…is it a problem or just a breakdown?
When we have a ‘problem,’ there’s the possibility that there’s a ‘failure’ lurking somewhere nearby, or we most likely wouldn’t have a ‘problem.’ When confronted with a ‘problem,’ something caused by some ‘failure,’ a lot of personal recriminations arise because our identity always seems to be locked into it.
Both problems and failures have accumulated baggage over time, much of which is difficult to let go of, and we therefore approach them with a past/present mindset.
From a language perspective, reframing the something that arose (problem or failure) might be more usefully labelled a breakdown (as The Forum might indicate), due to less associated baggage.
Once reframed in this way, a space opens up as those old conversations that accompanied our ‘problem’ and ‘failure’ narratives don’t show up, and we can look at the situation with a new and different perspective.
As breakdowns (problems, disappointments, and failures) will always be around, reframing brings us to a point of realizing that most breakdowns, whatever form they take, are nothing more than feedback, data, or just something missing.
With this understanding, it becomes a little easier to move forward because we have a chance to understand the issue more clearly with less self-recriminating baggage to deal with.
PS: This blog post was thought of and written by me, no AI here, and is a mosaic of my experience, reading, and forward learning.
William Kerr And associates 