What a great saying, and what a fantastic approach to problem solving.
I can't take credit for it, I'm paraphrasing Julie Zhuo from one of her Medium articles.
It's easy to cling to a single solution, either because it's the first one you landed on or it seems like the best solution given the information. But when new information comes in, do you stick with the solution you have or do you throw it back into the mix and re-evaluate to make sure it's still the best?
I think we all have to fight solution ownership, where we feel the need to protect our solution just because we came up with it. It's tempting to want to be the hero who saves the day, but if it's truly not the best solution then let it go. There will always be more problems to solve, more days to save.
By falling in love with the problem, we open ourselves to any number of solutions - even multiple solutions, in case one fails and we need a backup. When we're in love with the problem, we usually look beyond the first solution we come across - "is this solution really good enough for my favorite problem? I have to be honest problem, I think you can do better. You're young, you'll bounce back."
Think about it the next time you're faced with a problem. The solution you're arguing for, is it because you came up with it? Is it because it's easy? Is it really the best? Don't settle. Fall in love with this problem and find it the solution it deserves.
