Am I ready to change? Or, more definitely is there a need for change? Sometimes, people live, and love and eat and sleep without showing any interest in change. But, when do I realize that I need a change? It is when I cannot solve a problem; it is when I cannot move forward; it is when I cannot achieve my goal. And when that problem arises, what do I think or really, do I think? First, I ask myself: “Is there a “right” or “wrong” way to think over a problem or is there a peculiar choice? What is more important, “what I do” or “how I do it”? How I choose my answers, “after I analyze the question” or “after I redefine the problem”?
When I started to read “Think like a Freak”, I couldn’t even imagine that I haven’t ever known how to think. It sounds funny, but it’s true. To think it is not simply breaking head or becoming blind by reading thousands of books. To think first means to choose: to choose the very tools or methods that later will solve the problem. Deciphering a problem by breaking it into small pieces and then choosing how to make the puzzle, creates the very steps to the solution. As each question has at least one answer and that answer lies in the problem.
I always come across these statements: “Think out of BOX”, “Be CREATIVE”, “Make an INTERACTIVE presentation”. But, to think out of the box, first I should understand what that box contains, or even more, what it means TO THINK OUT OF BOX. As Zig Ziglar, American author, salesman, and motivational speaker said: “When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal: you do not change your decision to get there”. Namely, I must not change my goal; I need to change my direction. And, how to choose that direction or will it be right or “right”? Why do I not want to change or why am I not ready to change my direction? Because I am afraid to fail. Because I am afraid of criticism. Because I am afraid of breaking barriers. Because I am afraid to look like childish, but, “The creative adult is the child who survived” (Ursula K. Le Guin). So, I am not ready to change, but I am ready to kill the child or the dream inside myself because other-society does not understand my worldview. My question: “Did that society see my dream”? If you have not seen an apple, it does not mean it is a Utopia.
So, how our reality is being changed, or is it ever possible to change? Reality is the state of things as they are, rather than as they are imagined to be. What means “things they are”? Even the statement by Einstein has been proved that the stars we see in the Cosmos can’t exist the very time, because it can be its picture printed on the sky platform that has long been melted away. And, this is freely applied to our real world as well. For example, as the wine-test blind experiment performed by a Harvard student in the Book[1], it is real for any labeled society, and interestingly all societies are so. Let’s observe the Armenian case. It is obvious that in Armenia or in any other country Samsung Galaxy or iPhone products can be much easier marketed, than technologically the same product but with a different design. All by a chance, I have done an experiment on surveying different levels of society whether they will buy Armenian cellphone made in Armenia or not. The answers varied to “I’m used to Samsung or iPhone”; “I don’t care what product to buy”; “Really, do we make Armenian cellphones?” So, what problem do we have here? Is it about clichés or tradition or is it the “right” and “qualified” product to choose? What is tradition? Tradition is a belief, principle, or way of acting that people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time. In short, we can define tradition as an inheritance. Namely, what we have now can be actual for our future generation. I can hardly change things in the present, but it may become easily seen in the future if I make steps towards that change. The real problem, here lies in the question “How to start”?
Think-once-or-twice-a-week theory by Bernard Shaw[2] reveals two interesting strategy tools to overlook the problem: that is “to think” and “to think at the right time”. When you think over a problem more than one time, you go deeper and deeper into the problem and become soaked by it, acting subjective and non-flexible. As Chaplin said: “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.” To solve a problem the first step is to remove the surface covering of the problem, which are the emotions coming from the social influence, and find the core ground on which problem performs its results. So, the essence is not “what is the problem” but “what caused the problem”. In this case, redefining the problem helps to understand what message is set in the situation created and whether the general solution will solve the problem or will create a set of similar problems like cutting the head of the dragon. Root causes of problems or tasks lie in detail. First, we brake the problem into smaller problems and start solving them one by one and in the end, we make the whole picture like in Kobi or Solomon case[3].
“Whatever problem you’re trying to solve, make sure you’re not just attacking the noisy part of the problem that happens to capture your attention. Before spending all your time and resources, it’s incredibly important to properly define the problem—or, better yet, redefine the problem”[4]. Namely, to solve a problem, first I need to see what problem I have, remove the emotional coloring, and narrow down to the gist of the issue. However, it is sometimes extremely difficult to remove my emotions, to describe the case, and imagine a near solution. To know why I should define what “noise” means. Noise is a sound or sounds, especially when it is unwanted, unpleasant, or loud. So, how can we find out the unwanted, unpleasant, and loud part of the problem? For example, when a bomb blasts, we hear the explosion sound and don’t think what caused that sound, because we are affected by it. But, when we go through that sound we will see what caused that sound or blast. To do that we just need to close our ears and again think.
However, to solve a problem applying these above-mentioned cases will assist but will not absolutely be enough. As each problem has a subjective and sensitive solution, and change will come when you and I are ready to adapt to them. To solve a problem or to “Think like a Freak” requires just two small statements: “I don’t know”, “I need help”. But, even these small changes need time and a certain environment to be practiced. As Moynihan said: “Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion but not to their own facts.”[5] Sometimes, I can’t even differentiate what is a fact, what is an assertion, and what is opinion. Society unites us, but separates us within, creates our oblique, but distorts our individuality, gives us a chance to adapt to changes, but forbids applying out-of-box changes. Change comes, when the realization of change is understood and accepted. If I have the strength to be the change I want to see, others will see it, too.
I’m happy that I have written this report for the second time because I’ve found the strength in me to say the thing that I couldn’t say for years. In the first version of this report, I have written each statement in the third person, because I was afraid to reveal that it is me who is afraid to change, it is me who is afraid of change. Why? Because I’m afraid to fail. This is us who make society, and it is up to us how we will change our society – by changing ourselves. Now, I am ready to change, am I?
Sources
[1] Stevan D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, “Think like a Freak”. William Morrow, An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, pp.26-27.
[2] Imbd. p.12.
[3] Imbd, pp.31-37, 72-89.
[4] Imbd. p. 31.
[5] Imbd. p. 16.