Too often we focus on the problems we face and lose sight of the fact that most of us are paid to identify solutions (too bad our politicians don't understand that.)
A mentor of mine told me early on what I'm sure you've heard plenty of times: "Don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions." It wasn't that he couldn't solve the problem himself; he was a very smart man. However, I learned that he trusted me to come up with the solution because I was the one closest to it to begin with and he believed in his own ability to put the right people in place.
I ran across this great example of the value - in terms of real dollars and time - of focusing on solutions. I hope you like it too...
When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow down to the writing surface). To solve this problem, it took them one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
They used a pencil.
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