Challenge 1: Framing & Reframing the Problem

For my first challenge, I will look at the problem of "reinventing myself before I am 60 years old" from 60 different angles. That is, I will challenge myself to come up with at least 60 different frames for this problem, and I will share the results when I am done. I invite you to do the same with any challenge that you choose.

Here are the first few ideas for ways to frame the question of how to reinvent myself:

- How might I reinvent my role at work?

- How might I reinvent my appearance

- How might I reinvent my social life?

- How might I reinvent my family life?

- How might I reinvent my teaching?

Below is a short description of the reframing process, describing why it plays a critical role in problem solving

____________________________________________________

What is the sum of 5+5?

What two numbers add up to 10?

The first question has only one right answer, and the second question has an infinite number of solutions, including negative numbers and fractions. These two problems, which rely on simple addition, differ only in the way they are framed.

Importantly, all questions are the frame into which the answers fall. And as you can see, by changing the frame, we dramatically change the range of possible solutions. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

A classic example of this type of reframing comes from the stunning 1977 documentary film Powers of Ten, written and directed by Ray and Charles Eames. The film, seen below, depicts the known universe in factors of ten:

Starting at a picnic by the lakeside in Chicago, this famous film transports us to the outer edges of the uni- verse. Every ten seconds we view the starting point from ten times farther out until our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light among many others. Returning to earth with breathtaking speed, we move inward—into the hand of the sleeping picnicker—with ten times more magnification every ten seconds. Our journey ends inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a white blood cell.

This magnificent example reinforces the fact that you can look at every situation in the world from different angles, from close up, from far away, from upside down, and from behind. We are creating frames for what we see, hear, and experience all day long, and those frames both inform and limit the way we think. In most cases, we don’t even consider the frames—we just assume we are looking at the world with the proper set of lenses. During any problem solving process, it is important to understand and questions the frame you are using in order to unlock fresh solutions.