The word problem has roots in Old French, Latin, and Greek, where it meant a difficult question proposed for discussion or solution; a riddle; a scientific topic for investigation. The meaning of problem as a difficulty didn’t come along until the mid-15th Century, but that is its most common usage now.
I recently gave myself the exercise of listing problems in four categories: global, national, local, and personal. I had no problem coming up with items. And, of course, they’re problems, right? So they are all undesirable states of affairs. When I go down the list I can respond exactly the same way to each one: the desirable state of affairs would be elimination of the problem. It seems obvious.
The general view of a problem is that it is something negative. And the general view of a solution—something positive—is a state of affairs that is not that.
There are many reasons why so many earthly problems seem intractable. This attitude is just one of them, but it’s significant. And it’s one that we can recognize and do something about. The concept of ridding ourselves of problems, of being problem-free, is appealing. But remember that we have a brain that (1) has a negativity bias (it’s a threat detector) and (2) is designed to solve problems. In a way, we have a problem-seeking brain, which means we are not really wired to achieve problem-free nirvana.
Trying to Make It Go Away Usually Makes It Stay
When our focus of attention is on an unwanted, undesirable state of affairs with the aim of getting rid of it, we are in fixing mode. Fixing mode generates psychological tension—usually in the form of anxiety—which decreases when we take actions that appear to move us away from the problem.
But as our psychological tension decreases, so does our motivation for acting. The result is that we stop taking action and revert back to the behavior that led to the undesirable state of affairs in the first place. In some cases, we keep going backward and can end up in even worse straits. (This is true for us as individuals, as well as for groups of any size, whether the problem is complex or mechanical.) Fixing is not the same thing as solving—or inquiring.
Psychological tension drives us to eliminate our negative or unpleasant feelings—not in order to transform the situation, but in order to return it to the status quo. When we’re driven by psychological tension, we aren’t focused on identifying what we want or where we want to go; we’re focused on what we don’t want and where we don’t want to end up. But if we’re driven to eliminate an undesirable state of affairs by relieving psychological tension, we aren’t going to get very far away from our perceived problem.
It’s Better to Start by Slowing Down
Of course, identifying or defining a problem doesn’t solve it. However, it does frame it. And when we view problems as undesirable states of affairs that we want to eliminate, we assume we know what the solution ought to accomplish.
We operate based on all kinds of invisible assumptions, take things for granted, and instead of inquiring more deeply, skim the surface, going along with the part of our brain that not only jumps to conclusions, but also jumps to solutions.
What if we looked at our perception of problems itself as a question proposed for discussion or solution or as a scientific topic for investigation? If we have a brain that’s designed to solve problems, why not put some attention on the process of identifying the appropriate or actual problem before letting our brain jump to a solution?
As the Oxford Dictionary aptly puts it:
Half-cocked solutions often change things for the worse.