A while back, a friend called and asked if I’d come over and help fix his car. It wouldn’t start. The computer wasn’t throwing out any trouble codes, so he didn’t know where to begin looking for what was wrong.

Four hours later, I’m scratching my head. What could be wrong? Damn these computer cars anyway. I’ll take points and condensers any day. Multi-port fuel injection? Gimme a good, old-fashioned Holley. Hey—I still have Holley bowl gaskets laying around…

“Bud,” I said. “I’m stumped. We got spark, we got air, you have a full tank of gas—I looked when I got here. Maybe there’s water in the gas or something. We’ll have to do some more checks.”

“Full tank of gas? No, there isn’t. That guage has been busted for a long time. Wife put some in yesterday.”

Really.

Gallon of gas, turn the key. Purrrrrrrrr.

Wife didn’t put some in yesterday. Forgot.

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In a complex world, we tend to gravitate toward complex solutions for challenges that arise. When you’re stumped, when you’re overwhelmed by thoughts of what to do next, odds are that if you’ll go back to the basics, to the essentials—whether you’re building a business, or trying to overcome a personal challenge—you’ll find the key you need. If nothing else, you’ll be able to verify that all your bases are covered. Then you can look for more complicated fixes.