Solving Problems Can Get Messy

Avoiding problems can make them appear bigger than they are.

In life and business, there are going to be challenges that show up.

We can start by anticipating problems and figuring out how to overcome them before they happen.

That's smart and can help prevent problems from sneaking up on us.

But sometimes a surprise problem shows up that you couldn't prepare for.

How do you solve one of these problems?

From the messy middle.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Solving problems from the outside vs. the inside

Walking around the outside of a problem might give us some useful information.

But it’s often not enough.

It isn't until we're right in the middle, we've tried a few different approaches and maybe failed a few times, that we can come up with a real solution.

After we’ve gotten a look at the inside of the problem, taking a step back and talking to someone else to get perspective can also help.

Or going for a walk, taking a shower, or doing something unrelated to your problem for a while.

Sometimes journaling helps me with the mindset stuff that can hold back my “thinking outside the box” skills.

But you won't know what isn't working in your approach to solving it until you try.

Waiting can make a problem appear bigger

Sometimes avoiding a problem because we don't know how to fix it makes it appear bigger.

It builds up in your mind. 

The longer you avoid directly engaging with it, the worse it seems.

Then when you decide to dive in and figure it out, it's not nearly as bad as you expected.

My mundane example is a set of reclaimed 275-gallon totes that we wanted to turn into rain barrels.

These are big cubic plastic containers that previously stored cooking oil and molasses. We needed to clean them before we could use them to capture rainwater.

The barrels stayed next to our driveway for weeks before we had time to start the cleaning process.

Each time I walked by them, I felt anxious about what was waiting for me inside those barrels.

I knew they had been emptied, but not completely. 

When I finally decided to tackle the cleaning process, my first attempts didn't give me the results I expected.

These barrels were caked with sticky gunky stuff that blocked the outlet. 

Spraying them with water wasn't enough, and soap only helped a little.

It took a few different approaches, taking a break, and teaming up with my husband to come up with a better solution.

It got messy. 

It wasn't pretty and I got grumpy about my lack of progress.

But being in the middle of problem-solving still felt better than looking at these barrels and not feeling any momentum toward getting them clean.

Meeting a problem head-on helps you get momentum toward solving it.

Avoiding it prevents you from gaining momentum.

Problem-solving might get messy, but you can always take a shower.

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About Nathalie and the Momentum Memo

Nathalie Lussier is a writer, technologist, and regenerative farmer. Ten years ago she founded AccessAlly, a WordPress course and membership solution, which she recently exited.

She publishes The Momentum Memo which features nature analogies to make sense of the modern world of business and creativity.