The Value of Sparring for Problem Solving
6 min read
This post is not about boxing - sorry to disappoint you. Even though sparring is best known from box training, it can also be applied outside of it, without having to use fists. I will explain how sparring can help solve problems more efficiently and what to consider.
Rummaging Through My Toolset
A few years ago I was faced with the challenge of developing a new metric. In order to avoid giving too much specific business detail, I’ll use a totally unrelated use case which still resembles the business problem. Let’s say I had to come up with a metric which makes it possible to compare football national teams and determine which team plays better. As national teams do not play against each other regularly and a team’s set up changes very often between matches - especially championships are only every 4 years - it is not as easy as just looking up the stats.
I spent a lot of time pondering how to solve this problem. I had a couple of ideas: methods I was familiar with, methods I had only read about and wanted to test for a while now. I wasn’t sure though if any of them were the right approach.
The Tool I Didn’t Know Existed
I talked about this with another analyst in the company. They worked in a different department and didn’t have the same mathematical background as me. They were very intrigued by my problem and agreed that my ideas so far may not work with this specific problem.
A few days later, the colleague wrote me a message. They told me about a method they read about the other day: Elo rating. Its original application was to rank chess players, now it’s also used to rank online players. Maybe this is something I could apply to my problem.
Fast forward, 1 year later I successfully completed the development of an algorithm based on Elo rating.
This post is not about that algorithm - although I will dedicate one to Elo rating as well. If you’re curious to read about it, subscribe to my blog and get notified right away when I publish it.
This post is about the value of sparring in order to solve problems.
Learning By Doing
The situation described wasn’t the first time I was inspired by someone else or got input. Often enough I was on the other side as well. We talk to a lot of people all day, consume a lot of different content, on social media, blogs, podcasts, books (how old school, right?). Most of the time though, that doesn’t necessarily solve our problems. The content is often very similar, it lacks new information. Finding truly new input by oneself takes a lot of time. Having a sparring partner may reduce this time.
This is because we learn and remember only 30% from passive involvement - e.g. reading books or lectures, hearing and seeing tutorials - and 70% from active involvement - e.g. applying new learnings, participating in discussion groups, explaining the learnings to other people. Sparring can combine all of these three active involvement categories.
Be Prepared
Sparring needs to be set up in a certain way in order to increase the chances of giving inspiration or the right direction.
From my personal experience, here are my recommendations for choosing a sparring partner:
You generally value your sparring partner’s input.
We are inclined to take advice from people we respect. Usually it’s someone we know personally. It doesn’t have to be a person you like on a personal level, like friends or work besties. Sometimes that can turn out unhelpful, especially if you don’t have open discussions with each other, maybe even avoiding them so as not to hurt each other’s feelings. A person with whom you disagree, in a respectful way, may give valuable input.
Your sparring partner can also be a person you don’t know personally - yet. Maybe it’s someone whose LinkedIn posts or blog you enjoy reading.
Your sparring partner has expertise in the field.
My problems often involve finding the right mathematical method to solve a problem. Talking to someone with no expertise with algorithms, maybe even an aversion to math - and I know loads of people with that -, would not bring me any closer to solving my problem.
On topics that are not math-related, I prefer to talk to people with no math or data background. Such as this exact topic you’re reading about right now.
Your sparring partner’s toolset is not exactly the same as yours.
This is where the new perspective is coming in. There needs to be some divergence between you and your sparring partner. Maybe they studied a different specialisation of the field. Maybe they worked in different companies. Maybe they are more experienced.
Your sparring partner is an active listener.
Most of the time, I didn’t ask my sparring partners for help. I just chatted to them about my problem, sharing my thoughts and ideas. Sometimes just saying my thoughts out loud, trying to convey them to an outsider, bringing them in order to make them comprehensible, may already show me where I was thinking in the wrong direction, what I was missing, or it led to a moment of epiphany. Your sparring partner should help you figure out the solution, not solve the problem themself.
Conclusion
Chatting with another person can help with problem solving and getting new perspectives. To get the most out of the conversation, it can be helpful to be strategic about the choice of a sparring partner.
Have you ever sparred with people to solve a problem? What was your experience like? Do you have additional recommendations? Feel free to leave a comment.
Hi, I'm Nadine. I empower people through comprehensive training and coaching in data analysis and mathematical modeling, equipping them with the tools and knowledge to excel professionally. If you’re interested in finding out how I can support you in your learning journey, book a free 30-minutes introduction call with me right here, or send an email to nadine@mathemalytics.com.