Be A Problem Solver

Michael worked in the warehouse. Other employees wore shorts and T-Shirts;  Michael wore slacks and a tie. Yet others would show up late and leave early; Michael would show up early and stay late. Many complained about their job; Michael looked for ways to make things better.

Someone asked him why he dressed and worked the way he did. He replied that he was acting as if he had already moved on to his next position in the company. And certainly owing to that attitude, his next position came soon enough.

My manager introduced Michael to me and said he would now be working in the PMO that I managed. Not having met Michael before, I had a few questions for him.

“What do you do?” I asked.

“I’m a problem solver,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

“Easy. Give me a problem, and I’ll solve it.”

“Problems will see you heading in their direction, cringe, and run away!”

Fair enough. We had plenty of problems that needed to be solved. We gave them to Michael. We needed to find a piece of hardware that met a customer’s needs. Problem solved. Orders were not getting out the door in a timely manner. Problem solved. An application prototype needed to be developed. Problem solved.

Michael became a key member of the PMO for years after, holding true to his promise to be a Problem Solver.

What’s the lesson? Work is fraught with ‘problems.’ I guess that’s part of the reason it’s called work. Something is going to be broken, customers are going to be upset, or something will not work as well as it could. Rather than cringe or run away, people like Michael face problems head on and solve them. It doesn’t hurt to look the part as well. Conclusion? Be more like Michael. The result? Problems will see you heading in their direction, cringe, and run away!

Michael has since moved on to other positions and companies. But, I’m sure each one of his interviews starts with, “I’m a problem solver.”

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