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For years, no one could untie the famously complex Gordian knot. Then Alexander the Great stepped up to the plate. 

Legend has it, he found the pin holding the knot to the post and pulled it out. The knot fell apart on its own.

Seth Godin thinks that's what most of us skip. When we’re working on a tough challenge, the instinct is to push harder or throw more at it. To yank on the knot instead of study it. Rarely do we step back and ask what's actually causing the problem, or whether it's even a problem we can solve at all.

That question sits at the center of Seth’s new book, The Knot. Seth is the author of more than 20 bestselling books, including The Dip and This Is Marketing, and the writer behind one of the most widely read blogs in the world. In this episode of Creative Confidence, Mina Seetharaman talks with Seth about the difference between a problem you can solve and a situation you have to accept and how to see the larger system they’re part of.

Highlights From the Conversation

(04:35) The book that never sold and why it's still his favorite

(28:54) The questions Seth asks people to find out if they really know their problem

(45:01) How to know when you've found the right problem

Put It Into Practice

Do the problem test

Next time something's been frustrating you, ask yourself one question: is there a solution I'd actually be willing to pay for—in time, money, or effort? If yes, it's a problem, and problems have solutions. If no, it's a situation, and you're better off redirecting your energy to a smaller related problem that you can solve for. 

Get more practical takeaways →

The Bigger Picture

We need more systems thinkers
Systems thinking is one of the fastest-growing skills companies say they'll need by 2030, alongside AI and big data, analytical thinking, and creative thinking. The reason? Systems thinking is "essential for managing and optimizing interactions with autonomous technology." World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025 

Fuzzy problem statements are expensive
Organizations waste an average of 11.4% of every dollar they invest in projects due to poor performance—work that gets funded, staffed, and started, but never actually delivers what it set out to. It's worth taking the time to clearly define the problem up front. PMI (2020), Ahead of the Curve: Forging a Future-Focused Culture. Pulse of the Profession

A system that outlived its usefulness

When Shopify purged every recurring meeting with three or more people from company calendars in 2023, it earned back 322,000 hours company-wide—the equivalent of adding roughly 150 full-time employees back to the team. 

Related episodes

How Constraints Make Us More Creative: David Epstein

6 Patterns for Building Organizational Agility: Clay Parker Jones

Related courses

Human-Centered Systems Thinking — Learn IDEO's approach. Enrollment closes October 1st. 

Coming Up

Futuring as a strategy tool: October 7

Join us for a live podcast recording with IDEO Futurist-in-Residence Jennifer Lo. RSVP to join the conversation or watch the livestream on LinkedIn.

"The only way we can create any value in the world is to find a problem and solve it."

— Seth Godin

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