I meet someone for the first time and they stick out their hand to greet me and pass me a business card with the other hand. I have just learned their name and their occupation, but nothing more. Now what?

So often people identify themselves with what they are paid to do. “Hi, my name is Bob and I am a builder.” “Hello, I am Jill and I am an accountant,” or they identify by who they work for. Please belive me when I say that we are so much more than that. We are much more complex than an occupation and much deeper than the footings of an institutional building. We need to separate ourselves from the shackles that bind us to a paycheck.

Now, I for one will not downplay the need for a job or a paycheck for that matter as they do make it easier to pay bills. I also would not diminish one’s dedication and devotion to being a professional or valued employee. We need these in the world. But, I do think that we need to be a little more cognizant of who we are as a unique individual, one who is unlike any other individual, past, present, or future.

What would be wrong with introducing yourself as a father, a wife, a passionate gardener? I believe that we should let others know who we are not what we do, we have business card to accomplish that task.

One of the biggest hurdles to making that type of introduction is the fact that not many of us have taken time to get to know ourselves and to understand our strengths and how we can put them to use to add value to others in our world. A dear friend of mine has the most wonderful introduction, “Hi, I’m J.P. and I am all heart.” I love that introduction, it leaves me wanting to get to know her better and to gain an understanding of her perspective on life. This type of honesty and self-awareness can only come from reflecting on your strengths. I challenge you to identify your strength and add that to your introduction, maybe even put it on your business card.

Well, hopefully we have successfully identified a problem, found out the facts about it, determined what started it, asked if we are able to fix it, determined the best way to fix the problem, tried it through implementation, were successful in solving the issue or modified our attempt, decided if our solution is acceptable, and now finally we need to review it.

It is one thing to succeed, but yet it is much more significant when we can learn and gain wisdom from the process. I want you to ask a couple of questions:

1. What worked well?
2. What didn’t work well?
3. What did we learn through the process?
4. What wisdom did we gain that we can use in future problem solving tactics?

We should be able to learn something from every situation we encounter, this is how wisdom is gained. Reflect on your success and enjoy a feeling of accomplishment but don’t forget what you have learned.

Be Well!!

Well, we have tried to fix our problem, we applied the best solution that we could think of to the test. Now we have to ask if it worked or not. If the solution worked you should be sensing relief, a weight lifted off your shoulders, a calm.

Good Job!!

If you are not feeling a sense of relief or calm, then maybe the solution didn’t work. Maybe the solution only partially worked. Now what? Let’s step back and again look at how much of an impact this problem has on your life, can you accept the level of discomfort you are feeling? If yes, then develop a good means to deal with it so that you can move on. If not, then apply one of the other solutions that you came up with or modify the one you tried so that it will work more to your satisfaction.

If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

Next: Review It

We will never know how well something will work unless we try it out. We test drive cars before we buy, we tour homes before we buy, we test the water with our little toe before we jump in, so we need to test our probable solution too.

A couple of steps need to be taken to properly apply a solution to a problem. First we need to decide just how we are going to execute the probable solution, by taking time to think this step through, we may find a chink it the armour, and this would best be found before jumping in wholeheartedly.

One more step to consider is when do we apply the solution, timing is everything they say and by thinking through our application of a solution we will discover a best time for application.

The final step, you guessed it… put your solution to work and study how it goes, if all has been properly thought out a solution may be closer than you think.

Next: Did We Fix It?

Now that we have identified the issue as a problem, studied and researched the facts about the problem, understand what started the problem, and then knowing that we can fix the problem, we now need to decide a game plan and look for options and then determine the best option to choose to fix the problem.

There is more than one way to skin a cat and that old saying probably holds less meaning in today’s world than it did generations ago. Knowing that there is always more than one way to get to a destination, more than one right way to do things, there is going to be more than one way to attempt to solve a problem. If we go back to our math classes and think about problem solving, it really is very similar to solving personal problems.

1. State the facts: we did this when we identified the problem and the facts  in step one and step two.
2. Define the variables: what pieces of information do we need to know
3. Draw a picture: can we visualize how all the parts and pieces go together and how manipulating one area affects the entire issue?
4. Compare to a similar problem: here is where we start to rely on our knowledge, experience and wisdom and we can devise a probable solution to the problem.

If there is more than one solution is there more than one best solution? That poses an interesting question. If we solve the problem with the first solution, do we really want to go back and see if we can solve it again, probably not. We will look more closely at this in the last step where we review it.

The best way for now is the way that solves the problem.

Next: Try It

I remember when my twin boys were young they would watch a cartoon called “Bob The Builder” and the theme song went something like,

“Bob the Builder, Can we fix it?” “Bob the Builder, yes, we can!” Well, at this point we need to ask that question. If we look back to the steps that we took to get here, we identified it, determined what the facts are about it, and then determined what started it. Now we will focus on whether or not we can fix it.

If the situation that we have encountered truly is a problem then yes, we must determine if we can fix it. If we just ignore it at this point and assume that someone else will take care of ot and fix, we will be greatly disappointed. More times than not, the job of fixing the problem rests on the shoulders of the person who started the problem, and that most likely is ourselves. Dr. Frankenstein  created a monster and it was his responsibility to fix it or eliminate it.

