The Opportunity Perspective

My 10-year old doesn’t love homework (I’m sure he’s not alone). This year, he’s had quite a bit of it and it has created some new challenges for him. Remembering to write down all of his assignments, getting his work back to school to turn in on time - these are not necessarily tasks that come naturally to my energetic, curious, somewhat disorganized, ‘always-have-a-million-things-on-my-mind’ kiddo. And I have to admit, our family’s perspective on this issue for a long time is that this was a PROBLEM that needed to be solved. The problem felt heavy and difficult and I saw my son getting discouraged as some of his attempts to make progress fell short. I knew we had to take a different approach.

It’s hard to watch others struggle or see a situation where things aren’t working as well as they should - at these times, it’s natural for us to go into “problem-solving” mode. And when our approach works, this can feel great! But what happens when the problems in front of us are large and complex, and our attempts to “fix it” aren’t working?

Think about issues that arise at work - recurring customer concerns, technology limitations, stalemates on key decisions. We often spend countless hours tackling these issues with various problem-solving attempts and, although perhaps we may gain short-term wins, it is not uncommon to see the same challenges arise again. This can be exhausting and leave us feeling defeated. So how can we affect change in our outcomes, and increase our energy and motivation along the way?

The answer lies in our perspective, and changing our tendency to see the challenge before us as a PROBLEM when it could be viewed another way. The very definition of a “problem” presupposes that the situation is unwelcome and is difficult to overcome. This belief creates a diminished optimism and a negative perspective from the outset.

In regards to my son’s homework challenge, I knew I had to see things in a different way. What if, instead of my son’s homework challenges being a problem, what if they were an OPPORTUNITY? And if they were an opportunity, what might be possible? By getting curious at this juncture, I was able to see that we had a chance to help our son find a system that worked with his own strengths and to work in new ways with him and his teacher much more effectively than we had previously. It was a mindset change that started leading us to more positive and sustainable behaviors as a family.

A problem is defined by its difficulty, but an opportunity is defined by the possibility to make something happen. This is a powerful shift to make in our perspective when it comes to challenges we face in the day to day. Think back to some of the heavier concerns you may be facing at work - how might you look at them as opportunities to seize instead of problems to be solved?

Here are a few methods to start seeing the “problems” in front of you as OPPORTUNITIES:

• Practice objectivity - Tough situations often elicit stress, negative emotions such as anger or fear, and worry about what may happen if things aren’t resolved. It is, of course, completely normal for these feelings to arise. Challenge yourself, though, to simply observe your emotions when a problem arises, and then look at the situation from a more objective and even curious point of view.

Example: If a customer calls with a complaint, you may feel stressed and want or need to immediately react. Acknowledge that you do not want the customer to be displeased, and then challenge yourself to take a moment to consider your path forward. Instead of only responding with a quick fix, could you spend more time understanding the root cause of the issue? Could you understand better what the customer’s expectations were to ensure you have alignment? Ask yourself what you could learn from the situation that will help you ensure the experience for the customer is more positive from here forward?

• Focus on new possibilities - It’s natural and can even be productive to immediately begin thinking about all the obstacles we need to overcome to solve an issue or challenge. A sustained mindset of seeing problems before us and difficulty ahead, though, can lead to burnout and decreased productivity over the long term. Training our mind to look for the new possibilities in the situations before us, alternatively, has an energizing effect. When you are facing a challenge, actively seek to change your thought from “What is broken and how do I fix it?” to “What chance do I have to do/try something different to make an impact?”?

Example: In the example above, with a customer complaint, consider what opportunities this concern has brought forward. Perhaps the customer highlighted a need that your team wasn’t aware of and it has created an idea for a new solution that will benefit many customers. Perhaps you have someone on? your team who has a skillset that is uniquely suited to help create an improved process, and this now creates an opportunity for them to use their skills while also delighting the customer.

Shifting your perspective from seeing problems to seeing opportunities won’t happen overnight. However, if you can start practicing objective thinking and getting curious about the possibilities a challenge may present, this way of thinking will start to become more natural. You will hopefully find that the energy of OPPORTUNITY will help keep you motivated, productive, and even looking forward to the challenges ahead!