Problem Seeker

Hi, my name is Christophe and I’m a problem seeker.

Don’t you mean you’re a problem solver?!

No.

Sure, I like to solve problems, absolutely. Yet I seem to prefer to seek them out. By nature, I’m a problem seeker and simply can’t stop digging deeper, looking further, questioning more, looking for the true challenge, uncovering underlying issues.

The bottom line for me is always the real problem. That’s what makes me tick. If I can uncover a problem, it can be solved. If it remains undetected, it will continue to cause harm and/or more problems. And there are problems lurking in so many places. One thing they all excel at is hiding in plain sight. Finding them essentially requires being curious, not taking things for granted and daring to pose uncomfortable questions.

And where else than in my professional life, as an Enterprise Architect, does being a problem seeker come in handy?

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Does this mean I question everything? No, of course not. It would be rather unproductive to question everything and try to build up everything from the ground up, only. It’s important to ask questions and to know when to stop digging, before reaching the center of the earth and burn up in eternal flames.

This is where the “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” comes in. I believe in learning from others who have already solved similar problems. I read, I study, I experiment, I prototype, I fail, I learn, I share. And in doing so, I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me, and I hope others will stand on mine.

The Problem with Problem Solving

The issue with jumping straight to problem solving is that you might be solving the wrong problem. Or you might be solving a symptom rather than the root cause. Or you might be applying a solution that worked elsewhere but doesn’t fit this context.

By seeking problems first, by digging deeper, by asking “why” multiple times, by challenging assumptions, by listening carefully to what stakeholders are really saying (and not saying), I often discover that the stated problem is not the actual problem.

And that discovery is where the real value lies. Because solving the wrong problem perfectly is worse than solving the right problem imperfectly.

URL: https://christophe.vg/about/problem-seeker/ Author: Christophe Van Ginneken (Christophe VG)

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