum foil punched with holes over the top. I secured the foil with cord around the neck of the flower pot so the weight of the burger wouldn’t knock it down. It worked great. I wasn’t looking for a solution that looked like existing solutions (grills), or that was pretty or marketable. I was looking for a solution that would cook my burger over an open fire that night. Cost? 50 cents.

Sometimes defining the parameters of a solution, rather than the parameters of the answer is how to find the solution. That’s what changing your perspective does.

Describe the outcome. In my case, a cooked burger.
Describe the elements you have to work with. In this case, wood heat, cook surface and something to hold heat.

I don’t know what your situation is, or what solutions you’re hoping for. But if you change your stance, your believes, your preconceptions, there’s a good chance you’ll find your answer.