We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them
Albert Einstein being quoted in 1970 by Ram Dass
This is yet another inspirational quote whose attribution is unclear. Ram Dass, a psychology professor at Harvard turned guru, quoted Albert Einstein as author in a lecture given in 1970. That is as far as I reached in my investigation. But the evidence of similar statements in other works by Einstein let me attribute the quote to him without an uncomfortable level of uncertainty.
A colleage at work had this quote in his email signature, and have referred to it enough as to qualify to the list of aphorisms I have used profesionally several times.
The quote calls the listener to practice lateral thinking. To not follow the beaten path when facing a problem or conflict, unless willing to fail in the same old way.
But there is also an organizational side to this quote, which is the reason for it to be here: by translating levels of thinking for levels of authority the quote takes us to another day at the office, where conflicts (problems) arise and solutions must be found.
When a manager takes the conflict solving approach, the problem has been already escalated to a higher level: managers of the same level discussing or negotiating a solution or a manager providing the necessary lateral thinking to a worker ignorant of those dimensions of his work.
But managers might take a different approach and consider the issue not of their incumbent; that prevents a higher level thinking. A manager might considering the problem just an instance of confirmatory bias of the workers. But dismissing the problem back to the same level where it was originated does not reorient the work into a solution. Just takes it back to the drawing board of the worker. And the worker might not have the same background around the problem (the manager here would be under his own curse of expertize); or the worker might not will to venture into a different level due to traumatic experiencies.
It is clear that a different way of focusing the problem is they key, but it is required that all participants practice and share that creative thinking (all participants meaning every worker in the problem plus the managers involved).