Focusing on the problem, focusing on the solution

Hello everyone,

I received this in my email box today... it's funny but highlights what can happen when you focus on the wrong thing.

The Difference Between Focus on Problems and Focus on Solutions:
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing surface). In order to solve this problem, they hired Andersen Consulting(Accenture today). It took them one decade and 12 million dollars. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, under water, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

The Russians used a pencil ...

Question: What do you focus on?

Have a great day!

Brian

> The Russians used a pencil ...

I get your "point" ;)

Like the gal who was crying because she couldn't get in her car because the battery was dead in the remote keyless entry thingy. She handed the thingy and her key ring to the security guard who then unlocked her car with the key and suggested she drive her car to the battery store.

JDB




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......because the American scientists looked beyond the obvious solution, they created a new technology which can be used for many applications.

But the pencil story is a great story. Helps to remind us that sometimes we get bogged down with trying to get the job done perfectly and just need to get on with the business of getting the job done. :)

Hi Brian,

Thanks, great story! What it signifies to me is that often solutions can be simple and "right under your nose" but sometimes you just don't see them.

How this relates to business is that business is full of problems which you have to solve. However many people just think about the problems and can't see the solutions. This then becomes their "excuse" not to start.

I have a friend who says he wants to be in business - but he keeps giving me "excuses" why he can't succeed. No matter what I suggest there's always some excuse why it won't work for him (before he's even tried it).

It doesn't matter to him that it's worked for me and for many others - there's always some reason why for him it will fail. Of course in my opinion the failure is mostly in his attitude...

No matter what, he won't try to do things - because he's already decided it's going to fail anyway, so why bother. This relates to problem-solving because he just sees the problems and doesn't see the solutions.

The people who tend to succeed are those who either see the solutions - Or, if they don't see the solutions, they try to find them. Only if, after trying, they really don't see any solutions do they move on to the next idea. But they don't let the first problem they come across stump them and stop them from achieving what they want to achieve - without at least TRYING to solve it first!

Thanks - it was a great story - with a good lesson "hidden" in it too :)

- Dien Rice

>...this is certainly one of the more harmless.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.htm

Hello everyone,

> I received this in my email box today...
> it's funny but highlights what can happen
> when you focus on the wrong thing.

> The Difference Between Focus on Problems and
> Focus on Solutions:
> When NASA began the launch of astronauts
> into space, they found out that the pens
> wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't
> flow down to the writing surface). In order
> to solve this problem, they hired Andersen
> Consulting(Accenture today). It took them
> one decade and 12 million dollars. They
> developed a pen that worked at zero gravity,
> upside down, under water, in practically any
> surface including crystal and in a
> temperature range from below freezing to
> over 300 degrees C.

> The Russians used a pencil ...

> Question: What do you focus on?

> Have a great day!

> Brian

Hi Ken,

The "Snopes" site is a great site.... :)

Here's one which someone sent me recently.... And it's true! It's about the guy who got himself a lifetime of flying due to - chocolate pudding! (Link below.)

- Dien


A lifetime of free air travel thanks to chocolate pudding

Reminds me of a commercial I saw earlier today while watching D-Back/Cubs game. It was about opportunity is always there, as long as you know where to look.

It showed a little girl playing in the sand at the beach. As she was building a sand castle, she unburied and then buried a $54,000 diamond ring, unknowingly of course. The commercial ended when another lady came along and placed her beach bag on top of the ring, leaving it once again unnoticed.

Go D-Backs!

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

I agree that opportunities are all around us.... But we have to "train" ourselvers to see them....

I see entrepreneurial skills as being a bit like jungle survival skills.... Except they are "urban jungle" survival skills!

Just as if you were lost in the jungle, to survive you would need to know how to find food to eat.... In the "urban jungle" it's the same, but you need to be able to spot money-making opportunities!

I think the best way to start learning how to spot these opportunities is to just "do it".... Start doing "something" - even something as simple as buying a few little items, and selling them on eBay. Once you start, as you get more experienced, you start to see more and more opportunities....

(A subscription to The Great Ideas Letter also helps too !)

Thanks for your comments Dennis! :)

- Dien Rice

Dien,

I couldn't agree more. Just Do It.

I used to think that I could just wait for the perfect opportunity and act on it once it came. I finally realized that I was actually watching them pass on by. Once I realized that, I was able to Just Do It.

In the jungle, it is a matter of Survival of the Fittest. In a sense, it is the same in the urban jungle.

Dennis


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Ken - ya know I did have my reservations about the accuracy of the story. But it was too good not to share. Thanks for the link.

Brian

>
> http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.htm
> Hello everyone,