Winning Words 11/7/12
“The way we see the problem is the problem.”  (Stephen Covey)  When it comes to problem solving, “brainstorming” works for me, even if it’s only my brain that’s involved.  Get the ideas out on the table; make a list, if you have to, and then try to choose what seems to be the best solution.  I’ve read that problem-solving is the most complex of all intellectual functions.  What is it that works for you?    ;-)  Jack

 FROM WALMART REV:  Thanks, Jack...maybe we should forward your comments this morning to our new President and both Houses...I'll certainly use this process working with a family of four children and a mother caught in adultery...close friends too which hurts me all the more.  0:-(////FROM JACK:  When it comes right down to it...some situations close to home are more pressing than an election.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  "Talking it out" seems to work best for me. It requires someone else who just listens and doesn't advise. I especially learned to understand this process better in the Stephens Ministers training. The most effective responses to problems seem to be the ones that come from within. A good "talking it out" opportunity can really help a person to see a problem differently. Great WW again this morning!!!!!////FROM JACK:  In order for talking to be effective, there must also be some listening...and a willingness to act.

 FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA: Sometimes in my sleep.////FROM JACK:  It's happened for me, too.  I wonder how that works?  We haven't been able to solve all of the mysteries.////HT:  I have a US Patent on the "Planar Log Periodic Quad Array", a simultaneous geometric solution for antenna design that came to me full-blown in my sleep (I had been thinking about the tradeoffs the previous day)   Otherwise, as far as I can recall, it just seems that difficult decisions and choices sometimes seem to have been clarified for me I wake up.   As for odd things that seem to work for me, another one is memorizing vocabulary in a foreign language. One of my Arabic profs told us, when handing us a huge list, to work on bits of it while walking between class. Said walking seems to improve memorizing. Seemed to work well. ////JACK:  I wish that I had know your memorizing technique when I was taking Greek.  I keep a pad of paper and a pen near my bed, so that when I wake up with an idea, I can jot it down.

 FROM WATERFORD JAN:  For problem-solving, even for deciding which trip package to buy, I begin with a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and draw a line down the middle; list pros and cons in either column no matter how extreme.  Consider each item aloud--your brain hears your ears differently from how it hears itself!  Don't decide that the longest list must be the best.  Each item also has weight.  Don't expect to make a decision immediately--you might need to consider your lists for a few days, especially if it is a significant decision that should not be made impulsively.  Sometimes I know the "answer" in advance but I need to see and hear the options before I make a commitment. ////FROM JACK:  I like the quote..."Not to decide is to decide."  Sometimes we delay our decisions so long that they are made for us by our inaction.

 FROM "SAINT" JUDY:  Prayer is the way to start.  We've got a lot of praying ahead of us.////FROM JACK:  I remember the story about an executive who had the the letters, DFTP, carved on the edge of the desk facing him.  Someone asked him what they meant.  He said that when he was facing problems, the letters reminded him..."Don't Forget To Pray!"

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I think Covey's point is more to the idea that our perspective is what gets in the way. The beam(s) in our eyes prevents the clear view. Talking familiar nonsense doesn't help; admitting the nonsense and discarding it, leaves one in the true mystery of the unknown --- which is the "truest" admission of all!////FROM JACK:   As the poet Robert Burns wrote:  "O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!"

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Problem solving is one place that I really miss my astute mate's input. He had a much more analytical mind than I do. So now, I usually talk with my kids if it relates to family, or good friend or pastor friend if not.  Talking out loud helps to put it forward, too: to "hear" it expressed.  Sometimes it helps to "Sleep on it"...in fact that often is the case for me.  I'm praying hard that Obama can reconcile the communication and compromise problems amid the Pres., House and Senate, so we can at last move forward on the many serious ills that beset the U.S.  Starting with JOBS, first!////FROM JACK:  Rep. or Dem., I think we expect more of a President that he can deliver.  Like in a church...if the pastor, the people and the leaders aren't on the same page, not much is going to happen, but, if they work together...You know the rest of the story.

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Good, and Wayne Dyer: "When you change how you look at things, the things you look at change." I believe he is paraphrasing the Bhagavad Gita and Dharmic scripture.////FROM JACK:  That's another way of looking at it.