I just finished watching the movie ‘Jobs’. The one that sort of came and went quietly from the cinemas… Some reviews were positive, most negative. To me, the movie was great. It was as if they wrote the script straight from the book, there wasn’t really anything new to learn about Jobs, however it still did what I expected it to do. It motivated me, it made me smile, it made me realise I’m still one of the crazy ones, and I cherish that.
The line that stuck with me as the credits played was the ‘You need a problem you want to solve’. It was just so simple. Everything around us was created as a solution to a problem. The reason we are still creating, and why there is always chance for innovation is because there will always be problems that need solving.
You need to be the crazy one, the one who hates rules, you need to think outside the box, fall in love with the different, and be the one who invents the next big thing in whatever it is you are doing.
You don’t have to do just one thing. You can do whatever it is you want to do. You can solve as many problems as you like, but the solution will come if you have passion, if you absolutely wholeheartedly believe in what you are doing.
If you do it just for money, it will more than likely fail.
So I put my businesses/life etc up against this line and sure enough – all of them are solutions to problems that were out there, and it’s not just my problem, it is others as well (meaning I have a market for these products/services).
If you are solving only your problem you don’t have a business. You need to find a problem many people are having, so that your solution can help many people who will be willing to pay for it.
So my problem solving mission at the moment – to get my office sorted and organised! Bring on tomorrow with a day of entertaining a toddler whilst sorting through filing cabinets! I shall sleep now to create a solution!
Rebecca Grugan 