The Problem With Problems

The student approached the teacher and asked them eagerly how long it would take them to master the art.

The teacher responded: “10 years”.

The student, seeking to demonstrate their earnestness, replied: “But Master, if I commit every ounce of my energy to this task, applying great discipline and diligence, how long will it take then?”

The teacher responded: “20 years”.

This story will seem peculiar and paradoxical to the hard-working and willful person.

We are taught from a very young age that there is no problem that cannot be fixed through great effort. We venerate problem solvers. We call them leaders or inventors or entrepreneurs and rejoice when they flex their problem-solving prowess. We measure students one to the next and grade them according to their problem-solving abilities, even though they mostly tell us what we want to hear. We promote those in companies who solve and overlook those who do not, even though solving often means the person who is best at towing the line.

If problem-solving through earnestness is so important, then what are we to make of the Masters response to the eager student? It seems to contradict our conventional ways of understanding the relationship between a problem and a solution and the virtue of effort.

In every problem, there is what is seen or noticed and what is unseen or unnoticed. In that sense, a problem is more like a field of possibility than a cause to an effect.

The student in our story sees a future where they have mastered the art. Perhaps their mind has turned towards imagining long days of arduous study and practice; a path of effort that leads to a finish line.? The mind sees a linear progression through a series of processes leading to a goal or resolution. Everyday millions of people commit to similar processes across their lives and work.

Much like the student in our story, what we do not notice in our eagerness to solve a problem is that the problem has a hold on us. If one believes that they understand the problem, one’s commitment to a solution is bound by that understanding, including any assumptions, thinking, or perceiving that is embedded in that understanding. In that sense, what is before us is not novelty, but a problem of our own making. The way we are bound to a problem also binds the solution.

Tethered to that understanding, there is not a problem as much is a series of tangled presuppositions that we believe need to be untangled – what we aren’t noticing is that we become the problem we are trying to solve; the freshness of the clarifying question is concealed by our ignorance. ?Because, as the wise teacher points out, a presupposing, bound-up mind will struggle to remain open, supple, and masterful in the terrain of the possible.

A problem is more rightly understood is what is not yet created, which means that any habitual thinking is more like a dragging anchor in an ocean of potential. ?To understand a problem fully means to embrace what has not yet been. No habit of mind can muster that quality of lively seeing.

Hone the quality of your noticing and you will never see a problem the same way again.

If you find yourself snared in a problem trap, reach out to explore: https://www.betheshift.ca/