Experiment

In a section of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", the author describes how to properly solve problems through hypothesis and experimentation. This is called scientific method.

The short version is you make a hypothesis of what the problem is, without making assumptions as to the cause. Then you narrow it down bit by bit through more specific hypotheses and experimentation until you either fix the problem or find out what is not causing it.

I had a moment like this yesterday. One of the locals in Falkand needed a hand with their computer. I don't have much experience with computers, but I wanted to help anyway. Perhaps I could figure it out.

I embraced what Robert Pirsig said about scientific method and just approached it one piece at a time. After one "failed" approach I thought to myself how successful that "failure" was. The experiment was not a failure but proof that my approach was not the correct one. I learned from several of these outcomes, eventually finding a solution.

This mindset works only if you learn from your unsuccessful attempts. If you try something the same way over and over expecting different results, you will be disappointed. To be successful, the learning never ends.