{"id":9976,"date":"2016-06-07T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/?p=9976"},"modified":"2023-11-21T14:32:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T13:32:38","slug":"psychological-distance-distancing-problem-leads-creative-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/psychological-distance-distancing-problem-leads-creative-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychological Distance: why distancing yourself from your problem leads to more creative solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research shows that people come up with more creative solutions if they think they are solving a problem that occurs in a distant land. It also helps to imagine you are a little child…<\/em><\/p>\n

Psychological distance<\/strong>
\nWe often talk about our business with experts on various topics. These mentors sometimes advise us to do things we would never have thought of ourselves. More often, however, they give us valuable advice that seems breathtakingly obvious in hindsight. Why didn\u2019t we think of it ourselves?<\/p>\n

You probably have experienced this phenomenon yourself many times. It simply is much easier to solve someone else\u2019s problem, than it is to tackle your own issues. Well, it turns out there is an explanation for that.<\/p>\n

Research indicates that \u2018psychological distance<\/a><\/span>\u2019 enables people to come up with more creative solutions. Psychological distance occurs\u00a0when you experience something as NOT happening\u00a0here<\/a><\/span>, now<\/a><\/span> and to yourself<\/a><\/span>. In other words: the further away a problem seems, the easier it is to solve. You’ll not only have little\u00a0trouble figuring out how to handle a situation concerning someone else, you will also quickly find solutions to situations that took place in the past, are\u00a0about to occur\u00a0in the distant future, or are troubling people in a distant land.<\/p>\n

Self-induced psychological distance<\/strong>
\nBeing good at solving other people’s problems is great, but wouldn’t it be nice to be equally efficient while handling your own issues? Good news: you can actually create<\/em> psychological distance by changing your perspective. Look\u00a0at the problem from another person\u2019s perspective, and creative solutions will present themselves. By imagining your problem as if it were concerning someone else, you can artificially create a bit of much needed mental distance.<\/p>\n

It even works to think about your problem as if you were a 7-year old! In the video fragment below Tom Kelley, partner at the famous design firm IDEO, explains how imagining you are a distant age can help spark creativity in even the \u2018slowest\u2019 of teams.<\/p>\n