Fix the Foundation First

Has anybody seen are we done yet lately? It is a movie that came out in 2007 and I thought it was hilarious. I’m not sure why, but this movie is stuck in my brain. If you haven’t, picture this. The People’s family, city people, move out to the suburbs for their growing family to have more space. They recently found out that they are having twins so they need to buy a home immediately. The main character Nick doesn’t get the house inspected before buying to beat out another interested couple (btw never do that!) So they move in and start to find all these problems that need complete renovations! So it starts with mold, electrical work, and plumbing. Every day they find something new. One day they find the floor had termites so they gut it. Nick is about to lose his mind and asks why all of the renovations are necessary. I can’t remember the exact quote but the contractor says that ” it’s gotta get ugly before it gets beautiful.”

So today we are going to talk about getting to the root of your problems and getting through the ugly so you can find the beautiful!

Why is it important that we define our problems before coming up with solutions? In the design world, we define problems to make sure we stay focused on the goal. Here is a quote from career foundry that sums it up well. Without a well-defined problem statement, it’s hard to know what you’re aiming for. Your work will lack focus, and the final design will suffer. Not only that: in the absence of a clear problem statement, it’s extremely difficult to explain to stakeholders and team members exactly what you are trying to achieve.

Let’s reflect that on ourselves in the absence of a clear problem it’s difficult to ask for the right help, and find the right solutions and you will spend time worrying about the paint chips in your house instead of the termites rotting the foundation. That’s what I talk about in Episode 7 of The Creativity Cure! Listen below.