How Trained Incapacity Could Hurt Your Ability to Problem-Solve

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NLI Staff
Honing only one skill set can lead to a fixed mindset and the inability to think creatively about a new problem.

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Laser-focused expertise can solve specific problems, but it has its limitations. Honing one skill set and ignoring other areas of expertise can lead to what’s known as trained incapacity – resulting in the inability to think creatively when a solution to a problem doesn’t readily present itself. But, as NLI’s Joy VerPlanck writes in Quartz, there are ways to start to see such challenges as opportunities to learn.

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