If it feels obvious, you’re missing something.by Wendy Shijia, visualizing the spirit of M.C. Escher’s workWhen you catch yourself thinking you’ve found the clear solution to a problem, that’s your cue to get suspicious. Chances are, you haven’t uncovered the full complexity of the issue. You’ve likely fallen victim to a simplification made by one of your mental models.Picture this: you sit down in a meeting room to discuss some current challenges. Your colleague brings up the first issue and gives you a brief summary of the situation. It’s your turn to decide what to do. As you listen, you feel confident that you’ve grasped it. The solution is obvious. You see it crystal clear — what to do, how to resolve it, no doubt.If that happens, hit pause. Silence yourself.Why?Take a look at the following image. What do you think it says?“It’s obvious!” you think. You blurt out the answer: BE CREATIVE. Simple. Done. Let’s move on.But hold on.Who said that’s what it really says?What if it actually says:Or maybe it says PE GBFATJVE. And the list of variations goes on.You missed all those possibilities because your brain, relying on past experience, jumped to the most familiar answer. It filled in the blanks automatically, ignoring other options.Let’s go a bit further.Look at the square below. Now think: how would you divide it into four equal parts?Pause. Close your eyes. Think for a moment.………You probably imagined cutting it horizontally or vertically. Maybe diagonally. Perhaps slicing it into stripes.That’s valid. But what about other ways?The more you think, the more you realize you’re not limited to rectangles or triangles.You could use almost any shape.Eventually, it hits you: there are infinite ways to divide a square into four equal parts.Good. Let’s keep going.Imagine you’re sitting in a café, sipping your coffee. The door opens. A young woman walks in, followed by a grey-haired man. They sit at a distant table. Instantly, your mind goes: father and daughter.Are you sure?Keep observing. You might see them exchange business cards — now you think it’s a professional meeting. A moment later, the man gently touches the woman’s hand. Suddenly your “father-daughter” story collapses — maybe they’re lovers.What’s the takeaway?If you have only one answer to a problem, take that as a red flag. Make it a habit to question yourself. Your brain loves to simplify. And in doing so, it often filters out valuable alternatives. Just like with the square or the café scene — you need to dig deeper, collect more information, and recognize the underlying complexity.So what should you do?Back to the meeting room. What now? Well, it depends.If the house is on fire, any decision is better than hesitation. But if you’ve got a little time, ask a few more questions. Then mentally explore the issue — like with the square. After that, do something completely unrelated. Come back to it about 30 minutes later and then make the call. During that half hour, your subconscious will have worked on the problem, and your brain will likely offer the best possible solution.If you’ve got more time, gather as much information as you can. There are plenty of great tools out there to help you face the overwhelming complexity that may emerge.Inspiration for the examples came from Luc de Brabandere, and the decision-making framework from Dan Ariely.Got one solution? Pay attention was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. #got #one #solution #pay #attention