Einstellung Effect

When familiarity backfires

If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

In 1942, psychologist Abraham Luchins conducted an experiment to study how individuals solve problems. Given 3 water jars, each with different capacity, subjects were told to figure out how to use them to measure a specified amount of water.

After figuring out a solution to the first problem, subjects would repeat the same solution to the next 4 problems with a degree of success. Despite there being a more simpler and effective solution for the next set of problems, subject would persist and continue applying the only solution they knew, eventually getting stuck on the most simplest problem of all.

This is known as the Einstellung effect, a cognitive bias where people stick to what's familiar when trying to figure out a solution to a problem, blinding them from exploring other alternatives.

In case you're wondering, Einstellung is a German word which means set or attitude. In this context, it would refer to having a fixed mindset, a preference for an established way of thinking about things.

Aside from our natural instinct to rely on mental heuristics or shortcuts to quickly make sense of things and act accordingly, the education system, at least the one I was in, do play a part in it as well.

In school, we were taught to answer problems. These problems are well defined and scoped. There's usually a model answer to the problem. All you have to do is plug it in and you're good to go. You can get away with just memorizing formulas and remembering the steps taught by your teacher. I do that the night before an exam and dump everything out of my brain right after.

But isn't this a disconnect from reality? In the real world, it's challenging enough to figure out if something is a problem, much less defining and scoping it. And when we get enough information about a problem, ingrained habit kicks in and we enter answering mode.

Never considering if it's even the correct problem to solve.

You can see it at the workplace, when people insist on preserving the status quo, defending the need to stop trying something else because it's always been done the same way. To not fix what's not broken, even if there's a more effective and efficient alternative.

When revenue drops, that's just a productivity problem that needs to be solved by getting everyone to physically work in the office and clock longer hours. Nothing else matters.

On a day to day basis, perhaps the fixation on what an exercise should be gives you an excuse to skip it when it's raining outside or when there's not much time. You only see running outdoors as the answer, without considering indoor treadmills or alternative exercises like skipping ropes.

Think harder and see if there's any other examples that are relatable to you.

That's great and all, but so what? Can we overcome Einstellung effect?

Yes, and like anything else, it starts with awareness. You can't solve a problem that you aren't aware of, can you?

Once you're aware, slow down.

The idea of slowing down is not about getting answers, it is about questioning our questions.
- Bayo Akomolafe

Question the question.

• What do you understand about the problem?

• Is this even the right problem?

• Can you redefine the problem?

• Is there another way to approach this?

• If there are no constraints, what's the wildest solution I can come up with?

The idea is for you to embrace flexibility and be more open minded. Your fixation to answer based only on what you know often gets in the way.

When in doubt, start by asking better questions. That would, more often than not, lead you to better answers.

And remember, familiarity feels safe and comfortable.

At least, before it backfires on you.