One More Asset: A problem.

It is all about our vision of the world and our environment. A failure is nothing less than a learning opportunity. Take that new experience with you and use it in your next course of action towards your ultimate goal. Do not react, act first and stay positive. Have passion, return to your inner kid where you were always excited to try new things without fear of breaking them or putting yourself in harm’s way. Believe in yourself that you can do it. Do not be afraid to be different because you are unique already.

Below is an article by Paul B. Brown  from Forbes, How The Most Successful People Treat Everything–Including Problems–As An Asset (A Case Study) in Action Trumps Everything-From Dilbert to Office Space to the revival of How to Succeed in Business (without really trying) management clichés are always good for a knowing chuckle. In a world of limited resources, the idea of “win-wins” doesn’t happen often. “Giving 110%” is just, well, “fuzzy math,” and as for “we have to push the envelope,” have you ever actually tried to push an envelope? It’s a lot like “pushing string” or “herding cats.”

However, there is one much overused phrase we do think has merit: “There are no such things as problems; just opportunities.” Indeed that is the starting point for the business environment we now find ourselves. The world, which has always been unpredictable, is becoming increasingly more so. That means your odds of moving smoothly from A to B are going to steadily decrease over time, creating more and more situations that you simply could not anticipate. That means more problems—but more opportunities, if you view those challenges in a different way.

The key is to focus on your goal and not on the plan that you initially drew up to get there.

With this approach, your objective doesn’t change, but you accept the fact that how you may get there might. For anyone who has put together a five year plan or even an annual budget, this is going to require thinking differently, something which is never a walk in the park. But it can be done.

To see how we need to begin by taking a step back.

In the world we grew up in, we were taught either to avoid the unexpected, or to overcome it. It was all about efficiency. Optimizing. Achieving the objective quickly with as few deviations as possible. That’s understandable. Before beginning anything new we usually spend a lot of time trying to figure out what is going to happen (predicting) and once we get underway it is all about making that prediction a reality. So, not surprisingly, people get upset when something unexpected appears in their path and their reaction is the deviation from the plan needs to be eliminated or overcome ASAP.

However, in today’s world, it is all about exploiting the contingencies and leveraging the uncertainty by treating unexpected events as an opportunity to exercise control over the emerging situation. (Don’t believe me? Think of the last time you drew up a plan to accomplish something and it went off without a hitch.)

Those who are successful in starting companies, or creating anything new for that matter, learn not only to work with the surprise factor, but also to take advantage of it.

Plan B can be good, too

In most contingency plans, surprises are bad; the “what if?” scenarios are usually worst-case ones. But people who accept the world is much more complex today do not tie themselves to any theorized or preconceived market, strategic universe, or fixed path for making their idea a reality. For them, problems are a potential resource, as opposed to a disadvantage. They very often do something with the things that surprise them, treating those surprises as a potential asset.

How do you get creative with a surprise? Well, if the surprise is a good one, you take full advantage of it. For example, you thought the world would love your new iPhone accessory. But you have been overwhelmed by demand. The logical thing to do is to ramp up production, add distributors (perhaps worldwide), and think about creating additional products not only for the iPhone but for all other smart phones as well.

If that surprise was a negative one—i.e., your actions did not go as you thought they would; you encountered a problem or even a setback—it is then time to figure out a way of using that negative to your advantage. Problems and even setbacks are resources to be employed to your advantage.

Problems = Advantage

Running headlong into a problem and then solving it can give you a barrier to competition, or at least a remarkable head start in the marketplace. Why? Because you acted, and the competition didn’t. As a result, you know something they don’t.

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