Fixing The Solution

"The problem with you is ...; the problem we have here is ...; this problem is the cause of ..." When everything is a problem, then nothing can help but a problem solver. When everything is broken, then the only remedy is to fix or replace. Everyone is a nail when I am a hammer and my job is management.

Such has been the modus operandi and the reason for so much funding, yet not much fun, finding solutions to people's problems. The real problem, however, is the disregard for imaginative and personally-involved collaborations. Rather than telling someone in need that they need help, confess that you need their help. Time will be better spent seeking their understanding of what's needed than what's able to be provided.

Respect for capabilities, not disabilities, is always what's needed and encouragement towards cooperation is always the way to improvement of any situation.

An example of this is the counselor's asking, perhaps by way of a story, the help of a prisoner to understand how things function in prison since the counselor has no experience of it. As the counselor presents the story's drama, that is the prisoner's as per the administration, the prisoner offers his/her take on it while being able to feel free of fault or guilt. The understanding given to the counselor becomes the help the prisoner gives him/herself to deal better with the difficult situation.

The easy read or the quick fix is usually the only solution that management considers or social services provides. That's why we need to fix the solution. In particular, solutions that create dependency, fault or guilt. Also solutions that don't bring the real problem to light but force it underground, often by falling through the cracks. And solutions that provide a hand-out that feels more like a slap in the face.

I sincerely believe that, given the chance, people will find their own creative way of dealing with difficulties, especially when the problem has more to do with the system than the person involved. Given the chance, people will want to help at least as much as ask to be helped. And, given the chance, everyone would choose to be an active part of the solution than a passive pawn of the problem.

Yet, as long as we keep trying to fix the problems that people present, we probably won't get around to fixing the solution.