'Intuition to Action' Series - Life is an optimization problem

Originally published on LinkedIn · January 03, 2025

Life is an optimization problem.

Optimize: 'to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible.' (Dictionary definition)

Optimizing is a much harder, tricky problem than singularly. maximizing or minimizing a certain element without regard to the rest of the elements or components.

When we say, 'without regard to', we can also understand this as

• Not limited in availability (infinite resources)

But, in a real world situation, I'm sure we all can agree that we don't operate business or life or any decision with a luxury of infinite resources or devoid of constraints in some sense.

Yes, I'm talking about any decision big/small or personal/professional.

Let's look at some of the business context that might be quickly relatable and explore the idea with life from a mathematical lens to understand the 'optimization'.

From my extensive technology and science background in my professional career, when I create a business solution scope or a technology blueprint, I'd decompose a given problem into understanding the interplay and the impact of changing one functional subdomain on the rest within an organization.

For example:

In a manufacturing organization, if we are looking at demand forecasting, there's a sense of understanding its inevitable effects on inventory and production planning, procurement planning, financial and accounting LRP and budgeting planning. The entire S&OP (Sales and Operations) and FP&A (Financial Planning and Accounting) gets impacted, good or bad is a secondary thing.

The first thing at a common sense and critical thinking element is to know, agree and understand that there will be some impact as they are all well connected functional subdomains across.

Then, soon enough, you would appreciate the idea that a business leader in charge of ensuring the overall organization's success is about putting all the elements into consideration, viewpoint to simply assess and then build the overall strategic roadmap.

The one with solid business strategic focus and excellence would follow the above principle in mind and in action. This is a classic 'optimization' problem conception and design thinking well applied, in this context.

Using the principle established above, on the 'optimization', let's apply it for an example industry - eCommerce (for instance)

Extending the business context and translating it to a technology solution blueprint, it would look like:

Minimize(acquisition costs)  <===>  Maximize(conversion rate)

Minimize(marketing costs)   <===>   Maximize(retention rate)

Minimize(supplier costs).      <===>   Maximize(Quality of the product)

Minimize(Distribution costs) <===>   Maximize(Product availability)

Minimize(AI Project implementation costs) <===> Maximize(All the above / area in question)

Minimize(support costs)        <===>       Maximize(Serviceability)

And you can list many more in the above fashion...

Now, we get the idea of how to think structured and how technology notation for a business context will look like....

Now, Life?

With constrained / limited resources of

• life span
• time for family, friends, colleagues and the world [Personal and Professional split]
• money at hand or financial resources + necessary expenditure
• health constraints, preferences and considerations
• Location constraints, preferences and considerations.
• Lifestyle choices, habits, conditions and considerations.

etc., we can build a similar construct of what we want to achieve in our life to feel fulfilled, successful and all the rest of the stuff..

With the perspective we built at the top, now, we can see how life is an 'optimization' problem and cannot be a singularly focused element of maximizing one thing in a ceteris paribus mode (keeping all elements constant, economics term)

Let's see how the life optimization set of goals might look like...

Minimize(# of critical decisions)  <===> Maximize(overall health)

Minimize(avoidable mistakes)      <===> Maximize(efficiency)

Minimize(regrets/ pain quantum) <===> Maximize(learnings)

Minimize(unwanted risks)  <===> Maximize(benefits and life rewards)

Minimize(external noise)    <===> Maximize(internal control)

Minimize(unwanted time loss).   <===> Maximize(Quality of experience)

And you can list many more here too in the same matching optimization levers...

Overall summation for life would then be a minimizing all the minimize components while maximizing all the maximize components with the limited resources listed above.

As we built the framework on life as an optimization problem, we can define what two specific levers we are juggling with in a match-mode and what set of optimization gears/levers we are actively handling in life at the moment, we can distill that down to various set of actions, habit changes, mental muscle building etc.,

In all this, we would bring in additional challenge with understanding the 'impediments' that can potentially derail our personal or professional goals and aspirations.

We will cover each of the above or the in-depth idea of it, in a different framework of mental modeling for structured, clear, critical thinking gears put in excellence mode.

Hope you find my perspective insightful and helpful to connect with your life journey as on date and take it in your stride.

Thoughts?

Drop them in the comments and we will explore further.

About the Author:

I’m Veda Konduru, a former AI tech founder, data scientist, technology product architect with an academic excellence in science and technology with an overall 20+ years of subject domain career experience..

Inspired by some events in my life, I set myself off on a quest for exploring the role of natural intelligence, the human mind’s underpinnings, in the age of AI, and made significant strides in the past few years and I’m here to help others on a similar journey.

In short, An artificial intelligence architect NOW turned into The Mind Explorer.