Problems are like weeds…
I found myself lying awake in the wee hours of the night intoxicated with physical and emotional stress. At times the strain of life causes me to realize, and miss, my days as a young boy where some of my greatest concerns were whether I would ride my bike or climb a tree. However, as I am well aware we are unable to return to those carefree days and must deal with the cards dealt us I was reminded of several random quotes I have collected concerning “Problem Solving”:
- “Problems are like weeds; the more you ignore them the faster they grow” –Ancient Proverb
- “There is always an easy solution to every human problem – neat, plausible, and wrong.” –H.L. Mencken
- “You cannot solve a problem on the same level it was created. You have to rise above it to the next level.” -Albert Einstein
- You can always tame an idea, but you cannot pump one up. Wild ideas indicate creative thinking
- “We experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can’t come up with real lasting solutions!” -Margaret Wheatley
- “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” –Colin Powell
- “If I give you a dollar bill and you give me one we each have a dollar still – That’s not much gain, you see….If I give you a new idea and I get one of yours – now each of us has 2 because ideas are double-doers” –Jack Moss