LESSON 1 · 5 MIN
Understand before you solve
Mathematician George Pólya's first rule: make sure you know what the problem is asking.
In 1945 George Pólya wrote a famous guide called How to Solve It. His four steps are: understand the problem, make a plan, carry out the plan, and look back.
Understanding means asking: What do I know? What do I need to find? Is anything missing?
Retelling the problem in your own words is one of the fastest ways to spot what really matters.
Key idea
Most wrong answers come from solving the wrong problem.
Try it
Pick a puzzle and explain it out loud in one sentence before trying to solve it.