Andy's Axioms- There are multiple right answers.

This may be a start to a series of articles I've been wanting to write. Hey...maybe this is the start of a series of books!

Let's get right too it. You've probably had to deal with people that think that their way is the best and only way to approach or think about a problem. I'm here to tell you...those people are wrong. That may sound a bit harsh. But, the universe is simply too large for there to exist only one solution to any given problem. There are always trade-offs in any selection criteria. And, simply put, those trade-offs have an arbitrary scale of value associated with them. It's kind of like the good old "Golden Rule". He who has the gold...rules. Hence, the arbitrary nature of assigning values to ideas and opinions.

There have been many times where I have felt that my own solution to the problem was the best solution. But, while working with others, one has to keep in mind there are actually multiple problems at play at any given moment. It may look like you're solving some technical problem like, for instance, how to best route a series of hydraulic lines through a machine. But, in reality...( Damn...I hate reality), if you're working with other living breathing human beings, you have to take ALL of the problems in play into consideration simultaneously. Each problem will come with its own set of temporal considerations. One issue may need an immediate solution. Another item may have longer-term ramifications. And if you're working with another person...there are always long-term implications to how you are interacting with them.

So, are you really just solving the problem at hand? When you're instructing your child how to mow the lawn for the first time (something a lot of us can relate to), does the pattern in which the grass is cut or the straightness of the rows matter in the grand scheme of things? Because, clearly, there are farther reaching implications to your reactions and critiques than just the aesthetic of your yard. It's easier to see in that situation that it might be better, on the whole, to accept that building up the person cutting your grass is more important than that one single cutting that will have to be repeated in a week or less anyway. Perfectly straight lines may "feel" like the goal at hand...but you're missing the big picture if you destroy the person trying to help you in an attempt to achieve your picture of perfection.

This analogy, of course, extends to the workplace. If someone is making a new office form for you or setting up a marketing campaign, there are always multiple right answers. Remember, you're actually solving more than one problem at a time. Yes, you need the marking campaign to be spectacular. But, you also need to solve the problem of how to make sure the next campaign is just as professional. In managing any person, you are cultivating their heart and attitude for the next interaction you have with them. Treating a Sherpa like a pack mule will not get you to the top of the mountain. If by some crazy luck it does, doing so will not get you there more than once.

The game of chess is a good visual example of the need to solve multiple problems at the same time. If you worry exclusively about your knight, you are probably missing the bigger picture of what is going on in the rest of the game. Failure to take into consideration all of the pieces and all of their possible moves will result in a quick ending to a chess match. Now, please don't extend that analogy to treating people like pawns. People are not your pawns. (And if you consider people to be just problems...that's just a sad state of existence) The picture here is that when working with others, you are cultivating every subsequent interaction with them.

My most recent experience with this has to do with some help I've had by a young man who is putting in some laminate flooring in my house. As an engineer, I can be super critical.(We're kind of like that, sorry.) But, if I want the guy to come back and help me the next day, it really doesn't benefit either of us for me to be prick towards him. I have to accept that he will not do things exactly the way I would do them. In some instances, since I'm colorblind and we're dealing with variegated patterns on planks, his decisions are naturally better than mine. In other cases, like staggering the joints of the boards, his choice to not stagger them is probably a poorer choice than to my preference of staggering them (as is typical and traditional). As you can see though, there are multiple problems to balance. And being too demanding in one instance will only leave me in the unenviable position of putting the floor together all by myself. Interestingly...this becomes a great example of where a team is better than an individual. (In some respects, we're all "colorblind" in one way or another. But, I'll save that for another post)

I hope that some of this gives the reader a bit of pause to consider if there really is only one way to approach a problem. And, if the only right solution always seems to be the solution you're offering...you may be a bit "colorblind" to the other problems going on around you at the same time. It may feel good at the moment to hand someone your wisdom and dismiss their own ideas of how to solve an issue. But, unless they're designing o-rings on space shuttles, there is probably even deeper wisdom to be found in examining if in fact, your brilliant idea is the best solution to the immediate dilemma in the long run...considering you will have to work with that person again and again.

If you're taking selfies by yourself on top of the mountain because your team is broken and bloodied and huddled in tents in the base camp, what have you really achieved? And, if you don't feel compassion for that team, you are probably suffering from some personality disorder or such (another good topic to explore later).

Take your team with you to the top of the mountain by accepting there are many correct ways to solve a problem...and by recognizing that no single problem exists in a vacuum by itself.

(Feel free to to point out the irony of the article's title %^ . There may have been better choices