ABSTRACT
Problem solving is more than just finding a solution on which to get by. Unless the root cause of the problem is addressed, you are making only a temporary or superficial fix.
To illustrate this point, think of yourself as a doctor. A patient comes into your office and describes some of the symptoms that he or she is experiencing. Sometimes there is only one noticeable symptom; other times there are many noticeable symptoms. One option to address the problems would be to treat each symptom individually. Treat the headache with a pain reliever; treat the congestion with a decongestant. The question posed for consideration in this chapter is, “Did we really solve the problem?” Maybe, but it is unlikely. It’s unlikely that the patient is aware of all of the symptoms that are manifested by the underlying illness. The patient would not necessarily know if his or her blood pressure was elevated or if his or her immune system was elevated to try to fight off a bacterial infection. In this case, merely treating the symptoms only masks the true problem until the symptoms intensify or additional symptoms manifest themselves. Without going through a proper diagnosis or root cause identification process, we end up only temporarily masking problems instead of truly solving them.
