Focus on Problems Vs Focus on Solutions

Focus on Problems vs. Focus on Solutions

Got these off the Internet ...

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). In order 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 Russians do??

The Russians used a Pencil!!!


Case 2:
One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese
management as the case of the empty soap box, which
happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies.
The company received a complaint that a consumer had
bought a soap box 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 soap box 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 soap boxes that passed through the line to
make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard
and they worked fast but they spent whoopee amount to do so.

But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was
posed with the same problem, 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 soap box
passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Moral of the story:
KISS (Keep It Simple,Stupid)
i.e. always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest
possible solution that solves the problem and learn to focus
on solutions not on problems.

Nulaa's Disclaimer: Hmmm .. I always believed that sometimes human do overlook the simplest of solutions or the obvious. I guess that makes life more interesting ehhehe.