When the backup plan dies too, you’re not out of options. You’re just out of the ones you thought of first.

Running out of plans usually means running out of the plans that were obvious in advance. The first two were drafted when you knew less and had not yet met the situation. What feels like a dead end is more often the edge of your earlier imagination, which was working from a much thinner set of facts.

Instead of pushing harder at the same two doors, describe the problem out loud to two people standing outside it. Ask what they would try. Third plans are often better than first ones, because by then you know what you are actually dealing with.