There John was, explaining how doors and windows have a different heating value than walls and may need to be reinforced. He was sharing that explanation after hearing how one of his employees complained that sitting close to the door was really cold in winter.

John was providing an answer to a problem he had not fully understood. The information he had overheard wasn’t complete. His employee had not shared, that the door was regularly left often.

Dealing with a problem requires to know that there is a problem, to be able to describe what the problem is, and to know what the solutions can be.

John had understood that the employee was experiencing a problem and was trying to provide a technical explanation to solve it. But, as he lacked a full understanding of the problem his solution wasn’t adapted and couldn’t resolve the problem.

The employee on the other hand had described how the problem affected him. For him, the problem was, that he was cold. Looking at his main interest he had forgotten to share the cause of his problem. For him, the problem was that he was cold, not, that the door was open.

When analyzing such a situation, the later is an important hint. There must be a reason, why the cause of the problem is left out.

A natural consequence of not being able to describe the problem or missing out on his existence is that we lack the ability to see the options available to solve the given problem.

Dealing with a problem is easier said than done. It requires attention to ourselves, others and the situation to be able to address the problem.