Are You a Manager or a Solver?

People are naturally pretty good at managing problems. However, when it comes to solving them, human beings fall quite short. We typically look to apply bandages or treat symptoms rather than finding an actual solution.

Let me clarify what I mean. Let’s say your car has an oil leak. Super frustrating. But it is a busy week, and you don’t have time to take it down to the shop, so you clean up the oil spot every few days and plan to get the leak fixed down the road at a “more convenient time.” Well, it is never really a “convenient time” to take the car into the shop and the problem persists. Soon, your oil levels are now running a little low, so you stop by the store to buy a couple quarts of oil. You top off the oil, clean up the oil spot in the garage and you are back in business.

Every few days you have to clean up the garage floor and every few weeks you have to add a quart or two of oil. It only takes a few minutes each time, but it is a never-ending process. In the moment, it is far more convenient to just add a little oil and wipe up the mess on the floor than it would be to arrange an appointment at your mechanic and borrow a friend’s car for a day so the problem can be fixed. However, in the long run, you will spend much more time managing the problem than it would have taken to fix it once and for all and be done with it.

It is like taking the time to teach a kid to tie her shoe. It might take twenty minutes of moderate frustration to show her how to do it. That’s a significant commitment. So instead, you spend 45 seconds multiple times a day tying her shoe for her. It saves time and stress, but only in the moment. You have only kicked the can down the road a few feet and will face it all over again soon and the cycle continues indefinitely.

Managed problems persist and we must drag them along with us. Unless we take the time to solve them, they become baggage we carry with us through life. And often these issues are far more serious than a small oil leak or your sophomore in high school asking you to tie her shoe (it’s okay, the ridicule she faces as a sophomore in high school makes her tougher – at least that’s what you tell yourself). They might be life-altering circumstances like important relationships and careers. We must seek to solve problems, not merely manage them.

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