The First Solution You Find Isn’t Necessarily the Best

Finding the solution to a problem is satisfying, no doubt. But have we ever stopped to ask ourselves whether that solution is the best answer we’re capable of?

The process is well known. We ask ourselves: “How can we solve this problem?”. When a plausible answer appears on the horizon, one we believe might work, the first thought, the most obvious one, is: “Then let’s do it this way”.

What would happen instead if, right at this moment, just when the solution seems within reach and final, we discarded it and started over from scratch? Sounds absurd, right? But in this article we’ll explain why it can actually be the right thing to do.

Why not stop at the first answer

The first solution addresses a fundamental part of the problem: the part where we don’t know what to do. Having an answer to the question “what can I do now?” is often all we need to stop searching.

Sure, the first solution is, by definition, a solution. But it’s just one of the possible solutions, and not necessarily the best one. In fact, studies show that often the first solutions we’re able to find aren’t the most creative.

What if the first answer really were the best?

According to the aforementioned study by Lucas and Nordgren, our perception of how creative our answers will be is skewed. This is because we often mistake the difficulty of finding new ideas for a sign that ideas found with difficulty are worse. This phenomenon is called the creative cliff illusion.

In other words, the quality of the ideas produced won’t be lower just because we’ve exhausted our first options. On the contrary, precisely because the most obvious ideas are already on the table, the ones that follow will be more imaginative.

On the other hand, it’s possible that the first idea is the right one. The problem arises when it’s chosen without having explored the alternatives. How can we say the first idea is the best if there are no others to compare it with? If only one solution exists, there’s no real choice.

Isn’t having a solution enough?

Sometimes one solution is all you need, especially if the issue is trivial and time is short.

But if we want to explore more complex, or more creative, solutions, we need to dig deeper. When we start working on a problem, we tend to first access the most familiar mental associations, the most readily available ones.

As we keep searching, the most obvious possibilities are exhausted and we’re forced to explore new directions. Generating alternative solutions, then, allows us to compare different approaches, ones that stem from lateral thinking.

Physician Edward De Bono theorized lateral thinking precisely as a mode complementary to analytical and critical thinking, one that broadens the available possibilities in order to turn them into concrete solutions.

How to explore alternative ideas

We’ve already talked in another article about how to train lateral thinking. But here let’s try to clarify what it really means to explore alternatives and how to do it best.

Does improving the first idea count as “exploring alternatives”?

The temptation would be to say: “Okay, but compared to my original idea, I’ve made progress, so I have a range of choices”. Well, not quite. Iterating on the same idea in order to perfect it doesn’t allow for changes of direction.

Reworking is a different matter. It means modifying the solution, for example by taking just one part of it, or by combining it with another idea. The result therefore looks more like a new solution than a variant of the previous one.

The ideal process, then, isn’t linear, but requires you to:

• Generate many ideas,
• Rework the ideas produced,
• Combine solutions,
• Compare the results.

Some tips for exploring new ideas

We’ve dwelt at length on what not to do, but how can we actually explore new directions? Below you’ll find some tips on the best way to proceed when you’re convinced the first solution isn’t enough.

Set yourself a minimum quota. Before starting your brainstorming, decide that you won’t make a final decision until you have at least a set number of alternatives.

The number can vary depending on the problem (the more complex it is, the fewer alternatives you’ll realistically be able to come up with), but what matters is that it’s set before you start exploring.

Not all alternatives have to be good; what matters is to keep looking for them. A promising solution, then, is no longer the end of the search process.

Veto the best solution. Once you’ve found a quality solution, reason as if it weren’t available. How would you solve the problem in that case?

Of course, the solution shouldn’t actually be discarded, but temporarily eliminating the most convenient option forces you to look for new ideas.

Furthermore, this reasoning can be applied recursively: after each step, you rule out that solution and look for yet another one.

Don’t stop when you think you’re done. “I can’t think of anything else” should be the trigger for realizing that this is actually when you start to produce more creative solutions, according to the principle mentioned earlier.

Right at this stage, push yourself to come up with more results. They won’t necessarily be better than the ones you already have, but the difficulty with which they’re produced doesn’t automatically make them worse.

Review your solutions. Once you have a list of solutions, don’t jump straight into picking the winner. Consider them raw material and, for each one, identify their strengths and distinctive features.

This lets you fix flaws, salvage pieces of good but unworkable ideas, and maybe even combine different solutions to get a new and better one.

In conclusion, don’t settle for the first solution that comes to mind. Not necessarily because it’s wrong, but because it’s too early to know whether it’s the right one.