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The first step in solving problems
Tuesday, 23 May 2006
We all have various problems and challenges in our lives. We struggle with relationships, careers, money and responsibilities.
How do we go about solving these troubles? Here’s a good first step.
There are two types of problems, those we know about and those we don’t. Usually, the second type eventually becomes one of the first. I’m not going to go into how to solve troubles that you don’t know about, simply because without even the most basic amount of information, these are going to be very difficult to solve.
If you have a problem that you’re aware of, don’t ignore it. Many people try to run and hide from their troubles, but in my general experience this doesn’t work.
Some “life-coach” type people advocate an unusual way of dealing with problems – that is trying to think about them differently or treat them as “challenges”.
These types of mind-tricks aren’t very effective in my experience. If you hate your job, trying to pretend you don’t simply by thinking about it differently probably isn’t going to work. It’s just another way of trying to run away from the issue. If you’ve got constant back-pain, thinking about it as a “challenge” isn’t going to change the fact that your back hurts.
The best way to deal with problems is to solve them – pure and simple.
Don’t bother tying yourself up in philosophical knots trying to find the best way of “looking” at the problem. Just get on with solving it.
The first, and arguably most important, step in solving any problem is to define it correctly. Take a good, long, clear-headed look at what troubles you, and try to put it into words. Make this definition as simple as possible, but take in all the primary information that’s relevant.
Once you’ve discovered what the problem is, delve into why it’s a problem and incorporate that into your definition.
So “I hate my job” becomes “I hate my job because my boss is a bully and there’s no opportunity for advancement”.
“My back is always sore” becomes “My back is always sore because the chair I sit on all day doesn’t support it properly and I never get any exercise”.
“My children are out of control” becomes “My children are out of control because they spend too much time at home without adult supervision”.
And so on.
As you can see from the above examples, correctly defining a problem takes you a long way down the road to solving it. Of course, this type of definition isn’t always so simple, and you may sometimes have to think about it quite carefully.
The most important thing is to be honest with yourself about the situation. Lying to others can sometimes bring benefits, lying to yourself almost never does.
Once you have a clear definition of your problem, add one more sentence to the end of it: “What action can I take to change this for the better?”
So our first example becomes: “I hate my job because my boss is a bully and there’s no opportunity for advancement. What action can I take to change this for the better?”
Now that you have a good, clear question to ask yourself, mull it over for a while. You’ll almost certainly find that your brain starts offering solutions. Maybe you’ll come up with so many that you’ll become overwhelmed.
Sometimes, an interesting twist on this situation can arise that you should watch out for. None of us are perfect, and it’s possible that your first attempt at defining the problem will turn out to be wrong. Maybe you forgot to take into account some crucial piece of information, or some new insight into the situation become available to you.
Whatever the reason for thinking your first definition was incorrect, don’t beat yourself up about it too much. Instead, simply change your definition and start asking yourself the new question.
This technique is a simple but a powerful one. I hope it helps you.
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