Solve Problems Using Dopamine's Power of Story

Seems a bit of an overreaction but okay.

Short on solutions? Use dopamine to imagine the problem as worse.

Example: If you’re trying to make it easier for customers to return unwanted items, ask how to make returns more difficult. Walk through the process--the story made possible by control dopamine. You might add a tedious form to the process or limit times when returns are allowed. You could demand original packaging or add a restocking fee. This opposite-of-the-goal creativity points us to pain points we might not have noticed. Now we have a first-attempt list of potential improvements.

This leverages two dopaminergic skills, our capacity for imagining alternative futures and our attraction to the novel. And it works.