In his TEDx talk from 2012, economist John Kay unpacks the concept of obliquity. That is, "our complex goals are often best achieved indirectly." Kay provides a variety of examples, from geography and rocket science to architecture and philosophy, that show how sometimes the most effective route towards a goal is one that appears indirect.

As he says, "defining what our objectives are is actually quite complicated," so the logic that we must define our goals and set out towards them at full speed tends to fall flat on its face. He goes on to say that "our objectives are complicated, and we learn through the process what they actually are." While we can generally define our mission statement, it is only through the process of living and working through problems that we define what holds meaning for us.

"There isn't a right model or a true model...there's only the right model for any particular problem, and there's no objective way for determining what the right model for any particular problem is..." Kay brilliantly outlines how we better understand our goals by trying to achieve them, and, with obliquity, we can achieve them.

Thinking about obliquity in more practical terms, we could understand the concept of achieving a complex and dynamic goal by finding the smaller, more achievable goals that make up the whole. When we think about entrepreneurial ventures, we talk about minimally viable products (MVP), which are, in a way, a simplification of a more complex mission.

In a guest blog for Steve Blank, investor Shawn Carolan writes about the importance of MVPs and breaks down how we can find one in our respective field to eventually achieve the business's mission.

He writes about how resource limitations are often a critical barrier to achieving the end goal of a startup, but in fact, this becomes the secret to success. When you don't have finances, you are forced to find the simplest solution to a problem faced by most people that generally align with your mission. Simply put, how little can you do to create buy-in from as many people, and will this keep them interested in your solution? As more people buy into your solution and stay for more, you then "earn the right to build more."

For a tech company with an ambitious goal to become the quintessential platform for a particular service, this might look like focusing on a specific market segment, then expanding as you continue to grow and retain users of your platform. In time (remembering the concept of obliquity), working towards the mission will create sustainable growth and uncover opportunities that were not obvious when defining the business's goals at the start.

Keeping the theme set by John Kay's talk on obliquity, we turn to an article from the BBC about the beginner's mindset.

The work of Tom Vanderbilt is outlined in the article, showing ways that adults can re-commit to learning and the importance of learning many things. Learning from our mistakes, varying our practice, and sharing our new knowledge with others are ways to improve our learning and growth in each area and as a whole.

As we are working on a problem, we adjust our models and solutions based on new evidence. In taking the indirect path towards our goal, we often find that we need more knowledge on various subjects than one particular field. 

By adopting a beginners' mindset, we can, in turn, find new models for framing problems and achieve more on the way towards our goals than we initially thought possible.

I never, indeed, wavered in the conviction that happiness is the test of all rules of conduct, and the end of life. But I now thought that this end was only to be attained by not making it the direct end. Those only are happy (I thought) who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way.

–John Stuart Mill

J.S. Mill's quote (referenced in John Kay's talk on obliquity), shows us how the indirect path is often the best way to achieve a complex goal, while also tapping into a fundamental human truth. The best path towards our own happiness is in fact to focus on others' needs. We believe that this is a critical component of an entrepreneurial mindset.