When faced with a problem, determining how we wish to engage with it can help focus our attention and resources.
- Ignore the problem: change nothing.
- Manage the emotions caused by the problem: change our own internal perceptions; our emotions and thoughts. The locus of control is all internal. The behaviour change is directed at the internal (cognitive and emotive) world.
- Work around the problem: change our behaviors in how we respond to the problem. The locus of control is still internal, but some of the behaviour change is now directed towards the external world.
- Work on the problem: changing our own perceptions-behaviors as well as the pensions-behaviors of others who are involved in the problem. Needless to say, this is the hardest aspect of solving a problem.
These aspects apply equally to how individuals and organisations approach problems.
