![]() Houdini tried to open something that was already open. They had tricked him! Houdini was actually put in a cell that was already open. Exhausted, Houdini leaned up against the cell door, and surprisingly it swung open. Finally, soaked in perspiration, Houdini declared, “This lock can’t be picked!” He quit. ![]() With the clock ticking, Houdini pulled out his tiny instruments and began picking away. Once he accepted a challenge to pry his way out of a locked prison cell that was designed by one of the most notable security companies of the day. He was known as one of the greatest tricksters and lock-pickers of his day. I love the story of Harry Houdini, the great stunt performer, magician, and escape artist of the early 1900s. The danger in framing problems like this is that once our minds are locked and closed, even if something did open up, we’d miss it, because we weren’t looking for it. It could be that we’ve made up our minds that this problem will not be solved. It could be that we are too emotionally involved to see the problem objectively. Sometimes when we can’t generate solutions to our problems, it could be because we haven’t found the right person to help us yet. One of the secrets regarding effective problem-solving is to never think that a problem can’t be solved. Creative problem-solving is a skill-set that will be in high demand in the coming years as we operate in a workplace that is ever changing. As we reframe problems into opportunities, we position ourselves, in a very real way, to not only ask the right questions, but to generate creative solutions that we never dreamed possible. Learning how to see problems through the correct lens is very helpful… and strategic. Like most things in life, how we see something affects how we interact with it. Don’t be afraid of problems or of making mistakes. In those times, we must reframe our perspective. I know there are times that all of us have felt like the waters of life are going to wash over us, pull us down, and snuff us out. This lesson applies outside the swimming pool as well. The good news is that I survived and learned two important lessons: (1) I can tread water better and longer than most people care to ever learn, and (2) There’s a difference between swimming in high water versus water that actually takes you all the way under. I also learned to tread water by being thrown into the deep end and told to paddle and kick for two minutes! The lifeguard (that’s what he called himself) would slap your hands away from the side of the pool if you got tired and tried to rest on the ledge. I learned to swim as a kid at a neighborhood pool during summer break. James Baldwin said, “We stand as witnesses that swimming in deep water and drowning are not the same thing.” Although that’s true, at times they can feel the same. One of the ways to get better is to see problems correctly. If Wheaties is the “breakfast of champions,” then as Henry Cloud says, “Problems are the breakfast of leaders.” And if problems are connected to adding value, and if problem solving is a part of the daily regimen of every growing leader, then learning how to become a creative problem-solver is a worthy goal to pursue. Now that’s a problem! Sometimes I feel like Pac-Man, but instead of eating pac-dots, I encounter an endless supply of reoccurring problems in my path (and hopefully not the same one). One distinction I want to make though is if we keep having the same problem year after year. I’ve often thought that senior leaders could reduce their job description to a couple lines on their LinkedIn account, and one of those lines would be “solving problems all day long.” We increase our value-add to an organization or team when we become effective problem solvers. His reward for successfully eating all of the pellets, was being promoted to the next level to start the process all over again! Increase Our Value-AddĪs leaders, when we get good at solving problems, our reward is that we get to handle bigger problems…and more of them. Constantly being chased by his enemies Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, Pac-Man tried to elude his captors while moving endlessly through the maze eating pac-dots. It was in the 1980s that the immensely popular video arcade game Pac- Man hit the market. Problem-Solving: Lessons From Pac-Man and Harry Houdini Leading Strategic Change, Innovation & Business Transformation.
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