“Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.”
Denis Waitley
It is amazing how much time and energy is spent talking about (whining about) a problem as opposed to what needs to be done to address it. Either focus on the solution or let it go. Whining is a waste of time…
“Don’t bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.”
Colin Powell
I am sure that we all know the type of person that seems to have nothing but problems and somehow always wants to bring them to someone else to be solved. It can be exhausting to work with or be around people that are like this. They are only focused on the problem and how it is someone else’s fault or responsibility and never on the solution and how they can take ownership.
What a refreshing difference it is with someone who owns it and finds a way to solve it themselves. Giving feedback is so much easier and more valuable when working with a person that is doing their very best to solve something. They have invested the time, effort and energy into the solution instead of shifting the responsibility to someone else.
What is the difference between these two types of people? The person on one end of the spectrum wants to make sure they have an out if things don’t go well or the solution wasn’t the right one. “It’s not my fault, they told me how to do it.” At the other end the person wants to own the solution and focuses their efforts on getting things done. “It might not be perfect but I am going to own finding the solution to this problem.”
Which end of this spectrum do you live on?
“Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems.”
Anthony J. D’Angelo
Being solution oriented is the antithesis of being excuse oriented. Think about people you know that are wired this way. What do they talk about? Their problems, not what they are going to do about it or how they are going to change things to solve the problem.
You have to understand the problem of course, but once you understand the only way to fix or change anything is to create action.
How much time and effort do you spend focused on the problem versus figuring out what you are going to do about it?