WHAT’S  THE  REAL  PROBLEM?

These questions and experiments are excerpted from Megan Johntz’s workshop on Creative Problem Solving. For more information on the full workshop, contact Megan at 314.378.3384 or by email at Megan@PsychToolBox.com.

            Often we solve problems only to find they come up again next week. At the end of life, people see fairly clearly what the real, underlying issues were, but when you’re 35 sometimes it’s difficult to see. Through a series of question and experiments, you can dig in and determine what the main issue is. Tackle that, and you’re likely to finish the issue -- actually solve the problem. In my private practice, I’ve seen hundreds of people who have been hunting down the wrong animal for years. Frustration, anger, sadness, feeling like they’re ineffective, they fall on my couch and ask, ‘Why isn’t it working?’ Taking a step back, asking what the real goal is, and finding the true problem, is the first step. Let’s take a look at some simple questions that can lead you to hunt the right animal.

            Ask yourself these questions. It also helps to write it down, even carrying that journal with you during the day, because realizations arrive at the strangest of times.

• What do I want to be when I grow up?

• You schedule an interview with God. What does The Big Guy say your purpose is in your job? in your family? in your community? Why are you here now?

• What was that experiment like for you?

• What was the first answer that popped in your head?

• How much time during your typical day do you spend on this primary goal/purpose?

• How do you get in the way of your own brain and neglect to see the  goal attained?                

• How does the chatter in your head sabotage your goal?

• How do you box yourself in? With that in mind, how can you temporarily alter restrictions to see more clearly?

• How do you get stuck in achieving the goals you've set for yourself?

• What benefits do I obtain by focusing on side issues? (Spend some time here, because there are usually quite a few.)

• What situation in life has forced you to solve problems creatively, use your resources, and examine your goals closely ?

• So now, what's the Real Problem? We often try to straighten chairs on the Titanic - solving the wrong problem. This leads to a reoccurrence of the problem, increase of other problems associated with not fixing it right the first time, lost time, energy, and definitely increased frustration. Through creative problem solving, your goal setting is more on target.

Experiment:

(see if the goals you set, lock you into the solution you get.)

You are waiting for a bus, and once again you realize you don't have the correct change. What is the problem?

• how are you going to get the exact change before the bus arrives

• what can you do after you get on the bus without correct change

• how can you get there another way

• how can you make this trip later

• how can you prevent this from happening again

•  why do you procrastinate getting change made

What is the true goal?

• obtaining exact change before the bus arrives

•  obtaining change after you get on the bus

• getting to your destination another way

• making this trip later

• preventing this from happening again

•  learning how not to procrastinate

            If I have the goal of getting correct change before the bus arrives, I walk into a flower shop nearby and make change. What if the more beneficial goal was to learn how not to procrastinate? I have simply put a Band-Aid on the problem by not examining my goals closely enough to know the real problem, thereby coming up with a long-term solution.

            Ask yourself this question frequently: If I were not worrying about __________, what would issue would I have to face? For example, if I weren’t mad about him not taking the garbage out, what would I be mad at? Or, if I look behind the problem, what causal problem do I find? This question asks you to step back and analyze if you're working on the right goal instead of wasting time on side issues, and realizing when you’re 80 what issue really needed to be addressed.

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