I thought since the year is closing in, it would be good to spend one of the last work weeks focused on a deeper topic. One that just might help you as you’re closing in on your goals and establishing your big, bold and amazing 2018 plan! (We’ll get to that soon, too. I have some great content to share.)
In Tim Ferriss’s new book, Tribe of Mentors, he showcases a transcript of the same few questions he asked about 200 people that have inspired him in some way. His question was: “What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you have ever made?”
One of the stand-out answers for me was from Brené Brown who said, “PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION.”
That resonated because I like to move straight to the ACTION part of solving a problem. In fact, her comment was that “most of us are plagued with action bias and really struggle to stay in the problem identification part… ” The idea that getting clear and digging deep into what the root is would be pretty helpful, don’t you think? Here’s where my mind went:
When someone I love is struggling, it is easy to assume the problem is something obvious (their significant other, work, school, etc.). For the most part, it’s a combination.
When you can’t seem to work through a project at work easily, is it because you haven’t asked the “right” questions and haven’t been engaging your mind to next-level thinking?
When I’m even in “innovation” mode and ready to conquer the world with ideas for my clients, do I even know what their real problems are? What research can I do to dive deeper?
When I can’t seem to sleep, could it be because of something not immediately clear?
Answering what’s not so obvious seems like the perfect place to go when problem solving. Being more thoughtful, spending more time in research, asking better questions… yes please.
I’d love to know if this resonates with you!