The Decision Strategist

I received an interesting comment from Isabella at Change Therapy on Problem Restatement suggesting a focus less on the solution of a problem and more on the creation of what you want.

The Problem Cycle

The idea is that focusing on the problem tends not to resolve because you get stuck in a cycle. One of the things I struggle with on occasion is not being motivated at work, and the cycle works like this for me:

1. Problem is bad. I get bothered about my lack of motivation and pursue a variety of exercises to do some values clarification, identification of life goals, and set up structure to enable a better working attitude and environment.
2. Solution works, sort of. These things do help by refocusing my and reminding me why I like what I do.
3. Problem lessens. I’m more motivated and getting more done! Wow this planning and scheduling stuff really works.
4. Motivation to solve problem drops. Now that I’m back to motivated, I don’t actually need to take all that time and energy to write up plans and schedules and update my goals do I?
5. Problem gets worse. In a couple of weeks, I end up back where I was, feeling unhappy and unmotivated.

Come to think of it, for me this process also occurs with exercise.

Instead of focusing on the problem, she suggests focusing on what you want to create. In my struggling with motivation at work, the real problem is that sometimes the work I’m doing is repetitive and boring. By structuring and planning my life, I can artificially make it less boring for a little while, but the ultimate source of the problem is still there.

Forget About the Problem

What if instead of focusing on what I don’t have, I focused on what I want?

I want to make my work more creative, innovative and dynamic. I want it to be exciting. I sat down and thought about the kinds of things I can do to make my work better fit that picture, and this is what I came up with:

1. Eliminate repetitive tasks. I’ve already done a lot of this, but I can do a lot more. Sometimes a lot of my work happens in Excel, but while I’m a whiz at using formulas, I’ve never taken the time to learn to use macros. If I have to repeat the same thing over and over, a macro would definitely help.
2. Take part in creation and planning. While most projects are brought in by senior staff, Taking part in the creation and planning of projects gives me a sense of ownership and control that is motivating. Also, as a project leader the final product reflects on me as a person. Since I want to be known for doing quality work, that encourages me to be more productive also.
3. Delegate. We have a lot of work-study students here, but I rarely take advantage of the time they offer. Some of the less interesting parts of my work can be delegated to students and junior staff.

I’m optimistic about this new plan of attack, but I’m always optimistic when trying something new, so we’ll have to see how well it works out.

There is some reason to think that this kind of focus will be more useful. First, by focusing on the problem we enhance our confirmation bias and our concept of the status quo, which leads to the problem sticking around. By focusing on what we are trying to create, we turn our mental energy toward that, and that becomes the new status quo.

Happy Friday!

-zot

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