Flat Tire Solutions

This weekend, my son reminded me of an experience he had more than a decade ago that teaches a valuable lesson.

More than a decade ago, Bryan was driving a van that pulled a trailer for the volunteer organization he was working for when a tire on the trailer blew out. He pulled off the highway and found that he was missing two important elements to help him solve this problem – a spare tire and a lug wrench.

This was pre-smart phones, so he didn’t have an interactive map of the Internet in his hand to give him any information. He called the main office to get some ideas on what to do. He was about a mile away from the nearest town.

They brainstormed different strategies and decided the best bet was to walk to the town, find a place to get a lug wrench and see if he could find another tire. Of course, then he had the problem of getting back to the vehicle to make the repair.?

A co-worker walked in on the conversation and asked what was wrong. After hearing the explanation of situation, she said, “Why not just unhitch the trailer from the van and drive into town to get the wrench and tire?”

Duh!?

But did you think of that?

It’s surprising how many times Bryan tells that story and people don’t come up with that solution until after he reveals it. In fact, when I overheard Bryan telling this story again this weekend, I found myself thinking, “I know there’s an easy solution, but I can’t remember what it was.”

A couple of points to remember. If you’re stuck in a problem that doesn’t seem to have a solution, ask around. Get a fresh set of eyes on the problem. This is particularly helpful when a group is stuck on one solution.

That leads to my second point. There’s almost always more than one way to solve a problem. The first solution you come up with may be the best, but considering other options can give you confidence in the solution you select, even if you go back to your first choice. And who knows, you may find a better way.

When faced with a unique challenge, unhitch yourself from ideas that may be holding you back. Otherwise, you may find yourself walking a long road to the solution.

Mark Carpenter helps people who want to improve the impact of their messages by improving their ability to convey powerful experiences as stories. He is a consultant, facilitator, coach, and co-author of the best-selling book "Master Storytelling: How to Turn Your Experiences Into Stories that Teach, Lead, and Inspire." www.master-storytelling.com