The Three Types of Problems {And Why They Matter}
"If you define the problem properly, you almost have the solution”- Steve Jobs
Defining a problem properly is much trickier than it sounds.
During a call this morning with a colleague, I was asked point-blank: ‘what’s going on with your energy?’
I did not want to answer that question. Unbeknownst to my colleague I had a triple-whammy the night before (you know, when three unexpectedly hurtful things happen back-to-back). While I was well aware of my wafting sadness, I wasn’t quite clear on why I was stuck in this reaction and working it out during our meeting felt vulnerable. However, I had been in this emotional state since the night before and I very much wanted clarity and a sense of relief from this energy-sucking misery. (And viola- that’s how most inner world development begins… with a push from pain, a desire for relief and a little jump over the initial vulnerability of diving in).
I’m going to tell you how the triple whammy went from ‘overwhelm’ to ‘understanding’ because it just so happens to paint a nice picture of the three types of problems we’re discussing and illustrates how inner world development becomes the game-changing element in each one.
Whammy #1:
So there I was, feeling happy and high after a great weekend when my best friend needed to discuss something delicate. I shifted into a cool, collected non-egoic state so that I could truly listen and hold the space needed to process this tricky subject. During the discussion I felt like I stepped on live landmine. I was able to stay calm on the outside but internally, I felt like I was bleeding out. This was both shocking and painful.
Whammy #2: Later on in the afternoon, I had asked someone I admire and looked up to for feedback on a piece I had written. The response they offered caught me off guard; it was brutal. My performance was criticized up and down. I got a metaphorical butt-whoopin’. I felt crushed and embarrassed.
Whammy #3: Summoning what felt like the last of my resilience, I found myself in a position where I had to advocate for what I wanted. Whether it’s money, jobs, raises, love or help, asking for what we want is critical to creating the results we want (and it can also be super vulnerable). Thus, my third whammy came in the form of a ‘no, not gonna happen’ response to what I wanted. I retreated inside myself, feeling shut down and defeated.
These emotions all ran together, tangling into an internal festering mess that left me in tears and confusion.
The Three Types of Problems (and Why They Matter)
Most problems that have come through my clinical door, the church doors or through the doors of my consulting company can be categorized into these three main types: the need for Healing/Reparations, the need for Performance/Purpose,Profit and the need Profit,/Impact. Thus, these three overarching categories serve as the most common and defined entries into Inner World Development.
Problem #1: The Need for Healing/Reparation
To ‘heal’ is a broad term that simply means an area of concern that needs to be returned to a healthy state. For many, this could be physical health, emotional concerns, psychological issues, mental difficulties, or even relationships with self and others.
Healing and reparations are the foundation of our inner world. A healthy inner world leads quite naturally to a healthy outer world experience.
When we take the opportunity to heal something in our inner world, everything in our personal universe improves. Understanding when a problem falls into the ‘Healing’ category matters because healing is usually the first step for all inner-world, development and is the largest category of problem types.
Whammy #1 Understanding:
When I understood that I had stepped on a landmine, I had to give myself time to accept that it would be painful. Once I accepted the pain, I could sit with it and release it appropriately. It’s wildly difficult to problem-solve when we’re activated (triggered); it’s usually best to wait til the emotion subsides a bit. Triggers are a sign that an area of our inner world needs healing. These are cues from our bodies and souls that something is simmering inside and needs attention. Triggers, although wildly uncomfortable, are meant to be healed, sorted, and soothed.
You don’t have to have complex childhood trauma, war experiences or sexual assault to have triggers; hurtful relationships, bad habits and even our ‘old selves’ can be trigger points in our current situations. This ‘old stuff’ re-emerging can be intense during seasons of growth, healing or leveling up in our lives. While initially disorienting and painful, these are huge opportunities to heal ourselves.
Problem #2: The Need for Performance/Purpose
This problem revolves around the need to find some kind of meaning in our activities and efforts (purpose) and obtaining the skills and mastery needed to intentionally guide our own progress (performance).
In my experience, healing is a type of ‘moving out of survival’. We’ve all heard the saying ‘if you don't have your health, you have nothing’. Whether that health is physical, mental or emotional (which is incredibly interconnected), a lack of healing puts you in a place of prioritizing the basics of well-being.
Performance then is the pain/desire to live as yourself; to know, develop, and realize your potential. This is both a privilege and an unrelenting universal urge that I've recognized across cultures, economic status, race, and gender. We want to know who we are, why we’re here, any one and that we can influence our own destiny. Breakdowns in anyone of those begin to cause suffering, internal disorganization, and well-intentioned efforts to meet this need in some other way (usually causing more internal and external confusion). Understanding when a problem falls into performance/purpose may be trickier to spot but matters greatly because it is often one of the deepest and most exciting entry points into inner-world development.
Whammy #2 Understanding:
I understood that this was a problem of performance (and in this case, was very closely tied to my purpose). Criticism can hurt, no doubt. Cognitively, I fully understand that it’s normal to receive professional criticism. I understand that top athletes, authors, and leaders get regular criticism for their performance; it’s a natural part of the growth process. It stung in my case because it was tied to my purpose, I felt embarrassed about my shortcomings and it highlighted the need to improve my craft.
However, identifying this as a problem of performance/purpose helps me to detangle it from the heaping wad of sad emotions that were tangled in the corner when I first started. It also points me in the right direction internally so I can leverage my emotions and begin to create helpful shifts.
Problem #3: The Need for Profits/Impact
This problem relates to the ability to produce tangible results. ‘Profit’ can refer to actual resources (monetary or other types of tangible resources) or it can refer to a type of desired impact. Impact then refers to obtaining the desired effect on something or someone.
Businesses are usually the first to raise their hands on this pain point, as they often want to hit revenue goals or reach larger groups with their message. Churches and Humanitarian groups also are usually forthcoming about a strong pain point or desire to make a bigger impact in their community or world; they want to see an issue changed through their intentional efforts.
It’s not just businesses and larger organizations that suffer in this category. Throughout my years working as a clinical therapist, I couldn’t help but notice the silent component of many of my clients’ issues; money. As a culture, we understand that poverty or lack of resources can create relational, personal, and even psychological issues. Conversely, this matter of resources is the apple of many an eye, giving it a reputation of greed, envy, and much moral dispute. Regardless of our personal perspectives of have’s and have-nots, the ability to produce an intended effect, whether it be a type of profit or impact, is a key entry point to inner world development.
Whammy #3 Understanding:
My experience of rejection in my third whammy of the night can be boiled down to a problem of profit/impact. I had the opportunity to create tangible results, to bring about something I wanted for myself and I failed to achieve that impact. It sucks to want something, work for something, muster up the courage to take a risk, and then fail to bring about that final result. Understanding this problem as an impact issue helps me to move away from the cliff of despair emotionally and walk towards the inner world development path that leads to creating the impact I actually want.
The Movement
Take a moment and think of the most pressing issue in your personal life. What would you say is your biggest problem? Now think of your greatest desire. What is it that drives you? What is it that you’re moving towards?
As you call these important aspects of your life to mind are you able to determine what category your most pressing issues fall under? And how familiar are you with the inner world development tools to evolve in that area?
Historically, external issues forced major evolution in humanity and in our external world (as seen above). We are about to enter an age where the problems of healing, performance, and profit are going to push a new kind of evolution; an evolution of humanity through the inner world.
Stay tuned for how this is happening, what we can expect, and how you might fit in the upcoming (r)evolution.
Til Next Time.
Jesska Layne Herfst, MAPC