Check out this Perception Test video clip before you read the rest of this post. While you are watching the video count the number of passes between the players in the white shirts.

Perception Test Video Clip.

Did you notice anything unusual about the video? If not, you are not alone. About half of the people who watch the video miss the interruption. If you missed it, go back and watch again, but this time don’t concentrate on the passes but rather observe the whole picture.

One of the biggest obstacles in effective problem solving is focusing on the wrong things as you seek a solution. Often, we look at a problem and immediately begin to focus on a set of possible solutions. Sounds good, right? Maybe not!  If we focus too narrowly or get caught up in one type of solution, we may miss the best solution or even arrive at the wrong solution. Our narrow focus short circuits our problem solving actions.

In the video, you were asked to focus on the white-shirted players. And for many of us, we saw only their passes and totally missed the walk through by the man in the ape suit. (Full disclosure – I missed the ape suit guy twice!) It is the same in problem solving. When our focus is drawn too quickly and/or too narrowly, we often miss crucial data or fail to observe other ways of viewing the problem. We get “locked in” or “boxed in” to a way of thinking about a problem and miss data that might be obvious to others who do not have our observational bias.

Two Questions:

As you go about your problem solving task, ask yourself two questions:
1) What am I focusing on?
2) What am I missing?

When facing a difficult problem it is often productive to challenge your assumptions and change your perspective. 

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