Solutions-Based Thinking... Or Not?

When Solutions Go Too Far: The Science and Self-Awareness Behind Fixing Things Properly

The Love Affair With Solutions

Walk into many workplace conversations and you will hear phrases like “bring solutions, along with the problems”. As a project manager, therapist, and coach, I’ve said a version of this myself. Solutions-based thinking is efficient, empowering, and practical. It directs our attention toward action rather than complaint. It invites progress.

Psychologically, this makes sense. Humans experience a dopamine hit when we “resolve” something, even prematurely (Redish et al., 2007). Checking a problem off our list feels good... Even if it wasn’t the real problem.

But, recently I’ve begun to question the darker side of this habit. Are we solving the right problems? Are we simply silencing the discomfort of uncertainty?

When Solutions Happen Too Fast

The risk of overusing solution-based thinking is premature closure, a cognitive bias where we seize the first plausible explanation and stop exploring alternatives (Graber et al., 2012).

This shows up in two ways:

1. Solving the wrong problem

Teams often “diagnose” based on what is visible:

• Missed deadlines mean that people aren’t working hard enough

• Low engagement means that the staff need “perks”

• Burnout means that they need resilience training

But each of these often has a hidden layer: unclear priorities, unrealistic workloads, poor leadership, lack of psychological safety.

2. Jumping to solutions we emotionally prefer

I’ve always believed myself to be evidence-driven. Fair, logical, balanced. But in a recent MBTI session (Myers-Briggs Type Indicators - personality profiling), I realised that in my personal life I am a Feeling decision-maker.  I make my decision about a solution with my feelings and then I seek evidence to support the decision I’ve already made emotionally. And once I saw that pattern, I couldn’t unsee it. If I know I do this for personal choices, how can I be sure I don't do this at work?

This is what psychologists call motivated reasoning — using logic not to discover truth, but to justify what we already want to believe (Kunda, 1990). In other words, we think we’re being rational, but our emotions choose the destination, and our logic builds the road.

Feeling vs Thinking: The MBTI Lens

MBTI is not a scientific measure of personality, but it offers a useful language for reflection.

• Thinking (T) types typically decide based on logical structure, consistency, fairness.

• Feeling (F) types decide based on values, empathy, harmony, impact.

Crucially, neither is “more rational”.

Research by Haidt (2012) suggests that most human reasoning is post-hoc, so intuition leads and logic justifies. This is true across personality types, not just “Feelers”. But Feelers may be more aware of the emotional layer, whereas Thinkers may believe they’re purely objective (which can create its own blind spots).

A feeling-led decision that’s later validated by logic is not wrong. It’s human, but it means we must intentionally check for bias when choosing solutions.

Brian Cox, Scientists, and the Humility of Not Knowing

Physicist Brian Cox recently said something that lodged itself in my mind: [A true scientist doesn’t care if they’re right or wrong. They care about finding the truth].

The timing of me hearing this quote fell a little too closely behind my MBTI realisations for me to ignore the synergy.

Because I know I care deeply about being fair and informed… But I also care about being right. At least a little bit!

Scientific thinking asks us to do something uncomfortable:

• Form a hypothesis

• Look for evidence against it

• Stay unattached to the outcome

This is the opposite of how most human decision-making works.

Harvard research shows that once humans make a provisional decision, they become significantly less willing to consider conflicting evidence (Jonas et al., 2001). We gravitate toward coherence over accuracy. 

This really matters, because if we’re not willing to challenge our initial interpretation of a problem, we are not solution-based thinking, we are ego-based thinking.

So what do we do with this?

Values-based decisions: When FEELINGS should lead

• Choices involving ethics

• Wellbeing and mental health

• Team dynamics and interpersonal decisions

• Leadership behaviours

• Creativity and innovation

• Boundary-setting

• Purpose and meaning

Emotion improves outcomes in these domains because it signals values, intuition, empathy, and lived experience — all essential to good judgement (Damasio, 1994).

Measurable Outcomes: When EVIDENCE should lead

• Process design

• Budgeting and resource allocation

• Risk forecasting

• Project planning and dependencies

• Metrics and KPIs

• Problem diagnosis

• Clinical or technical decision-making

These require detachment, structure, and curiosity — qualities enhanced by logical analysis.

What “Balanced Solution-Based Thinking” Looks Like

Most decisions need both, but in the right order.

Start by identifying:
“Is this a values decision or a functional problem?”

From there:

• Let FEELINGS set the direction.

• Let EVIDENCE shape the solution.

True solution-based thinking is not “solutions first.”
It is curiosity first, then solutions.

Here is a framework drawn from organisational psychology, therapy, and scientific methodology:

1. Name the problem

Not the symptom, the actual problem.

2. Explore root causes

Best to do this without leaping ahead to solutions.

3. Identify emotional drivers

Acknowledging emotions reduces bias in decision-making (Lerner et al., 2015).

4. Form multiple hypotheses

Not “what’s the answer?” but “what might be going on?”

5. Seek disconfirming evidence

This is the step we most often like to skip, but it’s the secret to scientific thinking.

6. Develop solutions — plural

Not one fix, but a suite of possibilities.

7. Choose based on values and data

Emotion gives meaning.
Evidence gives accuracy.
Both give wisdom.

We Still Want Solutions... Just Not Too Hastily

If we want:

• Teams who think independently

• People who feel empowered

• Leaders who don’t firefight

• Projects that run smoothly

• Wellbeing embedded in delivery

…then yes, we need solution-based thinking. But the best versions of it include pause, reflection, curiosity, emotional intelligence, and humility. Our problems are better solved if we understand them first. 

Leadership needs to instil the courage to be wrong into the team - because someone usually needs to be wrong to end up at the right answer, so it's no good everyone being afraid of wrongness!

We and our healthy teams need the humility to sit with not knowing, question our instincts, challenge our own preferred narrative, look for evidence against our first impressions, accept when our feelings are guiding us and choose solutions that honour both truth and humanity.

Brian Cox is right: Truth matters more than being right.

But for well rounded solutions, we need both our feelings and our logic, not to cancel each other out, but to correct each other gently.

If you'd like to receive Happy Citta weekly blog posts along with the rest of the weekly subscriber newsletter, you can sign up here: