I’ve seen an ugly trend bubbling up across my work-world…and personal-world, including social media.
We are becoming a society of problem-pointer-outters.
I’m a bit of a personal finance nerd…and spend my weekends reading up on ideas how to make my money work for me (versus just me always working for money…but I digress) and ran across a post on Linked In. The individual was talking about the impacts of your latte at Starbucks:
The price of a Grande Latte at Starbucks: $3.65
x7-Days a week = $25.55
x52-Weeks a year = $1,328.60
x45-Years (post college age to retirement age) = $59,787
The poster was suggesting ways to find “pennies in the cushion” as a way to help create emergency funds and retirement savings.
The response from social media was swift and…idiotic. Things like:
“Did you even factor the cost of making coffee at home?”
“Oh, so you want people to never be happy?”
“Ohh, $60k for retirement? Better not spend that all on one hip.” (OK, this one was kind of funny/not funny…I chuckled).
We live in a society in which only 39% of Americans can afford a $1,000 emergency…but don’t you dare suggest taking their $4 latte from them.
Instead of looking at the above example as a new vantage point; that point being we should evaluate our spending habits and find ways to reduce costs and enhance savings…we’d rather point out all the flaws within the solution. 'Cause it's easy.
The original poster wasn’t suggesting one never drink Starbucks, but, rather…the impact that a reduction in said activities can have on lifelong savings.
Yet, in our society, if a solution isn’t 100% correct in all plausible situations, we’d rather throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater; and God forbid you have a typo. If you have a typo then, obviously, your recommendation is totally wrong. No one suggested giving up Starbucks forever....and that this one thing would make you rich. Yet, the problem pointer-outters go straight to that argument, therefore the activity has no merit.
Idiotic.
It’s far easier for us to point out problems. And worse, point out problems with solutions.
Instead of taking an idea like reducing our Starbucks consumption and looking at other consumption patterns as a way to reduce our expenses and enhance our savings…we bang the keyboards with nonsense like “what if you die in a year and that savings doesn’t do you any good?” (A real comment on this thread)
These same problem-pointer-outters are also the ones banging their chests about how they are critical thinkers and the rest of us are “sheep.”
Real critical thinkers…can extrapolate suggestions and ideas and find ways to apply them to their unique situation. Even if a suggestion isn’t 100% aligned with said situation. That’s the whole point of formal education…taking an idea and finding ways to apply it, but, again…I’m just a sheep here.
To many folks? Extrapolation is too hard. It’s just easier to type “*your” if someone uses “you’re” instead; or WAKE UP, in all caps, to show my mental superiority.
Take the current hiring problems as another example. There’s a wide swath of people (mostly the “critical thinkers”) claiming “no one wants to work.”
Idiotic.
The reality? We have multifaceted problems colliding at once.
Our society has, for two-to-three generations, promoted higher-education (four-year degrees or above) as the path to success; reducing the pool of candidates for blue-collar work.
As a society, we’ve granted access to easy money for higher-education; bypassing the need to work while in school.
As a society, we have an aging workforce that is quickly retiring; forcing younger people into managerial roles and creating a vacuum at the junior-level.
The internet has given rise to an exploding ‘gig’ economy, where it’s becoming easier and easier to hang your own shingle; meaning, individuals don’t even need to become employees.
And in the most recent 24-months a significant step forward to remote work-forces. Meaning, I don’t need to be in the same state as my employer…creating even more competition for talent.
I’m sure I’m leaving out other factors, but all of these events individually would impact the hiring pool. All of them all at once is creating a significant impact.
It’s not as simplistic as “no one wants to work.” But again…it’s easier to point out problems in society than to view them through the lens of real critical thinking.
Problem-pointer-outters believe that unless a singular answer exists…then, the problem still exists. But complex problems require complex solutions; rather, “and” solutions not “or” solutions.
Is cutting out Starbucks going to solve the fact that only 39% of Americans can afford a $1,000 emergency? No…but, reducing Starbucks AND reducing eating out AND working a couple of extra hours a week…could. Financial solvency is a complex issue in our society...and will require complex problem solving to correct.
Again: “And” solutions. Not “or.”
If in your work or personal lives you spend far more time pointing out problems or, punching holes in other people’s solutions, you aren’t “critically thinking.” You’re just part of the problem; you're just planting your feet. Real-world solutioning can be messy. Version 1.0 of a solution will never be ‘perfect.’ And going from point A to point Z requires an “and” approach.
That’s where it derails…we live in a right/wrong society. Left/Right. Compromise is a dirty word. Even when it comes to problem-solving.
It’s easier to blame others for problems than to look for answers. It's easier to blame some faceless "they" (i.e. "they" don't want to work anymore) than to really examine larger societal issues. It’s easier to poke holes in solutions than to find ways to enhance the idea. After all, if your TikTok video is longer than 20 seconds, I'm outtie...why then, should I, "a complex thinker" spend more than 20 seconds thinking about complex problems and solutions?
So, let’s be really clear on one thing…you aren’t a “critical thinker” if all you do is point out problems. If you aren’t adding to solutions, helping to create version 2.0 of an answer that may require 20 more iterations…you’re just a problem-pointer-outter. And by the way?
Sheep tend to run away from problems...instead of facing them down.
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