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The Two Train Solution

The answer is always both

Solomon Kahn

Jun 11

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Way too often people try to figure out the ONE reason things didn't work.

"Did we have the wrong plan or did we just not execute well enough?"

This is the wrong way of thinking...

It's always both.

I use the analogy of the elementary school math problem where train A is moving at 65 miles per hour chasing train B which is moving at 60 miles per hour. The goal is to calculate how long it takes train A to catch train B.

"What should we do, slow down train B or speed up train A?"

BOTH!!! DO BOTH!!!

In fact, if you want to MAKE SURE the trains crash together, by far the best thing to do is to change the situation from one train chasing another to the two trains heading TOWARDS each other at maximum speed.

For real life problems, this looks like:

Make the situation so good that even someone with low skills could be successful.

Help people get so skilled that even in a bad situation they will be successful.

Put them both together and you have magic.

p.s. yes, there's nuance around where you can drive the biggest change with limited resources, but many people never get to that conversation because they're too busy arguing about which single factor is the problem...

Magical systems thinking - Works in Progress Magazine

The Two Train Solution