Difference between Focusing on Problems and Focusing on Solutions

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Case 1

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found
out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (ink won't flow
down to the writing surface). To solve this problem, it took them
one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at
zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface
including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing
to over 300 degrees C.

And what did the Russians do...?? They used a pencil.



Case 2

One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was
the case of the empty soapbox, which happened in one of Japan 's
biggest cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint
that a consumer had bought a soapbox that was empty. Immediately
the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which
transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery
department. For some reason, one soapbox went through the
assembly line empty.

Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste,
the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with
high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the
soapboxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not
empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they
spent a whoopee amount to do so.

But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed
with the same problem, he did not get into complications of
X-rays, etc., but instead came out with another solution. He
bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the
assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soapbox passed
the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.


Moral: Always look for simple solutions.

Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problems

Always Focus on solutions & not on problems