Just as we find that most of the problems we encounter are not as huge or ominous as we make them out to be, we will also find that the solution to fixing the problem is simpler than we think it will be. Keep this in the back of your thoughts as you try fixing the current problem, “You have never encountered a problem in your life yet that you have not been able to fix.”

Can you fix it?

Yes, you can!

 

Most of the time, problems just don’t appear out of nowhere. They are not magic, they are creations, and unless you are God, you cannot create something from nothing. Something or some circumstance had to occur for a problem to start.

Oftentimes, problems are manifestations of a small inconvenience that fester and become larger issues due to assumptions, procrastination, lack of proper communication, or some other lack of action. Then again it may be an over exaggeration of a situation, we blow things out of proportion, we make a mountain out of a molehill.

Misunderstandings, miscommunications, or an action of lack of an action are most likely to be the root cause of a problem than we realize and with that, the problem may be more an issue with ourselves than any other outside influence. If we take a clear look at the situation we will find that we have more control over it than a lack of control. The problem often is internal and not external. The sooner we are willing to take responsibility that the problem may be a direct result of our personal actions or lack of action, the smaller and more manageable the problem will become.

When it comes to problems, it is not an issue of “who” but rather “what” is the cause. Look inside yourself and the solution will be easier to identify.

Next: Can We Fix It?

I appreciate any and all comments.

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As you have pondered the problem and have appropriately identified it as a problem, now we need to dive a little deeper and uncover some of the facts about the problem. Unless we determine the facts we may be finding ourselves being impacted by emotions and appearances about the situation. We need to cut through the non-issues that cloud our view and get to, as Joe Friday said, “Just The Facts.”

Facts sometimes can be difficult to differentiate from appearances. Just like identifying the problem, is it really a problem or just an inconvenience, the facts sometimes are falsely inflated and really are not a true fact but an assumption that we have made. To weed through the assumptions to get to the facts, one of the first things we must do is step back and take a non-biased view of the circumstances. If we allow our predetermined ideas stand in our way and  the facts can easily hide behind this curtain.

You may have heard the saying that, “The first thing that fails is communication.” I believe that this is not true at all but it should be restated as, “The problem with communication is the assumption that it has occured.” Which statement would be more factual?

Also, we need to be more specific with what we think are the facts. It is easy to a house burned down, and yes, that is a general fact, but what caused the house to burn down? Was it faulty wiring, a lightning strike, a careless flame, a gas explosion, or was it arson? You see, if we allow a too general of statement define our fact, this too can be misleading. If we blamed every house fire on the house, we would probably stop building houses due the a misled fact that they are unsafe.

What are the facts about your problem, get the facts straight and the solution to the problem may just occur by itself.

Next: What Started It

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How do you know when you encounter something, whether it is a problem or not? This may seem so very simple but you need to be able to identify a problem as a problem. We will encounter many things as we travel along our journey and not everything that we run across is truly a problem, it may actually just be an inconvenience or even just a bump in the road. If we remember back to the definition of a problem that we defined in the introduction a problem is something that causes us distress. So, one of the first things we must determine is, “Does this situation cause me distress?”

If the answer to this question is no, then what we are experiencing is merely a discomfort, a bump in the road and we can rest assured that we will pass through this season of living quite easily and we need not be concerned any further. If the answer to our first query is yes, then we need to follow up with, “How much distress is this causing me?” and if the level of caused distress is tolerable or not, is it bearable or not?

If we find the distress to be mostly tolerable, we should be able to push through the discomfort and be fine. If we are experiencing distress,then we must work to identify the issues that are causing us the distress. Look at what the circumstances are, what is the environment that we are in and place some sort of a rating on the level of distress we are experiencing. The higher we rate our level of distress the more important it will be to look more closely at the problem and define it more appropriately by identifying the factors that are involved.

Remember, that not every obstacle we encounter along our journey is a problem and we must be sure not to artificially inflate an obstacle into a problem, but if the obstacle is causing us a level of distress that is not acceptable to us, we will need to figure out the factors that are involved with the distress and define it further.

Next is: Facts About It

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Facing the Problems Along the Journey

Just like a freshly opened jigsaw puzzle, the problems we encounter along our journey leave us asking, “Where do I start?”  Most people look for the edge pieces and the corners and then start filling in the rest. When we face a problem we need to have a game plan, a systematic way to figure the problem out and to eventually come to a positive conclusion. Here you will find a simple plan of attack for facing life’s problems.

When you encounter a problem along your journey, and I can guarantee that you will, how will you figure out how to get past it? I would like to share with you eight simple steps that I believe will assist you in dealing with that problem.

1. Identify It
2. Facts About It
3. What Started It
4. Can We Fix It
5. Best Way To Fix It
6. Try It
7. Did We Fix It
8. Review It

Over the next few days, we will take a deeper look at each of these eight steps and dive into the process of problem solving.

Next: Identify It.