There Are Always New Ways To Look At Old Problems

Confront your problems by looking at them differently

You probably remember as a child looking at picture puzzles or brain teasers in a book or magazine. I remember one particular puzzle that showed a picture of a large tree covered with leaves. There didn’t seem to be anything unique or extraordinary about it, but when I read the caption below the picture, it encouraged me to find the pictures of eight presidents within the leaves of the tree. All of a sudden, what had seemed like an ordinary picture of a tree turned into a picture that clearly displayed former presidents of the United States.
 

As a child, it seemed like magic to me, but I realized that the presidents had been on display within the picture of the tree all along. Nothing changed about the picture, but what changed was how I was looking at it. Opportunities come to us disguised as problems. Solving problems is often simply a matter of looking at an old challenge in a new way.
 
Let’s say you were going to host a major tennis tournament, and there were 110 world-class tennis stars who would be playing in your event. How many matches would you have to schedule before the champion of your tournament emerged?
 
I will admit when I first heard this question, I began—as you probably did—to mentally divide all the players into brackets, immediately realizing odd numbers were emerging, and getting totally bogged down in frustration as I was unable to determine how many tennis matches would be needed.
 
Then I was encouraged to consider the same question posed in a different way. How many matches must I have before all players were eliminated, except for the champion of my tennis tournament? What had seemed like an overwhelming quandary before suddenly became a simple matter to me of determining that I would need to schedule 109 matches to eliminate everyone but the champion.
 
There are always new ways to look at old problems. Often, you may need to consult with a trusted friend or valued colleague who can bring fresh eyes to an old puzzle.
 
As you go through your day today, confront your problems, by looking at them differently.
 
Today’s the day! 

Jim Stovall is the President of Narrative Television Network, as well as, a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift.  He is also a columnist and motivational speaker.   Follow @Stovallauthor