Obliquity, a concept with a hat-tip to the book of the same name by John Kay, is a powerful strategy in problem-solving
As anyone with teenage children already knows, the most effective way to solve issues is rarely to tackle them head-on other than when they are trivial or as a refuge of last resort
Kay’s book contains examples of how complex and intractable problems were solved by working on a related issue
Working obliquely also means less public commitment to solving a particular problem and more time to watch for unintended consequences
Also gives more space for solutions to emerge rather than be manufactured or imposed.