Start With the End In Mind

An inversion is a powerful tool

Even if I asked you what do you want, it’s hard to understand how to get there.

That is a part of it too. It doesn’t matter if you know where you want to go if you don’t know how to take the next step.

You don’t even need to know the entire way. That next step, though, is crucial.

I can say I want to get to Denver, Colorado from New York. If I don’t know how to buy a plane ticket (or taking it to its final extreme, walk), then it doesn’t matter.

One of the ways to find out what your next step is in solving a problem, and make no mistake, “What do you want” is a problem, you’ll need to tool of inversion.

What does it mean to invert?

The definition of it is as follows:

put upside down or in the opposite position, order, or arrangement.

I remember it with the saying “Start with the end in mind.”

This saying, or tool, means when you know what you want, starting at the end. And then from there, start working your way “backward.”

Back to the previous example.

I want to get to Denver to New York. What is the result? Me in a hotel room jumping on the bed. How do I get to that?

• Get to the hotel room – this means booking a hotel room, finding a date to go, taking time off work, etc.
• Get a taxi – get from the airport meaning, I need to fly, which means I need to buy a ticket

So, what is the first action above? Taking time, because only then do I when I can fly and when I can book the hotel.

Funny, as I was writing this, I didn’t even realize that the first action would be. This practice made me think about the implicit and make it explicit. That is why it is a powerful tool. It helps you understand what your next move is.

The next time you have an issue, try starting with the end in mind and see where it gets you.

My bet is, it will be the next step.