FROM INSIDE TO OUTSIDE PROBLEMS

Earlier this year I began making a new distinction, the distinction between a real problem and the problem-confusions. An interesting aspect of the Aha! moment about this is that it did not happen all of a sudden. It occurred as a slow emerging insight that actually took several weeks to fully emerge. For years I had known, and had taught, that a real problem is something inside the mind. Now while I ‘knew’ that, it wasn’t until this year that I began to fully follow the logic of that statement and what it actually implies.

What confused me, and how I kept myself confused, was by using the word ‘problem’ to refer to multiple things. A lot of that was in my automatic thinking as I called external conditions, symptoms, consequences, contributing factors and contexts ‘problems.’ Finally, by articulating that anything external to us is not, and cannot be, a problem, forced me to reconsider what shall we call those formerly external ‘problems?’ If they are not true problems, then what are they? What shall we call these ‘problems?’ I settled on calling them external conditions, difficulties, challenges, factors, and projects.

All of these words refer to conditions outside of ourselves. They refer to the world of events, situations, and experiences that exist and with which we have to deal. If we like them, there’s no problem. If we do not like them, and we want to change them and we don’t know how to change them, then, at the point, we have—in our minds—a problem. This defines what a real problem is. It is a gap in the mind. It is the gap that we don’t know how to bridge between putting up with something and changing it.

• If we want to change it, but don’t know how, then we suffer from the external condition and have to endur it. So we have a problem.

• If we want to change it and if we know how to solve it, we don’t have a problem. What do we have? We have a challenge, a difficulty, and/or a project to engage in.

An external ‘problem’ is only a problem if and when you do not know a solution. Isn’t that amazing!? Once you know a solution, there’s no problem. There are only difficulties or challenges or projects. Knowing what to do and how to do it is the solution to any and every problem. Isn’t that great?

Let’s return to the question, What is a real problem? Before answering, I want to bring in Abraham Maslow’s (1968) perspective. In the following quotation his perception is that of a psychologist looking at human or people problems from a developmental point of view.

“I could describe self-actualization as a development of personality which frees the person from the deficiency problems of youth, and from the neurotic (or infantile, or fantasy, or unnecessary or ‘unreal’) problems of life, so that he is able to face, endure, and grapple with the ‘real’ problems of life (the intrinsically and ultimately human problems, the unavoidable, the ‘existential’ problems to which there is no perfect solution. That is, it is not the absence of problems but a moving from transitional or unreal problems to real problems.” (p. 115)

Maslow’s uses a language which is different from my use. Here Maslow calls the personal problems we struggle with inside of ourselves as unreal and the external problems ‘out there’ externally in the world as the real problems. I’ve been using them in the exact opposite distinctions. In spite of that difference in usage, he distinguishes, as I do, that there are two realms. In the inner realm of the mind are the problems of the person—one’s thinking that creates difficulties. These include not understanding how to meet one’s basic needs (the deficiency challenges) and/or when really distorted even toxic meanings create neurosis.

Outside of that are the external challenges. Maslow calls these “the intrinsically and ultimately human problems, the unavoidable, the ‘existential’ problems to which there is no perfect solution.” Here, for example, are the unavoidable problems— the weather, conditions of the planet, earthquakes, atmosphere, sun, etc. Here are existential problems—why do good people suffer, why do bad people get by with horrible behavior, why do children sometimes die? Here are the problems that businesses, organizations, and governments struggle with—how to create more abundant energy for all, how to create more fairness and justice for all, how to create space travel, how to manage conflict between nations, etc.

The bottom line: We have two dimensions for problems—one inside, the other outside. Maslow’s point is that by cleaning up and solving the problems on the inside via enabling people to actualize their best self (unleash their full potentials), we can then focus our energy, intelligence, and attention on the external ‘problems.’

The point? It’s hard to deal with external difficulties, challenges, and projects when a person is messed up on the inside. We all know that one! First solve the gap in the mind about how to be your best self, get that resolved, then you can tap into the full potential of every person to solve all of the external problems.

That’s the ultimate goal of The 5-Minute Manager trainings. Just imagine the released energy and intelligence when people are doing what they enjoy doing at work, doing their best, caring about being a great team member, taking pride in a job well done and getting along gracefully with colleagues and leaders? If it’s true that “our best resource are our people” and that as an organization “we put people first,” then imagine the intellectual capital and creative capital that you can unleash!