Leasepath CEO Jeffrey Bilbrey opens 2021 by sharing an open letter to Team Leasepath. –January 14, 2021
Everyone,
Something a little different as we kick off 2021… I came across this video over the weekend and just had to share! This is fun and interesting insight on iterative problem solving and it was really entrancing to watch.
Problem-solving is really fun for me, especially the iterative process of problem definition, ideation, planning, experimenting, failing, and repeating everything until the problem is solved. Going through the steps, working my brain, and getting that Eureka! moment energizes me and drives me forward!
I’ve read and learned that one of the key differentiators between fixed-mindset (scarcity and “I Can’t” mentality) and growth-mindset (abundance and “I Can”) is believing that there is already an answer, but it just isn’t yet revealed to me. Adopting this mindset presupposes that the solution exists; that it will naturally be uncovered. It abolishes the “I Can’t” and the “It’s not possible” mindset because there is, in fact, already a solution. It inspires a desire to find the solution. The solution is always there, but it takes the right mindset to see it.
In life, this kind of thing manifests in everyday stuff like “why doesn’t the ceiling light turn on?” In this case we’ve been trained through experience to pre-suppose there’s a solution. The problem is almost always either a burned-out bulb or a tripped a fuse. We know how to fix both because we’ve seen it fixed many times before. But when neither of these works, what do we do?
This has probably happened to you and, much like the Lego rover in the video above, we iterate through possibilities. For example, check a nearby outlet to see if it works, or turn on/off other lights. Test other fuses. If everything works – just not the ceiling light – then we figure the problem is either the light socket or the switch. If you’re like me, you go get the electrical tester and poke the light socket. No juice? Take off the wall switch plate and test those wires. It’s “hot” going into the switch? There’s the solution – it’s a bad switch! Home Depot, here I come (I love my trips to the hardware store)!
Why go through all those extra steps if the bulb didn’t turn on one morning? Because of the presupposition that there is a solution, the solution will be found, and I can find it!
We do this in business every day. The very essence of any business is to solve problems for someone else. As a technology provider to the asset finance industry, we are finding novel ways to solve 40-year-old finance problems by applying new technology, new thinking, and new capabilities. The minute we stop solving problems (the light stops going on, the Lego rover flips over on its back), our business ceases to exist for failing the “essence” test of solving problems. (For a great, contemporary read on the growth mindset, I recommend Mindset: the New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck.)
Back to what I said at the beginning… Problem-solving is really fun for me. It’s what gets me up every day and puts energy in my mind. I hope you liked the Lego rover video on problem-solving, and may you never be in a situation where the ceiling light switch doesn’t turn on for you!
I’m humbled to take this journey alongside you. Together let’s solve a ton of fun problems in 2021!