The Struggle is the Solution

Peter Block (2011), in his highly practical book Flawless Consulting, ends with a section, The Struggle is the Solution. He calls out the simple yet paradoxical reality that the most persistent "problems" have no clear answer. What he is describing is essentially the world's shades of grays. How do you deal with a situation where two opposing points of view are both true? He gives the example: do we always tell the truth, or do acknowledge the political realities of an organization?

What Block is calling out is that the journey or the struggle to find the answer is actually the solution. That is, "the best outcomes emerge in the effort to understand the truth on both sides" (2011, p.303).

This was a real ah-ha moment for me. What if we shifted our focus or our mindset away from finding the solution? What if we all agreed to come to the table agreeing not to seek one solution, but all came to the table acknowledging that we might not get to a clear answer? Coming to the table to discuss (rather than debate) is (in part) the actual solution. (To extend this further, imagine a rectangular table with parties on opposite sides transforming into a round table where we all sit along the same side. Now that's a metaphor!)

That is why our approach to finding a solution or answer must be driven by a balance between advocacy and inquiry....the balance between advocacy and inquiry can be found HERE in another post, and in my RESOURCES section.

"Embrace the truth that persistent problems often have no clear answer...resist the temptation for certainty and speed."