1. Oh no, a problem!
The reaction to a problem is
often a bigger
problem than the problem itself. Many people avoid or deny problems
until
it's too late, largely because these people have never learned the
appropriate
emotional, psychological, and practical responses. A problem is an
opportunity.
The happiest people welcome and even seek out problems, meeting them as
challenges and opportunities to improve things. Definition: a problem
is
(1) seeing the difference between what you have and what you want or
(2)
recognizing or believing that there is something better than the
current
situation or (3) an opportunity for a positive act. Seeking problems
aggressively
will build confidence, increase happiness, and give you a better sense
of control over your life.
2. It can't be done.
This attitude is, in
effect, surrendering
before the battle. By assuming that something cannot be done or a
problem cannot be solved, a person gives the problem a power or strength it
didn't
have before. And giving up before starting is, of course, self
fulfilling.
But look at the history of solutions and the accompanying skeptics: man
will never fly, diseases will never be conquered, rockets will never
leave
the atmosphere. Again, the appropriate attitude is summed up by the
statement, "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little
longer."
3. I can't do it. Or There's nothing I can do.
Some people think,
well maybe the problem can be solved by some expert, but not by me
because
I'm not (a) smart enough, (b) an engineer, or (c) a blank (whether
educated,
expert, etc.) Again, though, look at the history of problem solving.
Who were the Wright brothers that they could invent an
airplane? Aviation
engineers? No, they were bicycle mechanics. The ball point pen was
invented
by a printer's proofreader, Ladislao Biro, not a mechanical engineer.
Major
advances in submarine design were made by English clergyman G. W.
Garrett
and by Irish schoolmaster John P. Holland. The cotton gin was invented
by that well known attorney and tutor, Eli Whitney. The fire
extinguisher
was invented by a captain of militia, George Manby.
And so on. In fact, a major point made by recent writers about
corporate
excellence is that innovations in industry almost always come from
individuals
(not research groups) outside of the area of the invention. General
Motors
invented Freon, the refrigeration chemical, and tetraethyl lead, the
gasoline
additive. Kodachrome was invented by two musicians. The continuous
steel
casting process was invented by a watchmaker (fooling around with brass
casting). Soap making chemists turned down the problem of inventing
synthetic
detergents: those detergents were invented by dye making chemists.
In a nutshell, a good mind with a positive attitude and some
good problem
solving skills will go far in solving any problem. Interest in and
commitment
to the problem are the keys. Motivation--a willingness to expend the
effort--is
more important than laboratory apparatus. And remember that you can
always
do something. Even if you cannot totally eradicate the problem from the
face of the earth, you can always do something to make the situation
better.
4. But I'm not creative.
Everyone is
creative to some extent.
Most people are capable of very high levels of creativity; just look at
young children when they play and imagine. The problem is that this
creativity
has been suppressed by education. All you need to do is let it come
back
to the surface. You will soon discover that you are surprisingly
creative.
5. That's childish.
In our effort to appear
always mature and
sophisticated, we often ridicule the creative, playful attitudes that
marked
our younger years. But if you solve a problem that saves your marriage
or gets you promoted or keeps your friend from suicide, do you care
whether
other people describe your route to the solution as "childish?"
Besides,
isn't play a lot of fun? Remember that sometimes people laugh when
something
is actually funny, but often they laugh when they lack the imagination
to understand the situation.
6. What will people think?
There is strong
social pressure to
conform and to be ordinary and not creative.
Here are some overheard examples:
Creative Person: "I like to put
water in my orange juice so
it's less sweet."
Ordinary Person: "You're weird, you know?"
Ordinary Person: "What are you
doing?"
Creative Person: "We're painting our
mailbox."
Ordinary Person: "You're crazy."
Creative Person: "Why don't we add
a little garlic?"
Ordinary Person: "Because the recipe
doesn't call for garlic."
Ordinary Person: "Why are you
going this way? It's longer."
Creative Person: "Because I like the drive."
Ordinary Person: "Did anyone ever tell you
you're strange?"
The constant emphasis we see in society is toward the
ruthlessly practical
and conformist. Even the wild fashions, from those in Vogue to punk
rock,
are narrowly defined, and to deviate from them is considered wrong or
ridiculous.
Some peoples' herd instinct is so strong that they make sheep look like
radical individualists.
So, what will people think? Well, they're already talking
about you,
saying that your nose is too big or your shoes are funny or you date
weird
people. So, since others are going to talk about you in unflattering
ways
anyway, you might as well relax and let your creativity and
individualism
flow.
Almost every famous contributor to the betterment of
civilization was
ridiculed and sometimes even jailed. Think about Galileo. And look what
happened to Jesus. Quotation: "Progress is made only by those
who are
strong enough to endure being laughed at." Solutions are
often new
ideas, and new ideas, being strange, are usually greeted with laughter,
contempt, or both. That's just a fact of life, so make up your mind not
to let it bother you. Ridicule should be viewed as a badge of real
innovative
thinking.
7. I might fail.
Thomas Edison, in his
search for the perfect
filament for the incandescent lamp, tried anything he could think of,
including
whiskers from a friend's beard. In all, he tried about 1800 things.
After
about 1000 attempts, someone asked him if he was frustrated at his lack
of success. He said something like, "I've gained a lot of knowledge--I
now know a thousand things that won't work."
Fear of failure is one of the major obstacles to creativity
and problem
solving. The cure is to change your attitude about failure. Failures
along
the way should be expected and accepted; they are simply learning tools
that help focus the way toward success. Not only is there nothing wrong
with failing, but failing is a sign of action and struggle and
attempt--much
better than inaction. The go-with-the- flow types may never fail, but
they
are essentially useless to humanity, nor can they ever enjoy the
feeling
of accomplishment that comes after a long struggle.
Suppose you let your fear of failure guide your risk taking
and your
attempts. You try only three things in a year because you are sure of
succeeding.
At the end of the year the score is: Successes 3, Failures 0. Now
suppose
the next year you don't worry about failing, so you try a hundred
things.
You fail at 70 of them. At the end of the year the score is Successes
30,
Failures 70. Which would you rather have--three successes or 30--ten
times
as many? And imagine what 70 failures will have taught you. Proverb: Mistakes
aren't fun, but they sure are educational.
