The Base Case Mindset

We always reach for complexity first.

When faced with big problems, we imagine we need equally big solutions.

But the masters know better.

When programming legend Donald Knuth taught students to solve mazes, he didn't start with the labyrinth. He started with two connected points.

Every complex problem contains a simpler version of itself.

That impossible project? It's built from small, solvable pieces.

That team conflict? It started with a single misalignment.

That struggling campaign? It's not one big problem — it's many tiny ones stacked together.

We resist this approach because it feels too simple. Like we're avoiding the real challenge.

But complex systems don't yield to brute force.

They yield to what programmers call the "base case" — the simplest version that can't be broken down further.

Find it. Solve it. Build up from there.

Start smaller than you think necessary.

The solution to your biggest challenge begins with two connected points.