Most of the things you read about problem solving talk about how you can do it better. However, the meta-problem can be most useful when you set out to help someone else be a better problem solver. When we have expertise on a topic, it can be hard to remember what it was like to know very little. How you help someone see things more clearly is both important and often tricky.

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Thinking about the goals we have and the choices we can make is the way experts navigate virtually any situation. We forget that the people we are teaching may not know what the goals could be. They also may not really know what options they have. And most of all, they are unlikely to be able to really compare the nuance of different options to choose the best one.

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If you want to teach someone to see a situation differently, you can start by examining how you see it. Explaining the goals as you see them and the options you're aware of allows the other person to see the world through your eyes. It also allows them to share the way they see things so you can compare notes and understand the differences.

 

Ultimately, the meta-problem is a framework for choosing which problem to solve.

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Who do you want to help think differently?