Q: What happens after you solve your biggest problem?
A: The next largest problem becomes your “biggest problem”.
I’ve been staring at an email from Jack Butcher for over a month now.
In it, he opens with a simple illustration and a quote.
“After you solve the biggest problem, something else becomes the biggest problem.“
– Balaji Srinivasan
Jack remarks that progress is simply solving harder and harder problems. And then he closes with this, “To look forward is to look forward to the next problem“.
I had (perhaps wrongly) assumed that you could solve your biggest problem, and then not have a “big problem” for a while. But that was because I didn’t like problems, and I wanted to avoid them.
But as I was confronted by Jack’s email, I began to realize that the value I add to the world is in solving problems. I shouldn’t turn away from them, I should embrace them. Someone’s problem is my opportunity to create value.
And my own problems are opportunities for me to upgrade my skills to be able to solve bigger and bigger problems (for myself and others).
Actionable Question: How does your attitude need to shift regarding “problems”?
Thanks for sharing your attention with me,
Andrew Nemeth