A better approach to problem solving

Hey passionate creator,

Our goal as a company is to help creators. We know you're juggling multiple things, especially as your business grows, and that can be overwhelming. It's a problem that can be solved in multiple ways because the problem itself has multiple angles. 

Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg uses The Slow Elevator Problem to show that problem solving isn’t just about solutions. It's about seeing problems in a different way. Just imagine a hotel with an outdated elevator. Guests hate the slow journey from their floor to the reception, leading to multiple complaints. What would you do about it?

Most people would suggest installing a new elevator or upgrading the motor. And those solutions make sense - they would make the elevator faster.

The hotel didn’t do any of these things. Instead they put up mirrors (maybe they were on a tight budget). The crazy thing is: it worked. The elevator didn’t magically become faster, but they had less complaints. And that’s because people lost time when they looked at themselves.

It’s so simple. They didn’t solve the problem of the elevator being too slow, they found another problem to solve instead: the boring elevator ride. 

Next time you're faced with a problem, try to reframe it. Instead of just coming up with solutions, spend 10 minutes trying to come up with different questions. For example, if you’re not getting enough sales on your digital product, here are the questions you might come up with:

• How can I get more sales?

• How can I communicate who the product is for?

• How can I make it more visually appealing?

• How can I make more people aware of the product?

• How can I increase my credibility?

• How can I price my product?

One problem can be turned into multiple questions and problems to solve. Reframing isn’t about finding the real problem. It’s about finding a better problem to solve.

If you're a newsletter creator, this handy tool allows you to estimate your revenue over a specific period. This can help you plan future goals and make smarter decisions for growth.

YouTube is one of the largest search engines so it's a great platform to repurpose your podcast. YouTube shares their best practices on how to do this. 

Sahil Bloom has an impressive following on Twitter but it's not always easy to have the same success on other platforms. Sahil managed to do it. He's grown to over 100,000 followers on Instagram in 6 weeks using this advice.

Ali Abdaal and Paul Millerd's conversation on the Deep Dive podcast is the perfect listen for any creator who struggles with being on an uncertain path.

If you come up with lots of ideas but still struggle to pick one, it's because you need to switch from your crazy mood to your sober mood. 

Build a note-taking system to create content with Ev Chapman 

Ev Chapman wrote 300 essays in 300 days, grew to 16.7K followers on Twitter, and built a business around digital products - all while working a full-time job. She shares the tools and systems that allowed her to do this without getting overwhelmed.

We released an album: Seeds! Featuring 4 tracks to help you get into the flow, we hope it's the perfect companion for creating.

I hope you're having a great week, wherever you are! 

Stay passionate,

Akta