“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them…
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
We have a choice every day: to manage problems or seek opportunities. We have been taught to be afraid of problems. We hide them, get embarrassed by them, choose to be intimidated by them, or hope someone else will solve them for us. It makes sense, as leaders are faced with problems every single day. But, what if we changed the way we approached our problems?
A recent survey of employers said that growing organizations are desperate to hire people who seek out problems. Problem sourcing helps us be more creative and more prepared for growth, opportunity, and adjustments. It takes an innovative and creative person to see problems before they arise. When we actively pursue problems, we take the power away from the problem and engage imagination and possibility. Imagining future problems allows us to imagine future solutions. Finding problems opens the door for being our creative best.
Do you fear problems or are you ready to go hunting for them?
I wouldn’t say I fear problems, but I don’t necessarily go looking for them either. Each year in my ministry, my team and I take time to “throw it all on the table” and evaluate everything we did and are doing, and find ways to do them better. I’m not really looking for specific problems, just better ways of doing things. Maybe that’s the same thing, though.