HOW THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE TREAT EVERYTHING--INCLUDING PROBLEMS--As An Asset (A Case Study)In a world of limited resources, the idea of “win-wins” doesn’t happen often. “Giving 110%” is just, well, “fuzzy math,” and as for “we have to push the envelope,” have you ever actually tried to push an envelope? It’s a lot like “pushing string” or “herding cats.”However, there is one much overused phrase we do think has merit: “There are no such things as problems; just opportunities.” Indeed that is the starting point for the business environment we now find ourselves.The world, which has always been unpredictable, is becoming increasingly more so. That means your odds of moving smoothly from A to B are going to steadily decrease over time, creating more and more situations that you simply could not anticipate. That means more problems—but more opportunities, if you view those challenges in a different way.The key is to focus on your goal and not on the plan that you initially drew up to get there.With this approach, your objective doesn’t change, but you accept the fact that how you may get there might. For anyone who has put together a five year plan or even an annual budget, this is going to require thinking differently, something which is never a walk in the park. But it can be done.To see how we need tobegin by taking a step back.In the world we grew up in, we were taught either to avoid the unexpected, or to overcome it. It was all about efficiency. Optimizing. Achieving the objective quickly with as few deviationsas possible. That’s understandable. Beforebeginning anything new we usually spend a lot of time trying to figure out what is going to happen (predicting) and once we get underway it is all about making that prediction a reality. So, not surprisingly, people get upset when something unexpected appears in their path and their reaction is the deviation from the plan needs to be eliminated or overcome ASAP.