The power of inversion

Here is a simple trick I like to use when I get stuck.

I ask myself why wouldn't this work?

And then I go wild.

I just write down everything I can think of, from mundane to exotic.

Once I've exhausted all the ways this might fail I pause and look at the big picture.

Then I start tackling them one by one, as if they were real.

What can be done to prevent that from happening?

What must be true for that to happen?

By the time I'm done I usually generate a number of new ideas, options, assumptions, and scenarios, all relevant to the initial matter at hand.

Try it out for yourself and let me know how it goes.