Can you imagine a World without the Internet? For Millenials like myself and those a part of Generation Z, it's quite hard to imagine a life without the Internet. A World without easy access to all the answers you want and thing's you want to see. You could have £0 in our bank account, yet still travel around the world via the Internet. I often think to myself, if we had the Internet from the beginning of time, would some of the greatest inventions and discoveries have ever happened? Before the Internet when people had a problem, they had to SEARCH within themselves for a solution, or seek for the answers in books and the ideas of scholars. Essentially, they had to problem solve.They had to think, to find the solution or answer they were looking for. In today's society we no longer need to think for ourselves, if we don't know the answer to something, we can easily search for a solution on the Internet.
As much as the ability to easily access, a variety of information in a matter of seconds is great, this has created a sense of dependency on others to solve our problems. It has created a laziness and unwillingness in many people, to THINK for themselves. The aim is no longer to become a true problem solver but to have our problems solved, yet we so often put it on our CV's!
In previous Management roles I've had, I've been able to identify 2 types of people, problem presenters and problem solvers. Most people are problem presenters as opposed to problem solvers, this is very easy to identify in a work setting. I would often have members of my team, bringing problems to my attention, as you should when you identify issues happening in the workplace. However, they would present the problem but fail to present possible solutions to solve the problem; in essence they would present the problem and leave it on my desk for me to solve.
In many cases some of these 'problems' were minor issues and personal gripes with other colleagues, which could have been resolved without my input, had that person actually taken the time to think for themselves.
I would also have problem solvers in my team, who would bring issues happening in the workplace to my attention AND would suggest solutions, these are the kind of people that EVERY good employer wants. TRUE problem solvers, not just people who write this down on their CVs, but people who are critical thinkers who can analyse a situation and suggest possible solutions to solve that problem, as opposed to simply presenting problems for others to solve.
If there are roles that you would like to progress into or internal positions that you have applied for and have been unsuccessful in acquiring, take some to reflect on how you have been at work. Have you been a problem solver? Or have you been a problem presenter?
Have a great day, I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you did, why not share it with someone? Until next week.
Your Finance P.T