The art of problem-solving

We all have problems. The heater in your home quit during a cold snap. Your office internet provider seems more unreliable by the day. Your recent applicants are considering canceling after reflecting on how large their lifetime expectancy set aside will be.

The question isn’t how to avoid problems but how we will handle them.

Perhaps the best mindset can be found in the title of author and entrepreneur Marie Forleo’s book ‘Everything is Figureoutable”. Is there such a word? There is now. Here are some of her best quotations.

“The most powerful words in the universe are the words you say to yourself.”

“I win or I learn, but I never lose.”

“Insight without action is worthless. Taking action is the only path to change.”

There’s a certain pragmatism in her writing that warrants careful consideration and perhaps application for each of us working in the trade of reverse mortgage lending.

However, if we’re honest not every problem may have a solution. That’s a fact elected officials and policymakers often forget. Instead, some problems require us to go around the obstacle finding another path.

The best problems to address are those we have control over. Each problem should be examined, held up close, and scrutinized. Is it something I can influence? Is there another way? Is the obstacle that stands in front of me the path to a win? Do I hack my way through the bramble or find a path around it?

Life and business are chaotic in their very nature. A principle military planners have embraced in their training practicing chaos. Reverse mortgagee professionals have had ample practice in the last several years. The question is if everything is figureoutable?