Pause With Uncertainty

Leaders and others strain under the weight of not knowing. The tension of transition that is uncertain can feel unbearable. We want answers. We want decisions. We want to move ahead.

I've learned to pause. If there is a moment to breathe, take it. If there is time to make a decision, make it -- clearly and unemotionally.

Speed is wonderful, until it isn't. Going too fast and over a cliff is, well, going too fast.

Can you endure the tension of uncertainty long enough to discover objective truth?

It's not obvious. It's not easy. It's just best.

-- doug smith

 

Dig Deeper

It's the inner workings where the problems are the most persistent.

It takes longer to dig deeper. 

Dig deeper.

-- doug smith

 

A Quote from James Clear

 "When you ignore a problem that is small enough to handle, it often grows into a problem too big to manage."

-- James Clear

Source: https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/july-16-2026

What's Possible

Problems that seem unsolvable at the micro-level may be manageable at their macro-level.

Check your perspective. Gauge your distance. Focus on what is possible. 

Ask the questions you'd ask about any mystery. What's going on? How did we get here? Where do we want to go?

What other questions do you ask in order to move from impossible to possible?

-- doug smith

 

Right In Front of You

It isn't possible or necessary to solve every problem. Focus on the problem in front of you.

Solving that first problem builds momentum and experience for solving the next problem. You'll never solve them all, but imagine how much better things will be after you've solved the ones right in front of you.

-- doug smith

 

A Touch of the Poet

Highly structured? Wildly improvised? 

Harmonic, or distorted? Fast or slow?

Analytics help, but there's nothing quite like a touch of the poet in solving problems. The deep pondering, the pedantic piecing together, the frantic splash of passion.

Whether or not they know it every problem solver has a touch of the poet.

Are you in touch with your touch of the poet?

-- doug smith

 

Not Perfect?

 

Have you ever held onto a problem just because you couldn't find the perfect solution, an elegant, efficient, bruise-free choice? 

That effort -- for perfection -- has slowed me down a number of times. Perfection can be such a bother, because nothing is perfect in this life and never will be. 

There's no perfect way to solve a problem -- but you don't need perfection to solve it.

If you can find the best way, that is certainly good enough.

-- doug smith

Hard Problems

We can push really hard on hard problems and not get anywhere. The problem may be too fixed to get fixed. It may be too tough to push over. It feels like the problem is going to win.

What if you didn't push? What if you took a quiet, calm, centered approach to truly observing the problem. What exactly is going on? Who is being served or deterred?

Hard problems can benefit from soft solutions.

What do you think? Is it worth a try?

-- doug smith

 

The Right People

Who do you get to help you solve your problem?

You, of course, that's a given. Also, people who will be impacted by any solution you try. People who are feeling the effects of the problem right now. Even (especially) people who you think may be at the root cause of the problem.

Engage the right people in creating problem solutions so that they don't become the wrong people while implementing them.

-- doug smith

 

More, please

How many solutions does your problem need?

Sometimes the answer is just one more. It could also be that your problem needs twenty more before you find the one that sticks.

Finding solutions is the fun part anyway so just keep going. 

Create more solutions to a problem than you need in order to find one that works.

-- doug smith

 

An Important Pause

We're all in a hurry. Urgency is a way of life. When we're working on a problem it feels as if the faster we solve it the better.

But, have you ever solved a problem only to shortly discover that you haven't solved it at all? New complications arise. Surprises confound you. The problem roars back.

The worry creates the hurry. The rush is not enough. Better to find the actual cause of the problem and face that issue. 

Taking time to analyze a problem will save time in solving it.

And that saves time overall.

That pause you take may be more important than you thought.

-- doug smith

 

Get Help Solving That Problem

Do you try to do everything on your own?

If you're part of a team, and especially if you are leading a team, it goes better by collaborating. Working together. Helping each other. 

People like to be connected. What better time to strengthen your connections than when you have a problem?

You don't need everyone in the world to help you solve a problem but you probably do need someone. Find out who that is, and get them involved.

Besides, it is way more fun that way, too.

-- doug smith 

Need leadership training? That's what I do: doug smith training

The Seat of the Situation

Problems are complicated. We need to think clearly about them, to analyze their causes. We also need to act quickly because, oddly or not, some solutions expire. 

Sit, or move?

Think, or act?

This isn't a universal assertion, but maybe one with value: 

the situation isn't entirely the problem, and the problem isn't entirely the situation.

As closely as cause and effect may nest, there are likely other causes, other effects worth considering. It's a bit like widening the circle in a jam session. Yes, the new instruments complicate things, and yes, sometimes the notes are discordant, but oh! the miracle of the unexpected harmonies can make the how piece better.

That's the situation. What if it existed before the problem, and needs to exist beyond the problem?

We can sit with a problem without making that problem the entire situation.

What do you think?

-- doug smith

 ps: The drawing is only partially related. It't a situation. It's a problem. I drew this dancing with the idea of problem vs. polarity...and other random situations. 

 

Enjoy The Outcomes

Every problem leads to an outcome.  Some you want and some you definitely do not want. 

You're going to prefer the outcomes of the problems you solve.

Don't you think so?

-- doug smith

 

Roots of Their Own

What looks like the root cause of a problem might have roots of its own.

Keep digging.

-- doug smith

 

With Love

Emotions can get in the way of solving problems. Stirring up anger, or fear is hardly ever helpful. But what if even in the toughest of situations we solved problems with love.

There can't be too much love, can there? And the supply is always renewable and inexhaustible if we stay with it.

Problems solved with love stay solved longer.

We also feel much better about the whole thing.

What do you think?

-- doug smth 

Done

 

Trying to fix a problem from the past could cause a problem right now.

When it's done, let it stay done.

-- doug smith 

Complicated

You could think of it as the ostrich effect - putting your head in the sand to avoid a danger. You can't see it anymore, you don't notice the discomfort, but it's still there and you're still exposed.

Overlooking the complexity of a problem does not simplify it -- or solve it. 

As uncomfortable as it may be, we need to face our problems with courage, deal with them using our creativity, focus on our goals with clarity, and show compassion for anyone effected by our course of action.

When problems are complicated we need not hide. It's better to rise.

-- doug smith 

Emotional Options

What's the strongest emotion for you? 

What's the one emotion that more often than not seems to run you instead of you running the emotion?

If the answer is "none" then good for you, and maybe share how you got there because it sure is hard for most of us. Emotions once activated send all the right chemicals thru our bodies to keep us in that elevated emotional state. When we need that flush of energy it's worth experiencing the rush. When we don't, it gets in the way.

We can choose.

We have the ability to take emotions out of problem solving if we are willing to. 

Are you willing to?

-- doug smith 

Bad Solutions?

You do not need to accept a solution that is forced on you. You might well be better off with the problem still in place.

Speed is great, until it isn't.

-- doug smith