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Stop Problem-Solving ASAP!

Get what you want in life

Don’t you love a simple, genuinely life-changing, easy-to-understand concept? Let’s look at one of the best: a simple idea that can provide you with limitless possibilities!

The concept

The concept comes from one of my favorite authors, Robert Fritz. He is the ultimate authority if you want to learn how to create, with many well-known authors citing his work.

Among the many books by Fritz, two of my favorites are The Path of Least Resistance and Your Life as Art. Each is well-written and easy to read. Fritz describes two fundamental life orientations we will examine that you can use to change your life significantly.

Let’s look at Fritz’s reactive-responsive and creative-generative orientations.

Reactive-responsive orientation

Most of us spend too much of our lives in the reactive-responsive orientation. In these, you are subject to the circumstances of life. When you react, you often behave like a victim. Why? Because circumstances drive your reactions.

Circumstances become the dominant force in your life.

Circumstances can also drive your responses. You may think responding is better than reacting, and you are correct. However, most responses come from past circumstances that have conditioned you. They are simply a different form of reacting. Being reactive or responsive creates little or nothing new in life.

Think about the medical profession and its patients. For many illnesses, doctors are in a reactive-responsive orientation. Suppose the patient has a condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. The doctor will prescribe medicines to treat the symptoms. The underlying cause is not addressed, lightly addressed, or ignored altogether, even though the solution is readily apparent.

When a doctor or anyone else uses a problem-solving approach, it does nothing to eliminate the problem or create something new.

A few medical professionals must know better than to put a Band-Aid on a serious illness, but where are they? Unfortunately, as is true for many professions, the problem-solving mentality keeps them in the reactive-responsive orientation, temporarily alleviating the issue while often creating other problems.

“Creating is no problem — problem-solving is not creating.” Robert Fritz (1943-present)

Creative-generative orientation

The creating-generative orientation transcends circumstances. In this orientation, you live and create what you want, eliminating the problem or issue.

Creating becomes the dominant force in your life.

When faced with a problem, you move beyond merely problem-solving to creating something new.

If you only provide your customer with a fix for a problem, the focus is on what is wrong (the negative). You may become an expert at finding and temporarily fixing symptoms while doing nothing to eliminate the problem. But imagine creating something that renders the problem non-existent.

“You cannot create what you want by moving away from what you don’t want.” Robert Fritz (1943-present)

For example, Thomas Edison could have improved lighting by fixing existing problems with candles, oil lamps, gas lights, etc. Instead, he created an entirely new light source (the light bulb), the powerplant, and the entire wiring infrastructure that eliminated the need and the many problems of previous light sources.

Then there is the horse and buggy. Some of the early automobile pioneers were in the horse-drawn carriage business. They could have continued improving their horse buggy products. Yet a few of them created a solution to replace the horse-drawn carriage altogether — the automobile.

The same happened with papyrus, pens, ink, typewriters, and computers using paper by moving to digital, paperless products. Each creation went beyond fixing a problem and created something new.

Notice what Amazon has done. It created an entirely new system, moving hundreds of billions of dollars of products from brick-and-mortar stores to large distribution centers, delivering the same products to your door at a lower cost!

Lastly, look at the shift from film to digital photography. Most professional photographers stuck to film because it was better than digital for a time. Today, however, practically every photographer has gone digital. Why? Because digital photography did not try to “fix” the many problems with film. Instead, it created a new medium, eliminating the need for film, chemicals, photographic paper, and darkrooms.

There is no limit to the amount of innovation possible. Creating leads to innovation, and innovation leads to creating. Yes, when you start creating, it may take more effort, but the effort will be more than worth it. Besides, the more you create, the easier it becomes!

Opportunities to create are plentiful when you can take on a creative-generative orientation.

What could you create today?

Shifting from reacting to creating

Following are a few things you can work on to shift from the reactive-responsive orientation (r-r) to the creative-generative (c-g) orientation. The first part of each statement is in the r-r orientation, followed by the c-g orientation.

• Stop blaming others (r-r), and accept responsibility (c-g).
• Just because that is how it has always been done (r-r), it doesn’t mean you can’t eliminate it (whatever it is) and find a new way to do it (c-g).
• Instead of using typical problem-solving techniques (r-r), create something new to replace the problem (c-g).
• Keep trying to fix it (r-r), or find a better way to do it by creating something new (c-g).

How can you apply the first statement above to your work or life? Say you are always blaming someone or something for letting you down. Instead of blaming them, take responsibility for creating something new that completely eradicates the issue. It may involve firing someone, finding another source, making whatever it is in-house, or other creative ideas. Anything is better than continuing to blame, isn’t it?

The most important thing to learn is to notice when you are in the reactive-responsive orientation and find the opportunity to create or generate something new.

What ideas come to mind for using this c-g orientation in your life? Where are you stuck in the r-r orientation that you can change to create something new?

Once you experience the exhilaration of moving away from problem-solving to creating, you will be hooked for life!

Final thoughts

Consider applying the creative-generative orientation to your work and life. Join the few who learn to create what they want instead of repeatedly doing the same thing.

By creating, you control the outcomes rather than merely plodding through life, reacting, and responding. Imagine The fruit that will result from living a creator’s life.

Become a creator and live the life you want!

“Dreamers only dream, but creators bring their dreams into reality.” Robert Fritz (1943-present)

BillAbbate| LinkedIn |Twitter| Medium| Facebook| AmazonAuthorPage | Truth

Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

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