You're Working Hard on the Wrong Problem

(Transcript edited for clarity.)

Hi, I'm Wes. Welcome to You're Working Hard on the Wrong Problem. Or, said another way: What if you're solving the wrong problem? This is Your Life Systems.

I'm glad you're with me today.

This is something I've had to learn over the years.

I don't know how many times I've been convinced I was solving the big problem, and then once I solved it, figured out, "Wow, that was the wrong problem," or, "Wow, I was working on the wrong problem the whole time."

I've also learned that sometimes solving the wrong problem is even worse than making a mistake.

When you work and focus on solving a problem and it ends up being the wrong problem, it takes you way off course.

It takes you farther away from your goals and farther away from the success you want.

So what if you're solving the wrong problem?

As usual, I'm going to open with a question you can keep in mind as we go through this:

Am I solving the real problem or only the symptoms I can see?

This reminds me of going to the doctor.

Sometimes the doctor asks questions and you're giving them the symptoms.

"This is happening. This is happening. This is happening."

The doctor's job, or at least it's supposed to be, is to use the symptoms to drill down and find the real problem.

Then whatever the doctor tells you to do, does, or prescribes deals with the real problem instead of just the symptoms.

Just like a health issue, in business or life, if you keep solving the symptoms but never solve the base problem, the symptoms are probably going to keep coming back.

That's why this is so important.

Any time you're working on creating more success or making your business make more money, you need to solve the right problems.

You can work hard and still make no progress at all if you're solving the wrong problems.

I don't know how many times I've done that.

It seems like a hundred times.

It probably hasn't been that many, but it feels like it.

I've solved a problem I thought was the problem, then found out it wasn't the real problem.

I've wasted time, energy, money, and resources before finding what the real problem was.

The visible problem is often the easiest thing to attack.

You see a problem and think, "I've got to solve that."

But sometimes you're solving the visible problem, which is only a symptom and not the real problem.

Sometimes the visible problem is only a symptom of the bigger problem underneath it.

Hard work in the wrong direction wastes time and energy.

It feels good to solve problems, but it feels bad if you waste a lot of time and energy solving a problem and then find out it wasn't the real problem.

Just like solving symptoms medically, sometimes temporary fixes can make a problem look solved without actually changing what causes it.

Let's say you're sick and have a bad cough.

You keep taking cough syrup, and the cough syrup helps for a couple of hours.

Then the cough comes right back.

You take more cough syrup and keep doing this.

The point is that the cough syrup isn't helping the real problem.

You might have pneumonia or bronchitis or something else, and the cough syrup only helps the symptom.

It doesn't help the underlying problem.

You're probably going to have to go to the doctor and get an antibiotic, prescription, or whatever is appropriate to solve the underlying problem.

You can keep taking cough syrup over and over again, but it doesn't solve the underlying problem.

So what are you struggling with right now in your life or business that you might only be solving as a symptom instead of addressing the underlying problem?

Take a few moments and think about that.

Identify what you're working on that might not be the underlying problem.

First, you have to identify that you might be working on the wrong problem.

Then you've got to spend some time digging deeper and looking into the problem to figure out whether it is the real problem.

Here's an example from my life.

Earlier in life, I really thought staying motivated was the issue.

I'd start strong on a project and work on it.

Then the motivation would start going away, and my progress would start dropping off.

I thought, "The problem is that I don't know how to stay motivated long enough."

It took me a long time to figure this out because I struggled with the motivation issue for years.

Then I finally figured out motivation wasn't the problem.

The problem was that I hadn't created the systems I needed so that motivation wasn't important.

You still need motivation to get started.

I still use motivation.

I still need motivation to get started on big projects, big goals, and things like that.

But what I found was that motivation is not something that would carry me all the way through a long project, whether it lasted a month, a year, or five years.

No matter how big the project was or how excited I was about it, the motivation wouldn't last.

Motivation could not last for months and years.

The problem wasn't motivation.

The problem was that I hadn't created the correct systems and frameworks to support what I was working toward whether motivation was there or not.

That's why I've built most of the systems I use in my life.

I need frameworks and systems I can use consistently to keep working on the important things and making progress on important goals whether I'm motivated or not.

Here's the best thing about it.

When I was motivated, those systems worked even better.

But on the days when I wasn't very motivated, all I had to do was follow the systems or framework.

I didn't have to worry about motivation anymore.

That might sound simple, but it was a huge turning point in my life as far as chasing success, business, and things like that.

I stopped relying on motivation.

I thought I had a motivation problem, so I attacked it.

I read books.

I listened to seminars.

I tried meditation.

I tried writing things down.

I tried everything I could think of.

I don't know how many books and articles I read about motivation.

I invested a lot of time in solving the motivation problem, only to eventually figure out I was not solving the right problem.

The problem wasn't lack of motivation.

The problem was lack of systems and frameworks.

Before searching for a solution to any problem, define the problem.

If you can, write it in one sentence.

Try to condense the problem to one sentence.

Ask: Why does this problem keep happening, or why is it happening?

Then dig down further and ask: What other things in my life or business could be creating this problem?

What problem could this be a symptom of?

Only after you dig all the way down and are pretty sure you're working on the root cause or the main problem should you start attacking the problem.

You need to separate the individual symptoms from the condition creating them.

If the same solution keeps failing, think about the cough syrup and the cough that keeps coming back.

Reconsider the problem before trying harder.

What did I do with motivation?

I kept thinking, "I've got to work harder. I've got to become more motivated. I've got to find a motivational trick."

I kept trying harder, but I didn't make much progress until I recognized that I was dealing with the wrong problem.

Here's something else that's helped me over the years.

Get an outside perspective when you've become too close to a problem.

How do you know when you've become too close?

A good clue is that you keep solving a problem and it doesn't turn out to be the real problem.

That might mean you're too close to it.

You might be able to get an outside perspective from someone you trust or someone who's been through something similar before.

I've mentioned this in other episodes: something that really helps me is finding someone about half my age and sharing the problem with them.

They usually have a different thought process or a different way of looking at things than I do.

Sometimes they'll see something I'm too close to see.

The other thing I've found is that because I'm a business person and entrepreneur, sometimes I'll find someone who has no entrepreneurial experience or desire at all and talk to them about the problem.

They look at things differently from the way I do.

Sometimes they'll say, "Why do you do this?" or, "Why didn't you do this?"

It's like a strike of lightning.

I think, "Wow, how did I not see that?"

That's an example of being too close to the problem.

You need to slow down long enough to make sure you're working on the thing that actually needs to change.

Often, a better solution starts with a better definition of the problem.

Again, you might be working hard on the wrong problem.

What was the question I started with?

Am I solving the real problem, or only the symptoms I see?

The more you can focus on drilling down, recognizing what the real problem is, and distinguishing between symptoms and the real problem, the quicker you can make progress toward the most important things and the most important problems in your life.

This is Your Life Systems.

Please like and subscribe.

I'll see you on the next episode.

What's Next?

·        Write the problem you're trying to solve in one sentence.

·        List the visible symptoms separately from the underlying issue you suspect.

·        Ask why the problem keeps happening.

·        Identify what else in your life, business, or system could be creating the symptom.

·        If the same solution keeps failing, reconsider the problem before trying harder.

·        Ask someone with a different perspective what they think you're missing.

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