What Problem Are You Trying to Solve?
At Biomimicry Innovation Lab, we focus on solving complex problems by looking to living systems and ecological principles for inspiration. A key part of this process is thoroughly understanding the problem, including the constraints, trade-offs, and challenges inherent in any complex issue. This applies not just to the technical aspects of a business, but extends to supply chains, environmental impacts, and effects on ecosystems.
Understanding the Problem: Constraints and Challenges in Human and Nature-Inspired Problem Solving
One useful framework for nature-inspired problem-solving comes from Genrich Altshuller, who identified 40 inventive principles commonly used in engineering and technological innovation. Interestingly, many of these principles have direct analogues in biological systems. For example:
Segmentation (dividing an object into independent parts) is seen in the modularity of plants and the division of labour in insect colonies.
Asymmetry (change from symmetrical to asymmetrical) occurs in response to function, as biological structures adapt to usage.
Dynamics (dividing into parts capable of moving relative to each other) enables fast signal processing in the fused ganglia of segmented animals.
By studying how organisms and living systems employ these strategies, we can gain insights into solving human challenges.
Constraints in Problem Solving
All problem-solving occurs under some constraints, whether time, resources, regulations, or stakeholder expectations. In biology, constraints may include energy efficiency, material availability, physical forces, and ecological competition.
Overcoming constraints requires careful planning, risk analysis, and sometimes compromise between competing objectives.
Some common constraints in human problem-solving include:
Time pressure, especially in fast-moving industries.
Limited resources like budget, personnel, or materials.
Restrictive policies and procedures.
Maintaining legacy compatibility.
Creative techniques* like mind mapping, brainwriting, rapid prototyping, and drawing from diverse fields can help navigate these constraints. Critically examining whether a constraint is truly fixed or can be modified is also important.
*The Deflt Design Guide is an excellent resource for this.
Human Challenges in Problem Solving
In addition to external constraints, humans face internal challenges when solving problems. Cognitive biases, emotional investment in existing solutions, and difficulty thinking outside the box can lead to suboptimal approaches.
Some specific challenges include:
Functional fixedness - difficulty seeing new uses for an object.
Confirmation bias - seeking information that confirms existing beliefs.
Resistance to compromise due to sunk costs.
Lack of cross-disciplinary knowledge.
Techniques like first-principles thinking, inversion, and seeking diverse perspectives can help overcome these challenges. Metacognitive strategies to examine one's thought process are also valuable.
Nature's Challenges and Adaptations
Organisms and living systems also face significant challenges and constraints, yet they demonstrate remarkable problem-solving abilities honed by billions of years of evolution. By studying how organisms living systems adapt to difficulties, we can draw inspiration for our own complex issues.
Some key challenges in nature include:
Competition for limited resources like food, water, and territory.
Evading predators while securing prey
Withstanding environmental extremes and disasters.
Resisting parasites and pathogens.
Attracting mates and caring for offspring.
To overcome these, life employs a variety of strategies like:
Redundancy and self-repair to handle damage.
Symbiosis and cooperation between species.
Efficient resource gathering and allocation.
Camouflage, mimicry, and warning signals.
Rapid reproduction and high genetic diversity.
While the specific adaptations may not always translate to human systems, the underlying strategies of robustness, efficiency, multi-functionality and opportunism in problem-solving are broadly applicable.
Conclusions
Thoroughly understanding a problem requires examining it through multiple lenses, including the constraints and challenges faced by both human solvers and any organisms and living systems that could serve as inspiration. By learning from organisms’ and living systems’ adaptations to adversity and employing creative techniques to navigate human biases and limitations, we can develop more comprehensive and sustainable solutions to complex issues.
At Biomimicry Innovation Lab remain we committed to this holistic, interdisciplinary approach as we work to address global challenges.
