What’s the Difference between Problem-Solving and Creation?
Creation with Love
Do you spend most of your time working to solve the unwanted problems in your life or do you spend most of your time working to create what you love? This question gets to the heart of the matter about the difference between creations and problems.
Here are six sources of wisdom with perspectives on the topics of creation and problem-solving.
What is the difference between a problem and a creation? Here are two definitions from Merriam-Webster.com. Click on the links for more detail about the meanings of these two words.
Simple Definition of a Problem:
- Something that is difficult to deal with, something that is a source of trouble, worry, etc.
- Difficulty in understanding something
- A feeling of not liking or wanting to do something
Simple Definition of a Creation:
- The act of making or producing something that did not exist before, the act of creating something
- Something new that is made or produced, something that has been created
- Everything in the world
Everyone has problems. It’s a fact of life. Most of us spend much of our time trying to solve our problems.
wikiHow begins with a new perspective: wikiHow to Define a Problem. The essential idea is “before jumping right into solving a problem, we should step back and invest time and effort to improve our understanding of it.”
The article identifies Four Parts to this process and breaks down each part into specific steps. This excellent article is worth consulting any time you face some sort of problem you need to solve.
Two of the most important books I have ever read are Creating and The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz. What he says about creation, problem-solving, and the creative process can be transformative.
Refer to his website for the principles of the creative process.
A provocative article by Michael Michalko on his Creative Thinking website identifies the Seven Deadly Sins that Prevent Creative Thinking.
Three of the “deadly sins” are:
- We do not believe we are creative
- We believe the myths about creativity
- We fear failure
Brian Tracy, internationally known success speaker, describes The 10-Step Creative Problem Solving Process.
The first three steps are:
Change your language about the problem from negative to positive
Define the situation or problem clearly
Use critical thinking to approach the problem from several different directions
Instead of providing a method to solve a problem, Susanna Bair, of The Institute for Applied Meditation on the Heart, describes a creation process built on love, Create What You Love: 4 Steps to Improve Your Life.
This is the kind of change of perspective that Robert Fritz refers to in his distinction between problem-solving and creation. A problem-solving method focuses on getting rid of what you don’t want in your life. In contrast, a creation process focuses on making what you want to have in your life.
