Steve Jobs Had a Brilliant 3-Step Method for Solving Diffi cult Problems.

By Kelly Main, Writer and Adviser @THEKELLYMAIN

Edited by DAWN Team

APPLE RECENTLY promised its staff more fl exible schedules and more generous scheduling rules, according to CNET. The company eff ectively is urging workers to follow Steve

Jobs's threestep method

for discovering b r e a k t h r o u g h s and fi nding answers to diffi cult

questions.

By asking staff to take more breaks and work less, Apple is helping not only reduce burnout, but also increase productivity and innovation. In other words, work smarter, not harder. It's something many struggle to do--but something Jobs was a master of, allowing him to fi nd inspiration and discover breakthroughs. And anyone can use it.

Here's the Apple co-founder's three-step method to solving diffi cult problems:

Step 1. Zoom Out

Diffi cult problems involve diffi cult-to-fi nd solutions. The process of discovering a breakthrough often requires reality-bending ideas--which Steve Jobs had an incredible ability to do, according to the Harvard Business Review. While many try to zoom in on a solution, instead start by zooming out to see the bigger picture. This eff ectively enables you to identify exactly what you're really looking for. To do this, be intentional about what you're looking to discover or achieve. Go outside the realm of what is currently possible, and instead think of terms of what could be possible.

For example, when the fi rst Apple Store opened in 2001, Jobs said its function wasn't

to "sell computers," but to

"enrich lives," according to Forbes.

Step 2. Focus In

Once you know what you are looking for, give yourself a period of intense thinking and fact gathering. This is where you set your sights on what you want to achieve and work on it relentlessly--something Jobs was an expert at. He famously exhibited an intense and obsessive focus (or hyperfocus), and it's that ability that made him so eff ective at motivating employees.

An intense and obsessive focus may be the answer to discovering breakthroughs--no matter which path you take to get there. For example, Albert Einstein famously said, "If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions."

Step 3. Disconnect

When you fi nd yourself starting to go in circles and lacking process on your path toward discovery, take a break. Take a walk. Disconnect. As Steve Jobs once said, you can't connect the dots looking forward--you can do that only when looking backward.

Walking away from something is often when we get clarity and creativity. So taking breaks has a much bigger benefi t than a simple break from work, but it actually leads to critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation. For example, Thomas Edison took naps when he couldn't fi gure out a complex question or equation, he would then discover the answer he was looking for, according to Scientifi c American. It's why people often have the best ideas come to them while doing mundane activities like driving, sitting on a beach, or taking a shower.

Sometimes you have to get away from your desk to get closer to your answer--one of Jobs's strategies for boosting creativity. Part of why Jobs loved walking meetings wasn't just that it helped him fi nd answers; it also helped his entire team to get away from their desks and closer to fi nding their answer and solving whatever problem they were working on.

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