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April 8, 2008

Problem Solving Methods ... Problem Solving Defined

Oddly enough, problem solving methods should always begin with an appreciation of the value of problems.

Yeah, yeah, I know that's an unorthodox idea. But is it just possible that are problems are, or at least, can be ... valuable? Gasp! What heresy, right?

Consider this report from Bob Cooley. He was walking with his girlfriend when both of them were hit by a car that was decelerating from 70 MPH. The girl was killed and he was thrown a long way through the air and landed on the concrete. He spent the next two decades in often-agonizing pain. This is what he writes ...

"Who would imagine that your particular problems could be the very guides to your success? That your problems literally light the way, like lampposts along a walkway, and that without this light you wouldn't be able to find your unique way. All the people I've met who are unbelievably successful also used their unique personal problems to develop themselves more fully, to repair and reinvent themselves, to become much more accomplished, vibrant and alive."

It would be pushing it, I'm sure, to say that Bob was 'grateful' for what happened to him. Yet he used this awful situation to develop himself in ways that have made him a world-famous teacher and author who has helped huge numbers of people. Talk about making lemonade from lemons! Way to go, Bob.

Problem solving defined: a problem lead Bob in a direction he almost surely would never have anticipated.

Posted by SydneyJohnston at April 8, 2008 2:34 PM

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