Why solving problems actually keeps you stuck.
“Come to my seminar and solve all your problems!” – Typical guru.
In a different post I talk about how to solve problems using the Onion Skin Problem Solving framework. One other thing to think about is that when you hear of a problem, it’s FAR more important to know what caused the problem.
A problem’s result is much less important than the reason for it’s result.
This method is about speed and efficiency, so you know where to start thinking initially when you observe a problem. For example, say there’s a ‘problem’ of not winning a marathon. Most people initially hear this and say, “They need to get their mind into it more,” or perhaps, “They need to train more!” And initially their thought is to start solving the problem. And it’s not as efficient as thinking about the Problem’s Origin Point. If the origin point is that the person broke their leg halfway through the race, you may realize then that giving advice like “train more” would be pretty useless and stupid.
Most people see a problem and go straight to problem solving mode – this makes for highly inefficient progress.
If I have a bruise on my face, a solution may be to put ice on it, and that’s a real solution. However, it’s a bad solution if the reason there’s a bruise is because I go around starting fights (and lose) when I’m drunk. Whoops!
POPs (Problem Origin Points) can sometimes be deeper than expected. A girl with a terrible cut in her hand may have the problem solved with a bandage or with ‘good’ advice like “be more careful!” But if that cut happened because she likes to cut watermelons when she’s high, then maybe the problem is using knives while high. Or perhaps even deeper, that she’s a drug addict. Or perhaps even deeper, that she’s a drug addict to cope with abandonment of her father. Solving the problem origin point of resolving old family issues might be much better than simply getting a band aid every time she gets cut.
Most of the time people start with hearing what a problem’s result is and trying to solve that. It leads to stupid solutions or solutions that don’t fix anything ongoing. Gurus that are good at helping people solve problems create an addicted audience because the audience keeps having problems, which the guru can help fix. It’s much better to start by always understanding a problem’s origin point, considering how deep it may go, and then starting to assess the problem as you should using the Onion Skin method.
What problem have you ever tried to solve before first realizing the cause of it and how much time would you have saved if you didn’t start with the focus on the problem and instead its origin point?
