How’s your vision?
That is; what do you see?
Our nation is currently (this is being written in August 2008) facing an economic downturn defined by falling home values, high energy prices, volatile stock prices, rising unemployment, the credit crisis and more!
If all you do is read, listen and watch the media stories it seems as if we should just shut everything down for a few months and see if things turn around.
However, not everyone is experiencing “bad times.” Not all businesses are failing. Not everyone is out of work. Why is that the case? Do these people see something others don’t or can’t see?
I had the opportunity to attend Dan Kennedy's "Super Conference" in April of 2005 in Chicago, where he said, "Most people don't see opportunity everywhere they look!" Notice that he just didn’t say, “see opportunity” but added these critical words: “everywhere they look.”
Kennedy then elaborated on this thought by giving an example from Disney World in Florida. They had a problem. Actually, they still do!
It rains in Florida (even at Disney)!
Often!
Kennedy correctly said that most people would see the rain as a problem. However, Disney World implemented a "rain parade" and decided sell rain ponchos for $8-12 so tourists could view the parade comfortably! As a result, millions of dollars are added to the bottom line yearly because of the “problem” of rain.
Disney turned their problem into an opportunity.
Danny Deutsch talks about this same thing during his show on CNBC called "The Big Idea." He regularly asks his guests about the problem(s) they had and how they solved them. He then looks into the camera and tells the viewers to actually look for problems that need solving because that's where there are business opportunities!
Deutsch is right, of course; but that isn’t how most people are wired. But you can be! You just need to do some of your own inner electrical work to get re-wired. It is a shift of sight. That is, shifting from “seeing” only problems to “seeing” opportunities that exist exactly because there is a problem. This change can happen almost immediately if you decide to let it happen.
Here are five questions to ask yourself the next time you see a problem:
1. Who else experiences this problem? (Determines market size/viability.)
2. Does a solution currently exist? (Determines competition.)
3. If there is no current solution to my problem, what does the solution look like? (Turns the problem upside down to determine the possibility of a new product, strategy, or business.)
4. If there is a solution I’m not currently implementing what is stopping me? (Determines personal or corporate roadblocks to moving forward.)
5. What do I do now? (Incorporates action rather than remaining stuck.)
When you are faced with a difficulty, do you see a problem or an opportunity? What happens when the rain falls in your life?
Begin, today, to see the opportunities that lie within your problems!
KEYWORDS: Scott Hove, problem-solving, inspirational speaker, Las Vegas based speaker, motivational speaker, inspirational
