Non-Linear Problem-Solving
Innovation Lessons From Bjarke Ingels for Coaches and Performers
This week's post is a bit shorter as I'm deep in the throes of finishing year-end projects. I've got some article ideas coming up for 2025 that I hope will knock your socks off, including:
More "Perspective" articles like this one, where I find inspiration from outside the realm of human health and performance to help solve problems we might have.
Opinion pieces that are editorial in nature and seek to review topics of public conversation.
Research highlights, where I look at interesting research papers that are unique and insightful.
This week, I want to highlight one of the best podcasts I've listened to in recent memory. Recently, Rick Rubin, legendary music industry icon, interviewed Bjarke Ingels, a Danish architect and designer responsible for iconic buildings and cityscapes all over the world including the new Google building in Mountain View, CA and the unmistakable 8 House in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In the two-part conversation on the Tetragrammaton podcast, Bjarke went into detail about his creative approach, his philosophy of architecture, and a breakdown of his most iconic projects. In a world of literally millions of podcasts, it's definitely worth a listen.
You can listen to part one HERE.
You Got a Problem?
During their discussion of Bjarke Ingels' creative approach, he made a comment that provoked quite a lot of thought from me: that innovation is not for its own sake but exists to solve problems that emerge in reality. He was talking specifically about teasing out information from architecture clients regarding the needs of the building they wanted.
Furthermore, he observed that clients often don’t fully understand what they need. Instead, they have vague ideas of what they think they want. By questioning clients and digging deeper than the initial ask, he can uncover the root of their problems.
"...you might just describe the last house you saw that you liked and say, this is what I want, but it might not actually be what you want. You just know that this is a house that works. So therefore, like, just to help almost interrogate a little what exactly are you looking for, and how is your life, and what do you do, and what does your family like to do?"
I think this applies to many of the coaches I know who read this Substack, as well as to anyone seriously managing their performance longevity. Digging a bit deeper into the exact reasoning behind the problem we’re ultimately trying to solve—rather than taking solutions at face value—is key. This happens all the time with things like novel supplements or exercises. We don’t often start by asking: what problem is this thing being used to solve?
This brings me to another great point from the podcast: innovation should serve the solution. Innovation, in fact, should emerge as a consequence of necessity, not for its own sake. In our culture, those who are (or at least seem) innovative often sit at the top of the social hierarchy and are rewarded with significant social attention. As a result, we often conflate the novel with the innovative without stopping to ask: is this even necessary, or is it simply a complication? This particular thought error seeps into many creative industries, perhaps none more insidiously than fitness and human performance.
"...the beginning of a project is this crash course where we try to educate ourselves as to what are the critical criteria of this particular project...we try to see how many ways there are to approach this particular project, looking for new angles because once you have found a new perspective that reveals something that is normally not addressed or normally not accommodated, that becomes a possibility to do things differently...You're asking so many questions that you are uncovering a real reason why things need to be done differently."
Whether you’re reading this as an individual managing your own needs or as a coach or practitioner, thinking deeply first about what problem is being solved can save precious time and energy searching for solutions. As Abraham Lincoln famously said, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."
Yo, I'll Solve It
Not only did Ingels have interesting points about identifying problems effectively and creating necessary innovations, but he also shared wisdom about searching for solutions. One thing he mentioned that I particularly liked touched on the non-linear aspects of problem-solving. Often, when we encounter a problem, it’s much more intellectually and emotionally comfortable to think in linear steps that lead to a grand solution. While that might work for television dramas, real life doesn’t play out that way. Instead, Ingels uses the analogy of "murder boards," commonly used by homicide detectives in crime shows.
"And by somehow standing for hours in front of this wall where all the constituent parts [are], they allow themselves to see a pattern or relationships that wouldn’t reveal themselves if you just went through a linear kind of process."
Once we’ve clearly identified the problem we’re looking to solve, taking a step back and viewing the scene from a broad perspective becomes invaluable. Picking up clues to the bigger picture probably won’t happen in a neat and tidy order. Rather than getting fixated on any one idea, putting a pin in it and stepping back can be a massive asset in arriving at more effective solutions. To push into non-linear problem-solving a bit further, we find that probing deeply fosters an adaptive attitude of "let’s see" rather than feeling comfortable with solutions that seem final from an inevitably limited perspective.
"...having everything available at a glance at the same time, you allow your brain to notice possibilities. Then, out of those possibilities, you start putting forward actual ideas."
The benefit of a broad, non-linear approach to problem-solving is that it helps you keep the big picture in mind. This makes it easier to learn through rapid iteration and create heuristics that allow for continued flexibility in solving new problems as they emerge.
Check Out the Hook
All of this creative talk from a brilliant architect, as well as my musings on it, are nice—but how is any of this useful?
Don’t be fooled by innovation—your own or others’. Innovations emerge as the result of problems. Dig deep before you get caught up overanalyzing solutions or arguing about exercises on the internet (you coaches know who you are).
Take a step back. The world we live in is full of overlapping and intertwined complex systems. Make your own murder boards when you have problems to solve, whether in your head or in physical space (although I recommend the latter).
Doing these things can help us avoid being duped by nonsense and make us more robust problem solvers for ourselves and those we serve. When it all shakes out, we might even make something new and cool along the way.
Thanks for reading,
Rob
Smiled at the Vanilla Ice subhead reference. (Rest of the article was great too.)