Traps

Our habits of thinking can easily lead some of us into a trap that we sometimes don't recognize. When we are satisfied with our viewpoint on a topic we have effectively established a filter on our senses and our thinking that stops from reexamining that viewpoint even in the face of new information. We literally cannot even see that new information because of our filters. Unfortunately this can occur at a very early age or be affected by work and personal interactions.
Our filters in essence create a box within which we look for our answers. This leads us into the trap of continuing to ask the same question over and over again and frustrating ourselves by always getting answers from our box that don't work.
Perhaps the way to break the trap is to start searching for questions rather than continuing to look for more answers within our filtered box. New questions can come from reading, movies, conversations, controversy and so on. When we start looking for questions we will often find that we have a answer to that question that resonates with us and changes the filters we use.
Your thoughts?

Paralysis of Analysis

Along with overcoming mistakes which was yesterdays post is a similar issue that often prevents us from attempting to make a change.

We all have had at some point difficult situations which are so complicated we just don't know what all the consequences will be until after we have taken action.

There we sit going over and over in our mind trying to sort out priorities, impacts and possible results. Every time we think we have a solution and decide what we want to do we think of another problem with what we want to do.

The problem has paralyzed us. We can no longer think straight as we are lost in the problem. We need to step back and understand that not making a decision is also making a decision. A decision to stay the same.

Now we need to shift the focus back to why we need to make the decision. We must understand clearly what it is that we want to have happen for ourselves. We need to reevaluate whether the original reason we got stuck in the problem is still valid. Perhaps the analysis we have done will change how we define the problem and lead to a better solution.

If not then we must realize that we can not have a perfect solution and act on our best choice and accept that there will be unknown consequences. Not perfect but very human.

Your thoughts?

Technorati tags: problem solving, perspective