Alex, Fetch your Sword!

Alex, fetch your sword!

Ready for a history lesson?

Countless rulers tried and failed to solve the unsolvable knot, until 22-year-old King Alexander III of Macedonia arrived in Phrygia in 333 B.C., early in his ambitious campaign against the Persian Empire. Aware of the legend, Alexander studied the knot carefully, but was unable to determine a solution. Suddenly, he drew his sword and cut the knot in half with one powerful blow. It was a bold, decisive, unconventional action in the face of complexity – an emblem of thinking differently when traditional approaches fail. The young king would later become known as Alexander the Great, and for good reason, as he would go on to conquer and rule much of Asia Minor, just as the oracle’s prophecy had foretold.

But this story is more than just an interesting history lesson:

It’s a perfect example of a phenomenon called functional fixedness. Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that occurs when a person is unable to see something outside of its traditional or intended function. In the case of the Gordian Knot, the fixed assumption was simple: A knot must be untied. The fixed assumption defined and limited the options of those attempting to solve the problem. Rather than being trapped, Alexander challenged the fixed assumption, metaphorically (and literally) cutting straight through it.

Every single day, we face Gordian Knots in our own lives. Difficult, intimidating, complex problems that appear unsolvable through traditional approaches. We’re trained to believe that if we apply careful, linear, methodical effort, we’ll eventually break through. But with certain problems, the traditional approach grounded in traditional assumptions can just keep us stuck. If you find yourself facing such a problem, try asking some of these questions to break free from functional fixedness and see it differently:

• Am I solving the right problem, or just the first one I noticed?
• What constraints am I treating as fixed that might be flexible?
• What would I do if I weren’t afraid of being wrong or judged?
• What if I tried the opposite of what I’ve been trying?
• How would someone in a completely different field solve this?
• Am I trying to untie something I could just cut through?
• If this were a puzzle or game, how would I approach it differently?
• If this were someone else’s problem, what advice would I give them?

If you are struggling with seeing things differently, get in touch. You can reach us at info@purposeworks.co.za.

At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.