It’s fairly safe to say that we are a society enamoured, if not outright obsessed, with quick and easy solutions. Practically everywhere you turn we’re bombarded with promises of how in 5-easy-steps or 6-minutes-a-day we can achieve a flat stomach, earn more money from home, or cultivate the perfect marriage.

You can see it in how we treat our problems from business to politics. Underperforming sports team? Fire the coach! Rising crime? Put in mandatory minimums!

But in his new book The Slow Fix: Solve Problems, Work Smarter and Live Better in a World Addicted to Speed Journalist Carl Honoré makes a compelling case that our problems are rarely as simple as we like to imagine, and that when we go for the quick fix, often it means we’ve failed to undertand the complexity of the issue we’re trying to solve.

The Slow Fix

So how to overcome this impulse to just do what’s easy? How can we learn to better deal with the issues at hand?

Using a blend of case studies from around the world, science, as well as a touch of philosophy, Honoré delves into the type of qualities that typify successful approaches to finding solutions to complex problems. From looking at the big picture, and fostering collaboration, to admitting mistakes –  Honoré lays out a manifesto for a new way of approaching problems, and shows us that to solve well, often it means we need to solve slow.

To find out more about The Slow Fix, or see some of Carl Honoré’s other writings,  visit him online at http://www.carlhonore.com/