The Candle Problem
Imagine you're in a room with a table pushed against a wall. On the table are three items: a candle, a book of matches, and a box of thumbtacks. Your challenge is simple: fix the candle to the wall so that, when lit, the wax doesn't drip onto the table.
What's your first move? Most people faced with this challenge try one of two things: they attempt to tack the candle directly to the wall or melt the wax on the candle's base to stick it. Both approaches fail, but the reason for their failure is more profound than you might think. It's a classic case study in a cognitive bias called functional fixedness—the inability to see an object's function beyond its most obvious use.
But the most profound lesson comes from a later experiment by psychologist Sam Glucksberg, who added a variable that perfectly demonstrates the principles of my frameworks: incentives.
The PWC: Why Incentives Choke Creativity
Glucksberg's experiment offered a cash prize for the fastest solution. The results were astounding: the incentivized group, on average, took longer to solve the problem than the non-incentivized group. The very thing designed to motivate them made them worse at the task.
This is the central lesson of the Purpose–Well-being Cycle (PWC): pursuing a purposeful outcome with a strategy that erodes your well-being and detaches you from the intrinsic purpose of the work is a losing game. The high-stakes incentive created pressure and stress, which directly compromised their well-being. Even more critically, this external, transactional incentive displaced the intrinsic purpose of the task itself. Instead of being motivated by the intellectual challenge of solving a puzzle, their focus narrowed to the reward. This shift in focus is what reinforced their mental blocks and made creative thinking nearly impossible. It leads to burnout and, ironically, makes you less effective at achieving your goals.
The SFL: The Rhythm for Breakthroughs
So, what's the solution? The answer isn't in a clever trick, but in a deliberate process that can be seen in the Sustainable Feedback Loop (SFL). It's the rhythm that the incentivized group desperately needed but didn't have.
Grounding: The first step of the SFL is to reconnect with your identity and purpose before acting. For the candle problem, this means pausing before frantically grabbing the tacks. Instead of thinking "I need to win this prize," you reframe the problem as "I need to solve this puzzle." This simple shift in perspective helps you move past the stress and see the components with fresh eyes, breaking the hold of functional fixedness.
Momentum: The second phase is about taking aligned, intentional action. The candle problem shows us that "momentum" for a creative task isn't about speed; it's about flow and exploration. The non-incentivized group was free to play with the objects, to experiment, and to build momentum through curiosity rather than frantic pressure. This is where the work gets done, not through brute force, but through mindful engagement.
Integration: The moment of breakthrough—seeing the box as a shelf—is the perfect example of the "Integration" phase. This is where you step back, reflect on your failed attempts, and allow new connections to form. If you're constantly pushing without a pause, you'll never have the chance to integrate your experiences and gain the insight needed for the breakthrough. It’s the pause that makes the discovery possible.
Regeneration: The incentivized group's failure highlights the destructive nature of neglecting regeneration. An "always on" mentality is an enemy of creativity. The breakthrough solutions we seek often arrive when we are not actively thinking about the problem—during a walk, a shower, or a good night's sleep. The SFL reminds us that rest isn't a reward for hard work; it's a critical part of the work itself.
The Solution: A Moment of Insight
The elegant solution to the puzzle requires a breakthrough in perspective: seeing the box of tacks not just as a container, but as a tool. By emptying the box, tacking it to the wall, and using it as a shelf, the problem is solved. The inability of most people to see this is precisely why the puzzle is so powerful. It's not a test of intelligence, but of your ability to step outside a fixed mental model.
