This Issue: Winners See Problems as Just Another Way to Prove Themselves

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.

-- Albert Einstein

Problems are a mind exercise. Problems can be learning opportunities. The way you describe a problem determines your ability to solve it. Some people play chess. They see it as a game. It's also an exercise in problem solving. Chess pros are passionate about strategy. The champion chess player Bobby Fischer, when asked about his technique, said, “I don’t believe in psychology. I believe in good moves.” He also boasted that he gave 98 percent of his mental energy to chess, while others gave only 2 percent. That explains his success. He enjoyed the challenge.

Maybe we’re not all chess champions, but we can still learn how to problem solve like the pros. There’s the old saying that if you don’t have problems, then you don’t have a job. Problems are an inevitable part of any endeavor. So it’s good to know how to deal with the inevitable. I know people who see a problem as a game to be won. I know people who see every problem as a burden, which just creates more problems.

We’ve all heard people talk about someone who has “a lot of baggage,” meaning they’re carrying around a lot of problems. That really isn’t necessary, especially in this age when traveling light is the goal. Try to avoid the gravitational pull of dispensable weight.

When I was doing the first season of The Apprentice, I had very little idea of how TV shows work, how networks operate, and how ratings are determined. Was this a problem? It could have been, but I saw it as an opportunity to learn something new. I was the new kid on the block, and it could have been daunting, but I decided to go for it. Had I known that 95 percent of all new television shows fail, I might have thought twice, but what I didn’t know worked for me. I just put all my concentration into what I was doing and, as problems surfaced, I dealt with them. Think how boring it would be if it were smooth sailing all the way. You can’t prove your merit on quiet waters, whether you’re a businessman or a mariner.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “It is a lesson which all history teaches wise men, to put trust in ideas, not circumstances.” In other words, focus on your goals, not your problems. If people waited for everything to be perfect before attempting anything, the world would be in a sorry state. Maybe I just like challenges, but I have to say that without a challenge, I would find the world a little flat. Maybe that’s one reason I like building skyscrapers.

As a builder, dealing with your problems head on will greatly reduce them. Be thorough and be meticulous. Don’t toss off your problems, and don’t dwell on them either. Deal with them! Who’s the boss, your problems, or you? Remember to focus on the solution, not the problem.

If Einstein turned his back on his problems, I doubt he would be as quotable as he is today. He admits to staying with problems for a long time--an indication of patience and perseverance. He thought about problems until he had them figured out. That’s a good way to go when it comes to just about anything. Maybe none of us are an Einstein, but we can learn from his approach. Work through the problem. Don't give up or walk away.

If you’ve got some problems today, that’s a good sign. It means you’re alive, for one thing. So make the most of your situation. I expect you to be making some good moves in the near future.

Picture this--you’re a freestyle aerialist in the Torino Olympic games. Your ski goggles are suctioned to your face, your spandex suit is feeling comfortable for the first time all year, and you’re ready to get some serious air. You are ready to show the world what four years of training can produce. You hit the ski jump at a blazing speed and are instantly launched 70 feet in the air. As you reach your maximum height you realize you have a major problem: your skis have detached from your boots and are continuing to head skyward as if powered by their own rockets.

Approximately four seconds remain before you meet face-to-face with the icy hard-packed base 70 feet below. Plastic boots and a spandex suit are all you have to cushion your fall. Great. What do you do? What would a winner do?

Jeff Bean of the Canadian Olympic Aerials team faced this very situation just a couple weeks ago. If you caught this stunning event, you would have witnessed a winner in action. Rather than lose his cool, flailing in the wind or plummeting to the icy ground below, the ski-less Jeff Bean had the mental power to continue into a full routine--triple twist, back flip assault with a 360 helicopter twirl--land on his feet and make his best effort to slide gracefully without skis to the bottom of the hill.

Having your skis detach from your boots midway through an Olympic event is something most of us would see as a problem--perhaps a catastrophe--but to Jeff Bean it was simply another opportunity to prove himself.

How is it that some people, in a split second, can transform immense problems into life changing opportunities? What do these people possess that others don’t?

Take a lesson from former New York City mayor and American hero, Rudy Giuliani. On season two of The Apprentice Mayor Giuliani shared powerful words of wisdom with team Mosaic on what helped him most in responding to 9/11.

He attributed his approach to his long-time role model Sir Winston Churchill. Although Churchill faced several challenges throughout his rise to become Britain’s Prime Minister, he always focused on the solutions to the problems rather than dwelling on the problems themselves. It was Churchill’s approach to problem-solving, to be solution-focused, that inspired Giuliani as mayor of New York City, and as a beacon of hope in the wake of 9/11.

Being able to quickly transform problems into opportunities isn’t a skill reserved for mentally tough Olympians or heroic leaders. It is a skill we are all capable of achieving. It is a skill that forms through habit and later crystallizes into a permanent mindset--the solution-focused mindset.

When my co-authors and I were researching the book The Power of Focus for College Students we found that the ability to be solution-focused was a fundamental determinant of student success. With a whirlwind of assignments, exams, and social pressures to face each week, it is no surprise that the students who get the best grades, land the best jobs, and become magnets for opportunity are the students who overcome the challenges of their environment. These are the students who have honed the solution-focused mindset.

Think of a problem you recently faced. What was your first reaction? Did you dwell on the problem or did you instantly seek a solution? Your first reaction to a problem is an indication of your current mindset.

The solution-focused mindset gives us the lens we need to see opportunities within the problem. Rather than holding us back, problems become the catalyst for growth and change. They indicate when we are heading in the wrong direction, steer us back on course, help us strengthen our character, identify areas we need to develop, ensure that we fully appreciate our successes, and give us the opportunity to prove ourselves to the world.

Problems are only problems when you allow them to be. Focus on the solution to problems--make it your mindset--and give yourself the winner’s edge.

Meeting the challenges problems present head on is a personality trait formed through habit. Some people develop the habit early in life, often through repetition to the point where the reaction is not even a conscious choice. Successful approaches to problem solving, though learned behaviors, are not necessarily the stuff of conscious thought. The learning may take place over a long period of time and is a function of environment--the sort of thing people have little control over early in life.

Author David Elkind, in his book The Hurried Child, describes what he calls "The invulnerables"--children who cope successfully with unusual stress. He says they exhibit these qualities (among others):

• Social competence. Invulnerables seem at ease with peers and adults and make others at ease with them.
• Independence. Invulnerables are independent and are not swayed by suggestion.
• Achievement. Invulnerables are producers. Many are exceptionally original and creative.
• Self-confidence. Such children have a sense of their own competence and ability to master stressful situations. Accordingly, they see problems as a challenge rather than as evidence of their incompetence.

"Invulnerable" children exhibit the fundamentals of happiness and success naturally. Though still developing, these children possess innate qualities that will lead them toward successful futures.

Individual consciousness is complex, and changing behavior patterns, even detrimental ones, is not an easy process. Still, understanding of what makes us tick, and developing a better way to approach other people and the world at large offers us a way to meet the challenge of dealing with the problems we face. The aim of professional and life coaching is to help you come up with solutions that hold you back from success.

"Character is destiny," Heraclitus said, and few character traits are as directly tied to success than the ability to see problems as challenges. The solution-oriented person is usually someone who also shows flexibility, spontaneity, and resourcefulness. Solution-oriented people don't allow seemingly intractable situations to paralyze or demoralize. They focus finding solutions and moving forward.

You won't always arrive at the perfect solution for each and every problem that comes your way, but if you’re able to approach each problem as a challenge to be overcome, you're already half way to the solution.