An Undeniable Force: The Handbook for Solving Problems

Uncommon courage is often challenging to recognize for the virtue it is. Those that display it aren’t thinking about that reflection at all – principles, ethics and morals consume them. What appears to be courage to the casual observer is, in fact, an undeniable internal force for the one in the ring.

Few are aware of their principles, values and virtues. They tell me that they haven’t had time to sort them out. That’s okay because their procrastination doesn’t hinder the keen listener and observer. They may not have taken the time to reflect on their choices and actions and what they mean, but that doesn’t stop you from doing so.

Listen, for their choice of words is as revealing as what they choose to talk about. Idle comments indicate where someone tends to focus and what they tend to seek. Listen, and people will tell you far in advance how they will hurt you. Ignore their warnings at your peril.

Hearing through the Noise

The only way to achieve uncommon courage is to do this work of discerning the facts for yourself. Only then can you make a decision and feel surety and confidence in the conclusion you form. With that clarity in your mind, you set your direction, and don’t be surprised when it is bold, brave, and remarkable.

People tell you all kinds of things with their words. Then, they demonstrate various things through their actions. Harmony is achieved when the two are aligned, but expect discrepancies. The words reveal ideals, while the actions reveal reality. If time shows that this person is working on bringing these two together, then you have an adult who is into self-parenting.

However, if there is no personal growth, then believe the actions and disregard the words. Some people strive to be merely entertainment to others, and you can take what’s on offer. I’m with P!nk, who sings, “I’m not here for your entertainment.” I’m not here to be taken advantage of by anyone in any way.

Applying the Statistics

According to science, people claim to have 17 friends. Out of these friends, only three are the ‘friends for life’ kind, leaving the remaining 14 to be the kind of ‘friend’ you hold on to because they help your career, finances, or social life. With these statistics, it means that over 80% of relationships are based on using people, and it may not be fair, equal or mutual.

To become aware of the exchange in your relationships and to properly account for how people treat you is the first step. You cannot be courageous when people are operating you like a marionette.

First, the clutter must be cleared. In business and processes, we streamline things first because it’s simple housekeeping. You can’t see the big picture because there is too much waste and confusion. Perhaps you are intentionally avoiding seeing the big picture, and the clutter is part of your strategy. No worries, you can change your game as soon as you realize why you are playing it.

Playing the Game

We all play games. The corporation is playing the profit game, your manager is playing the reputation game, and your colleagues are playing the credit game.

Everyone is vying for something, and desperate people do desperate things. It takes uncommon courage to invest your money instead of spending it on all the things that might get you ahead, that might distract you from your current source of discomfort, or relieve you of your present thought or feeling.

To invest is to solve problems. Your nest egg of investments alleviates financial desperation, and you can access options like better education, a better location, or a better mindset to improve your situation instead of leaving or accepting it.

Wherever you are, whatever frustration you’re facing, there are things you can do to improve it. Yet, it’s easier to expect this to pass, even if it doesn’t. It’s more obvious to cope by finding ways to balance out the undesirables, whether they are people or situations.

Solutions of balance like this are unsustainable. It’s the global economy that is asking workers to put up with crappy conditions, unethical actions and immoral requests or we’ll take your job and give it to someone who has lower demands, who is more agreeable to being exploited.

Exploitation isn’t limited to the fashion industry and the garment makers who live in conditions that should be described as inhospitable and work in conditions that should be illegal. Yet, that’s what makes fast fashion affordable. Perhaps it should not be cheap.

It’s in the automobile industry as I can’t find anything I want to buy. I don’t want to purchase technology; I don’t want to buy a robot on wheels. I want to drive, and I prefer the most basic vehicle; yet, the industry exists to support the pensions of workers who perform a repetitive job every day.

As a taxpayer, I’d instead support farmers over auto workers because farmers do the hard work, take on the risks, make the investments, and show up regardless of the weather. Perhaps the industry should decline, making way for simple, lightweight gasoline-powered cars and trucks.

It’s happening as businesses demand that employees submit to tracking software. It’s happening as you brag to me about the cheap tee shirt you bought at Joe Fresh, while the poor woman who made it can’t afford the meager price tag. It’s in your job and your industry, and it’s too familiar and easy to throw up your hands and decide that it’s obedience or anarchy, and the latter doesn’t pay the bills.

Accepting the Dilemma

To me, I can hear the difference between a justification and a genuine dilemma. The dilemma is that you see the only solution to the problem as either this or that. You’ve got a binary perspective on the world, and that won’t help you. It’s a multidimensional world, and therefore, there are solutions that you may not have considered.

It’s uncommon courage to stop and consider a third option. If A isn’t working and B is worse, then your tough decision isn’t figuring out how to make peace with an inadequate solution; it is tapping into your creativity and problem-solving skills for a new and better option.

Individually, lacking the creativity to see and sell a better option is where courage dies. Without a new idea, you have nothing but bitter complaints, and no one wants to hear them. Right? Wrong. I was that person who wanted to hear, organizationally. It was my job, but it was also my passion – generating profits while helping people out of misery.

Without exception, in every situation, the length of this list was both stunning and insightful. Too many leaders attempt to silence this stream of information because they see it as a black mark on their performance report card. Right there, it’s a sign that a division exists between labor and management, and it’s a division that will always cause harm.

Competing to Lose

We are just doing our jobs. What a shocking statement for a wealthy country in the developed world. They say that we are afraid that the machines will take over, and they already have. The machine is the economy.

The people who do things that harm the planet, the progress we’ve made, and then go home, cuddle their families, and act like they did the right thing. The economy is driving more people to prioritize their interests and immediate responsibilities, and this short-term, narrow focus is likely to manifest in a diverse array of problems.

There are so many problems to solve, yet there are so few problem solvers. Too many people settle for coping and surviving, yet no one, indeed, does. No one gets out alive.

Working for Progress

Courage is doing your job, paying your bills, and giving more to society than you take from it.

Uncommon courage is taking action with your skills, uniqueness, and life that reflects your principles, values, and virtues. It’s working towards progress instead of accepting and settling for the status quo.

It’s about having the care to notice that something needs to be done, learning why it’s the way it is, and dismantling the problem before you arrive at a genuine solution. Not demanding change and protesting what is, but working to make progress happen and doing the hard work of creating something new and better. Not just noise, if making noise is part of the work. It’s doing it right that matters.

Perhaps you only need a set of tools and steps to guide you through the streamlining, problem-solving, and innovation processes that are not yet familiar to you. Why wait any longer? Download the handbook now and tap into the inner superhero that you thought only you knew you had. (I knew you had it in you, too.)

Peace isn’t something you demand; it’s something you create. It takes work, not authority.

Work used to be measured by sweat and sacrifice. I could tell you were working hard because you were dirty and disheveled. When that work is knowledge work, this measure falls out of the window; yet, there are still accountants trying to convince me they are working hard because their hair is a mess and they’ve been in meetings all day. To this, I say, so what?

Hard work when you use your intelligence for a living is not physical; it is mental. There’s no app that can distinguish between those who are working hard and those who are merely clicking the mouse, although your management reports may not be aware of the distinction.

Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to figure out what really matters, how to extract reliable and relevant data, and how to assemble those pieces in a new way that leads to improvement, no matter how you are measuring, spinning, or selling the story. It’s not impossible; it’s merely uncommon. Download your copy of Solving Problems now.