Is there a “right” way to load the dishwasher?
Some people overthink loading the dishwasher while others somehow miss that half the dishes are blocked by something else. To balance your effort against the results, you can think more broadly about what it is you’re really trying to accomplish.
Complex problems are often vague and have many possible solutions. The Meta-Problem Method may lead you far away from the dilemma that started your quest. That’s because the method forces you to clarify what you really want and what you are willing to give up. It enables you to compare objectively the possible pathways and their trade offs. It prevents you locking into solutions mode too early and then doubling down on solving a low-yield problem that does not serve your goals as well as the alternatives. At the end of this process, you will have a better understanding of your priorities and how to achieve them.
Steps in the Meta-Problem Method
Dilemma
The high-level issue you are trying to address
Design the right way to load a dishwasher.
Goal
The changes you want to make to address the dilemma. There are usually many options.
Supporting Goals
- All dishes get clean.
- Maximize dishes per load.
Other goals could include minimizing the time spent loading the dishwasher, minimizing the number of hand-washed dishes, and enjoying the process of cleaning up.
Problem Space
The set of problems you could chose to solve to advance your goals, plus the constraints that hold you back.
Example problems
- What loading strategy will allow all dishes to get clean? Maybe the problem to solve is “with my dishes and dishwasher, what arrangements don’t come out clean?”
- What loading strategy will get the most dishes in? Maybe the problem to solve is “Where does each dish fit best into the overall puzzle?”
There are many other potential problems to solve related to loading a dishwasher. Each goal has many possible problems we could link to it. Are there other problems linked to these first two goals? Which options come to mind for the other goals?
High-Yield Problems
Sometimes solving one problem helps make progress towards several goals. In this step, we identify these “two-for-the-price-of-one” problems.
Which options will advance more than one goal?
- Creating zones in your dishwasher for each kind of dish can allow you to confidently know how clean those dishes will get in each section and can minimize the time spend loading the dishwasher. However, zones can be less flexible leading to fewer dishes fitting overall and leaving more dishes to handwash.
- Loading the smaller and more nestable dishes first will maximize the number of dishes that fit into the dishwasher and minimize the number of handwash dishes leftover. However, it takes more work to find all the matching dishes together and can take longer as a result.
There are many potential solutions that will have varying effects on the set of goals. Which alternatives improve the most important goals? How might the unknown change the right path forward? What other possible solutions are there to address the dilemma?
Problem Selection
Which of the many possible options in the high-yield problem step is the best set to address the dilemma?
- Which solutions make the most sense to you?
- Which solutions will best address the dilemma?
- Which solutions will deliver the best outcome for the least amount of time, effort and money?
Implement, Learn and Adapt
Check continuously that you are still solving the best problem, as new information emerges.
Observe and learn as you go. As new information reveals itself, check continuously that you’re still solving the best problem.