So you have a problem
Welcome to life. If you have a problem, you are alive. If you can't think of any problems facing you, have you thought about pinching yourself to check? Maybe its time to call the undertaker.
That's gross.
Let's be serious. We all have problems. Thankfully, I don't have yours, and boy – if you knew mine – you would be thankful you don't have them. Somebody wrote “A problem is a solution turned inside out.” That's not bad. A little too simple, maybe – but it's true. If you can get a handle on the problem itself, tear it apart limb from limb and then address one piece at a time, before long you might just look back on it as yesterday's memory.
If sales of the book Einstein, Money and Contentment take off, we might see fewer problems in society in the future. That book is a design for clear thinking, and one of the most helpful tools of problem solving is clear thinking.
I don't know your situation, so I am not going to try to suggest an example of a problem you face. Instead, I will ask you first of all to concentrate on the solution you are looking for. Now, I am going to contradict myself and give you an example. A few decades ago, operating a non-profit group of radio stations, I faced what I viewed as a significant financial problem. As I thought about our lack of ability to pay bills on time, it dawned on me: nobody has financial problems. We only have THINKING problems. If I could just think straight, I would take actions that would result in more money coming in.
That's the word. The word RESULT. Think of the result you want to accomplish. Write down a few words defining that result. Don't read the rest of this until that task is done. Next give some thought to the location of your problem. Is it in some government office? Is it in your house? How about your back yard? Wherever the problem is, that's the STRUCTURE of your problem. Write that down. The structure provides the limits within which the problem functions.
Now the important part. Something is the “nub” of your problem, the heart of it. Write down the ESSENCE of your difficulty. One more element and we will be ready to get to work. Figure out what drives your problem. What is the DYNAMIC of the problem? That dynamic wraps around the ESSENCE and it works in the structure to bring the RESULT that you don't like. That result is your problem. See the trick I played on you? I did a twist. We turned everything inside out. I asked you to write down the RESULT you want to achieve, and now we are looking at the problem in the RESULT category. That's the point. You now see in detail the contrast between the problem and the solution. Work backward. Find an ESSENCE within the DYNAMIC that will provide a positive function within the STRUCTURE you face, and you will be a step closer to a solution.
To learn more details about this method of problem solving, purchase the book Einstein, Money and Contentment.
If you shop for this book in a local bookstore tell the clerk it can be ordered through "Ingram" or "AuthorHouse." TO ORDER CLICK HERE.