This is best illustrated by example:

I typically see on StackOverflow:

“How do I drive 300 km/h down the great ocean road in reverse gear?!”

Answer 1:

An mechanic might suggest: “spend $1,000,000 to retro-fit your car: (i) for those high speeds, and (ii) develop new technology to enable you to see backwards while facing forwards. This is all possible. But time/money are finite.

Q: Is it worth spending so much to solve this particular problem, in this particular way?

Answer 2:

Just ask “Why?” about 4-5 times.

Q: Why do you want to drive in reverse gear?

Because I made a wrong turn.

Q: Why don’t you do a U-Turn, and drive down the road normally?

Oh, I didn’t know that was possible.

Q: Why are you in such a hurry?

Because I need to tell my spouse that I’ll be late home for dinner.

Q: Why don’t you just call her on your phone instead?

That makes sense?

The Real solution

Phone call.

Cheap and effective solutions, to most problems, can be found. Find them!

Summary

Ask the right questions, get the right answers, solve the right problems - and avoid the x-y problem.