Fall in love with the problem, not the solution
Fall in love with the problem, not the solution
It seems reasonable to fall in love with your solution – with your ideas, after all that’s why you get hired, promoted, recognized, valued or paid.
The danger in this however, is that if we already “know” the solution… how much time did we actually spend understanding the problem?
We can see this play out in meetings regularly. We meet not to discuss the problem and the potentials, but instead to confirm our already chosen solution.
In doing so we may not get a real sense of the true problem and what it could represent.
This means that we tend not to hear from other voices, other perspectives or may not listen to what the other owners of the problem have to say.
We miss seeing the nuances, the challenges and the opportunities that may be visible only below the surface.
We may only touch on what is obvious, routine or expected.
But once we are able to step back into curiosity and we get a taste of what might be lingering or lurking, we may develop an appetite for exploration, wonder and new discovery. And then… we may be inspired to solve the real problem.
If the only tool you have is a hammer…
