Once a mighty King ruled a kingdom. He didn't have any children and because of his age, he was worried about the future heir of the kingdom. So, he decided to hand over the reins of his kingdom to qualified youth.
He conducted a merit test for the selection of a future successor.
For the test, a magnificent palace was built, and a puzzle was written on the closed door of that palace. It was announced in the whole kingdom that all the youth of the kingdom are invited to solve that puzzle and open the door of the palace.
One who is successful in opening the door will be given that palace as a gift and will also be declared the heir of the kingdom.
From the day of the announcement, there was an influx of young people in front of that newly built palace.
From morning till evening, young men used to come there and tried to solve the puzzle written on the door but no one was able to solve it. Many days passed. Even the most intelligent were unable to find a solution to that puzzle and gave up.
One day young people from another kingdom were invited. Many famous and intelligent young ones came but as the day progressed, one by one all left.
In end, only three people were left. Among those two were from other states and third was a simple young man from the kingdom's village.
While both young men from other kingdoms were engaged in solving puzzles, the young man from the village was standing in the corner looking at them. When King saw him standing like this, he called him and asked, "Why are you not trying to solve the puzzle?"
He replied, "Your majesty, I have come here to see eminent people. If they find a solution, then one of them will become the heir of the kingdom. What could be more joyous than this? If they can't find a solution then I will try."
Saying this young man went back and sat in the corner, looking at those two young men. The whole day passed, but none of them could solve the puzzle. The whole day they tried to find a way to solve the puzzle and open that door. At last, they gave up.
After seeing this, the young man sitting in the corner got up and went to the door, and opened it.
As soon as the door opened, people started asking him what he did. How was he able to solve the puzzle and open that door.
The young man replied, "While I was sitting and watching everyone trying to solve that puzzle, a thought came to my mind that there might not be any puzzle to open the door. So, I went and pushed the door. The door opened. There was no puzzle to be solved to open the door."
King heard his answer and was very pleased. As promised, the young man was given that palace as a gift and was declared heir of the kingdom.
Flash: Many times in life, we get caught in such a situation where we feel like we have a problem like a mountain in front of us and think that its solution must be complex and difficult. So, we keep getting entangled in it by making it bigger. We need to develop our critical thinking skills because the way we engage with and think about real problems directly influences our ability to solve them.
Moral: While masses are mostly stuck finding solution to a superficial problem, smart folks take a while to analyze the real problem, and look for a viable solution from a different angle.
"Every problem has a solution. If an approach doesn't solve it, you just have to be creative enough to find the real one!!"