What Prevents People From Solving Problems?

My job is to help as many people as possible, solve as many problems a possible, as quickly as possible.

That should keep me busy for the rest of my life, don't you think.

But you can play, too. You can join in at helping to solve problems. Why not start with your own?

Or start with someone else's so that you can gain the confidence and skill you need to solve just about any any problem?

Why do you think that people have problems?

What do you think prevents people from solving problems?

Maybe it's because of one of these three things:

1. They don't know.

They don't know that it IS a problem so the situation continues. This applies to many personal and relationship problems but it could apply to just about any problem.

They don't know how to solve it. Surely we would solve any problem if we simply KNEW how to solve it wouldn't we? Usually, unless:

2. They don't care.

No one is likely to solve a problem that they don't care about. Why would some one not care about a problem? Probably because:

a. They've fully adapted -- in which case the "problem" is now part of who they are. It may not be the best that they can be, but they've gotten used to it. The problem situation will then stay around until they DO care about changing it.

b.It's what they really, maybe even secretly want. They might make noises about someday changing the situation, but something about the situation gives them exactly what they are looking for (right or wrong) and so it isn't going to change until THEY do.

Number two isn't a judgement, but it IS a reason.

3. They don't have what they think they need to solve the problem.

Maybe it's resources like time, money,or the right set of people.

Maybe it's discipline, a method for solving the problem, or a process to solve the problem.

Maybe it's a character trait or skill like courage, clarity, creativity or compassion.

Think about any problems that you're experiencing right now. Could it be one of these three things keeping you from solving it?

Think about any problem in the world right now -- could it be one or more of these three things (don't know, don't care, don't have) preventing us from solving it?

I help people identify what's keeping their problems around, to figure out what to do about it, and then to do it: solve problems.

The good news is there's plenty to keep us all busy.

If you want to explore these ideas more, and maybe get busy solving some problems of your own, I welcome you to contact me at:

doug@frontrangeleadership.com

Start the conversation, and see where it goes...there's nothing to lose but our problems.

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Solving Problems | Achieving Your Goals

Comments

Celebrate Progress

When was the last time that you were frustrated in trying to learn something? If you can't remember, maybe it's time to learn something new -- something tough and challenging. Truly worthwhile endeavors are often struggles. The satisfaction comes not only in the final result, but also in the progress toward that final result. The best way to avoid a sad let-down once a goal is achieved is to enjoy the journey all the way thru. Celebrate your progress! Not so much that you feel finished, but enough so that you feel able. Celebrate progress, and then keep on progressing. As that beat poet and philosopher Harry X. Tudas once said, "Feel in the groove but continue to improve." -- doug smith

Muscle Up

Weakness is no excuse to claim victimhood. Muscle up. Courage-up. Face your challenges without excuses. -- doug smith

Feedback Takes Practice

How good are you at providing feedback? If you're not sure, ask your team members. If you are good at it, they'll tell you. If you're not good at it, then maybe they will and maybe they won't. Feedback does not come easy. Skillful, useful feedback that improves both performance AND self-esteem is a delicate balance of recognizing positives and occasionally providing insights on areas of improvement -- all placed into the context of why it matters. Without the "why" -- why the feedback matters, why the improvement matters, why the performance matters, all the feedback you can muster will only fluster whoever you provide it to. Tell them what they did that was great, ask how they could make it even greater, and share with them why it all makes a difference. Because unless it really makes a difference who cares? Feedback, like any skill, takes practice. -- doug smith

Better, Not Bitter

Recognition of our flaws should improve us, not break us. -- doug smith

The Five Qualities of Successful Leaders

What makes a leader successful? There are many lists. Sometimes the lists go as high as 100 qualities. Sometimes they are fewer competencies but still too many to remember and too many to clearly assess on a personal basis. It's part of the difficulty of taking a 360 evaluation and making sense of it. I like Adam Bryant's approach of focusing on five key leadership traits. We can quibble about which five leadership traits matter the most, but this is a workable list. My own work has also identified five leadership traits that I believe clearly shows the strengths needed and how great leaders use their flexibility (or centeredness) to optimize their use of those strengths, even though we each vary in which strengths we use the most. It is built on the work of centuries of personality sorters and bears similarities to several prominent ones which focus on four traits. I see these four strengths as Clarity, Courage, Creativity and Compassion. The fifth s

Leadership Warning

If you visit the dark side, don't get stuck there. -- doug smith

Know Why You Do What You Do

Remember that advertising slogan for a very questionable publication that kept saying "Inquiring minds want to know"? We all have inquiring minds. We all need to know. And what we need to know the most is why. Why do we do what we do. What makes what we do cool, important, necessary? It's never just a job. It's never just an interaction. There is always a reason why. Know why. Figure out your why. Identify your mission. Then roll with it. -- Doug Smith P.S. My good friend David Spiegel has pointed out that Simon Sinek is a great source on WHY. Here's the video where I first was drawn to his thinking on this:

Pausing Purity

Judging someone does not change them. Still, don't high performance leaders need a sense of judgment? Forgiving someone does not correct the fault. Still, isn't forgiveness necessary for a growing leader? Changing does not change the past. Still, leaders always change. Purity is a tough standard to match. Maybe pause perfection long enough to improve. -- doug smith

Building Discipline

It would be easy to skip my morning, or afternoon, or evening push-ups. Heck, I did skip them for most of my life. But regular exercise is a discipline that won't do itself. We don't have to like or enjoy discipline-building habits in order to need them. The drills prove, over and over, that we do. Start small if you need to, but definitely start. -- doug smith

Start Positive

I went thru a grumpy period in my life. It was like a rut that was so deep no light could get in. It fed on its own bumpy grumpiness until that's all I could feel. Yuck. Forget that now. Now, I start with a positive thought. I could be wrong about finding the silver lining, but I've learned that I won't see the silver lining unless I look for it, and that's the place to start. Even the smallest positive effort has a positive impact. Let's start there. -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership

Search This Blog