A Heuristic Mindset

One of the best feelings in the world is a “light bulb” moment. That feeling of resolve you get when the concept you are trying to understand finally clicks. 

This feeling of enlightenment often outweighs all of the time and energy that went into the problem in the first place.

It is a beautiful feeling and it is also one of the best forms of enabling people.

Let me explain.

A mentor of mine used to only respond to my questions with… questions.

It would drive me crazy.

He was a successful man that I knew, that he knew the answers to my questions.

But instead, he would take 20 minutes asking me all these questions until…

I would finally answer my own question.

At the end of one our session I asked him, “Why don’t you just answer my questions instead of asking me all these questions?”

In which his response was “Learning comes less from what people tell you and more from what you are able to discover.” 

His response has stuck with me over the years and is something I have experienced to be true.

In this world today, we crave the quick fixes and silver bullets that will solve our problems.

But true learning doesn’t take place that way.

True learning comes from the suffering and wrestling with different concepts.

It comes from critically thinking about the topic and applying your energy to the solution.

Ultimately it comes from asking questions.

I did not know this at the time but my mentor was using a heuristic approach of mentorship.

Definition of Heuristic: enabling someone to discover or learn something for themselves. 

The Heuristic approach can be tangibly applied in the way my mentor used it for me but it can also be applied personally.

The next time you are faced with an issue, challenge, or questions see if you can come up with a solution or answer before you search the internet, watch a Youtube video or ask your mentor.

This process of thinking critically and potentially being wrong will allow the learning to sink in more.

As continue to set out on this journey of differentiation, we are responsible for enabling the people around us, we are responsible for enabling our Tribe.

I challenge you this week to engage with the Heuristic approach either internally in your own learning or externally with your Tribe.

“A wise man does’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions” - Claude Levi-Strauss

“One way to solve a mystery is by asking the right questions until the answers start to emerge.” - Brian Stelter

Go out and ask questions. Go out and make a difference.