How to Solve Complex Problems in Record Time (Without Overthinking Yourself into Oblivion)

You know that moment when you’re staring at a problem, and your brain decides to hit the “blue screen of death” instead of giving you a solution?

Or worse—your manager expects you to come up with brilliant answers on the spot, but your mind is suddenly emptier than your motivation at a 4-hour budget meeting.

Good news: You’re smarter and more creative than you think. You don’t need weeks of deep thinking to crack a problem—you just need a faster way to get to the good ideas.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to show you.

Most problems aren’t actually the real problem—they’re just symptoms.

Example:
🔹 Symptom: “Our sales numbers are down.”
🔹 Actual Problem: “We’re not attracting the right customers.”
🔹 Deeper Problem: “Our messaging is off, so we’re selling to people who don’t actually need what we offer.”

🔍 Quick Fix: Ask yourself, “What’s really causing this?” Keep digging until you find the root issue, not just the surface-level frustration.

Why 20? Because your first few ideas will be boring and predictable

• Ideas 1-5: The obvious stuff. (Things you’ve already tried or dismissed.)
• Ideas 6-10: A little better, but still safe.
• Ideas 11-15: Now we’re warming up.
• Ideas 16-20: 🔥 THIS is where the magic happens. Your brain starts breaking patterns, and the truly creative solutions emerge.

⏳ ACTION STEP: Grab a timer, set it for 5 minutes, and go wild. No filtering. No judging. Just write.

🚀 Your biggest obstacle? You’ll feel stuck around idea 12. Push through it. Your brain is about to get interesting.
 

Perfectionism is problem-solving kryptonite.

If you wait for a perfect plan, you’ll be waiting forever.

Instead:

✅ Pick ONE of your top ideas.
✅ Test a small version of it today.
✅ Observe what happens and tweak as needed.

When I Think of Taking Imperfect Action…

I’m reminded of a startup founder I was working with who wanted to create an online course. She was all set to spend weeks perfecting the course outline, videos, and slides.

I told her: “Sell it first, THEN build it.”

So, she put up a simple one-page signup form saying, “Join my course—coming soon.” If no one signed up, she wouldn’t waste time creating something no one wanted.

50 people joined. She built the course on the fly, adjusted it, and made $20K.

💡 I realised then that perfection is a trap. The key is to act fast, adapt, and focus on progress over polish.

Your biggest obstacle probably isn’t a lack of intelligence or ability. It’s self-doubt.

• “What if my idea is bad?” (It might be! But you won’t know until you test it.)
• “What if someone shoots it down?” (They might! But people dismiss ideas all the time—then steal them later.)
• “I’m not that creative.” (LIES. Creativity isn’t magic, it’s a process. You just learned it above.)

💡 Here’s the truth: You can solve problems faster than you think—you just need the right system.
And if you want to master this skill so you get noticed, respected, and promoted? That’s exactly what we do inside Idea Maverick.

👉 Join the Idea Maverick Program today and become the person whose ideas actually get heard. Check it out here.

You don’t need more intelligence, more time, or another meeting. You just need a better way to think through problems quickly.

Start now. Set that 5-minute timer, get to idea #20, and go make things happen

Cheers,
Nils
Founder, Keynote Speaker, Author


PS: Whether you’re looking for an innovation agency to improve your product with innovation, create an innovation disruption, or hack your business growth, we’re here to help.

Nils Vesk is a Four-Time Author and International Keynote Speaker. Nils has worked globally with over 200 bluechip companies including 3M, American Express, Canon, Caltex, Microsoft, Nestle´, IBM, Fuji Xerox, PWC, HP and Pfizer.