The next mental model that I’m looking at is the idea of inversion. The idea is very simple, yet counterintuitive — to find the answer you’re looking for, start by listing possible solutions that you know won’t work.
I see this two different ways.
First, is just listing the downsides to two different situations. If you’re deciding between two locations to travel for vacation, list the potential negative sides to each option and see if that clarifies your vision.
The other way to see this is the idea of “show me all of your bad ideas first“. If you’re trying to solve a problem, and you’re stuck, build a list of things that you know won’t get the job done. Often times, an item on that list will trigger an idea that leads you to the right solution.
Charlie Munger put it this way:
Invert, always invert: Turn a situation or problem upside down. Look at it backward. What happens if all our plans go wrong? Where don’t we want to go, and how do you get there? Instead of looking for success, make a list of how to fail instead. Tell me where I’m going to die, that is, so I don’t go there.
It can be a weird thing to do, but often has amazing results. A few times when I’ve been stuck on a problem I just started writing lists of bad ideas, and somewhere in there the right answer always seems to seep out.
