Finding The Real Problem

Written by a human, for humans, always.

Everyone has some sort of problem happening in their lives...

And when they go looking for a solution...

They will discover many people who have solutions.

Whether it is Google...

Or a trained professional...

There are solutions that exist.

Except...

Most people also discover that the solutions they find...

Do not create the results they are hoping for.

I see this happen all the time in business and in health.

People will struggle...

Going from "solution" to "solution" to "solution"...

Failing to get the results they seek.

But why does this happen?

What is preventing people from finding the real problems?

Now...

If we want to consider the "worst-case scenario"...

It is because those providing "solutions" are ill-intentioned and purposefully selling things that do not work...

But the truth is that this is rarely what is actually happening.

Most people are well-intentioned in the world, and to immediately assume the worst is not helpful.

There is a much better explanation that is far more common...

Bias and a lack of knowledge.

See...

We are all limited by what we know.

As they say...

If you don't know, then you don't know.

What this means...

Is that if there is a problem...

You are going to be limited to solutions that you can think of based on what you know.

You are biased based on what experiences, training, and understandings you have.

Now, this works both for the person with the problem and for those with "solutions".

The person with a problem only looks for solutions based on what they know about what they are challenged with.

For instance...

I was working at a company early in my career where the CFO knew that money was not being received from clients...

So they believed they had an Accounts Receivable problem.

They were biased to believe that because that was what they knew and saw.

Turned out...

That was not the real problem.

In truth, they had systems problems (from multiple mergers)...

They had sales and contract problems (such as net 180 terms, and clients that were signing new contracts with stipulations that made it so they would not have to pay any "remaining" balance, which they signed before 180 days occurred, meaning that contractually they were not obligated to pay anything)...

They had silo problems (different departments were unaware of what others were doing and how their work negatively impacted other departments)...

And they had visibility problems (it is difficult to track or be aware of what you cannot see).

When the other problems were resolved...

There were no longer Accounts Receivable problems...

Because the Accounts Receivable problems were secondary to upstream problems.

The CFO struggled to come up with solutions, though, because their ideas for solutions were biased based on what they knew and could see.

They lacked knowledge of the other factors at play.

When you have your own biases and lack knowledge...

It can be very difficult to know what solution(s) you may actually need...

And worse...

Because you lack knowledge...

It may become very easy to be persuaded by "solutions" from others with knowledge you do not have.

Which takes us to the other side of the equation...

Those who provide "solutions".

What usually happens is that these providers truly do believe their "solutions" work...

And in some cases they actually do work...

Which is why they are so convinced of their solutions!

Their experiences have shown them that the solutions do work...

At least sometimes.

So, they become biased based on what they do know about their solutions...

But...

There are usually other reasons that exist that could explain problems that these providers are completely unaware of.

One such example that I have seen frequently in my work is what I call the "Brain Trap".

Most people believe that all cognition (thinking) is done solely in the brain...

And to be fair, the brain does do our higher-processing thinking.

But...

When you do not know that the body has other Cognition Systems...

You begin to believe that every problem can be resolved by brain-focused solutions.

But...

If the problems exist, say, in the Nervous System...

A brain-focused solution will have little to no impact.

But most people are unaware that the Nervous System is its own separate, distinct, and interdependent Cognition System.

If a provider does not know they...

They are biased to believe that the problem is in the brain...

So they look at fixing the brain...

Will find "solutions" that have worked in some cases...

And because they cannot find anywhere else problems may be in the brain...

They focus on what they do know.

When things do not work...

They usually chalk it up to other reasons causing the failure, such as patient/client adherence to the protocols.

The truth, though...

Is that the provider simply is unaware of any other potential solutions...

They are trapped based on what they know and their own biases.

So...

How do you overcome this challenge to find the real problems so you can get real results?

You need to either ask questions yourself...

Or find practitioners who are asking the questions...

Of why things are not working in reality.

Most people are focused on the theory of how and why things work...

While failing to actually address the reality of why things may not be working and what other explanations could be at play.

You need to either be someone or find people who are willing to see what problems exist...

To triage them to find patterns...

Then see what the patterns suggest to discover novel ideas or solutions that others may not be considering.

This often requires time, effort, and patience...

Something that most people with problems, as well as most solution providers, are not willing to actually dedicate.

Which...

Is exactly why most people fail to get the results they seek.

They are limited by their knowledge and biases...

And they seek out people who often are also limited by their knowledge and biases.

That does not necessarily make the knowledge wrong...

Just limited in scope and the capacities at which it is beneficial.

If you find yourself in a position where you have been trying to solve a problem...

But nothing seems to be working...

And all the people you have talked to do not seem to be able to help...

Then perhaps it is time to question whether to seek out different knowledge...

Or even new knowledge altogether that has not been discovered yet.

There are indeed many things we know and understand as humans...

But vastly less than we like to believe...

And not everything we know is actually completely true.

Sometimes, to get the results we seek...

We must understand that the real problem is something we are not yet aware of.

Are You Ready to Go Beyond Leadership?

Tired of Broken Algorithms and AI Slop?

Excited to Dive Deeper into Psychophysiological Mastery?

Want to Change The World?

The Seeking Sageship Newsletter is for You!

Click Here to Subscribe for Free!