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I’ve experienced numerous situations, both at work and in daily life, where I felt stuck in a loop of repetitive thoughts, unable to move forward. This has occurred in both professional and personal contexts. When faced with certain engineering problems, I felt the pressure to find a solution but couldn’t pinpoint one. In my daily life, both at home and work, I’ve experienced negative consequences when I or someone else said, did, or didn’t do something. And again, I found myself going in circles, seemingly ‘thinking’ about what happened or was said, yet making no progress.

I call this Circular Thinking and mentally it looks like this figure:

Circular thinking isn’t true thinking; it merely gives the illusion of it. It keeps you busy without results, it prevents progress towards a solution.

Circular Thinking can also affect entire groups. On one occasion, I was called into an emergency meeting to cover for my manager who was away on a business trip: a critical server was down, affecting operations and costing the company money by the minute. While the technical teams were working to restore the server, the immediate need in the emergency meeting was to devise a strategy to manage the resulting consequences. Despite being outranked by two levels, the others in the room could only focus on and discuss the problem: “We have this big issue”, “it affects reputation”, “it will cost money” (and internally they might be thinking “my bonus or job might be on the line”). Focusing only on the problem prevented anyone from articulating a path forward. Their circular thinking prevented them from doing so. It wasn’t until after several loops of problem amplification that they could begin to think about how to address the issues caused by the service interruption.

Contrast circular thinking to what I call Linear Thinking. In its purest form, linear thinking takes you directly from problem to solution, as illustrated by the arrow below:

So how do you get out of the trap of thinking in circles and move towards a solution?

To break free from the loops of circular thinking, I’ve found that adopting a problem-solving attitude is most effective. Instead of getting caught in a loop saying, ‘I have this problem’, shift your mindset to: ‘This must have a solution, and I’m working to find it.

You might have a direct solution, maybe you need to evaluate different options or you might need to investigate deeper to find a solution. In any case, you will be making progress!

The mental shift from circular to linear thinking can be visualized as follows:

Next time you face a problem, try to focus on the solution and not on the problem. Good luck going forward!

I’ve also developed some theories about the underlying reasons why we sometimes fall into the trap of circular thinking. If you’d be curious to learn more about these ideas, please let me know in the comments section. Your feedback helps shape future content!

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Reflecting on my journey as project manager, I recall one opportunity where I applied the lessons learned from Part 1 – and by exposing myself – guided the organization to stay away from what I was convinced was a flawed idea and pointed it toward an optimal one. I hope that this article can provide you with some useful insights that you can apply in similar situations.

One day, at this company I received a call from the CEO’s personal assistant, requesting me to accompany the CEO and COO to an off-site visit the next day. With no details provided, I joined them to meet with a well known IT outsourcing company. During the meeting, the company showcased their extensive IT capabilities. I surmised that my inclusion was due to a significant IT outage a few months before, during which I had organized one of the response teams to manage operations during the emergency with our main IT systems.

Throughout the meeting, I observed and listened, given that I hadn’t been briefed on my role in it.  At first glance, the proposal to completely outsource our IT operations seemed a good plan: it promised “peaceful” IT operations by outsourcing all of our servers, data, and IT staff. However, I identified a point that for me constituted a critical flaw: as part of this plan, our essential systems and data would be outsourced. While I agree that outsourcing can yield numerous benefits, I believe that control over core operations should not be relinquished.

On our return, I respectfully asked why I had been invited. The CEO and COO answered that they were planning to outsource all IT operations and wanted me to lead the migration project. They felt that the current IT manager, who was nearing retirement, was not ideal for the role and that my intervention during the IT emergency mentioned above, positioned me as the best candidate to lead this migration.

I thanked them for their confidence, yet I expressed significant reservations about this plan. I acknowledged the benefits of outsourcing most IT functions but emphasized that the core data and critical processes should remain in-house. I assured them of my commitment to leading such a migration project, provided we retained control over the essential operations. By saying that, I had put my job on the line as my contract allowed for easy termination with no hassles! But past experience had taught me to better say no and advocate in time for the right decision than regret it later.

My response took the CEO and COO by surprise, and they replied that they needed time to consider my objections. Two days later, the CEO informed me they had reconsidered and decided to abandon the IT outsourcing plan altogether. A few months later, I was promoted to Director of the IT department following the IT director’s retirement. This marked a highly rewarding phase in my career, working with a professional and motivated team that delivered substantial value to the organization.

Throughout my career, I’ve encountered numerous instances where clients (both internal and external) requested approaches I knew were flawed. Each time I succumbed to such requests, it went wrong, sometimes ending up in quagmire.

Therefore, when faced with similar requests, I urge you to think twice and strive to guide your clients toward the right project choices. Effective leadership often means advocating for what you know is best, even if it involves taking some personal risks.