The problem with being a “problem solver”

How a generation of designers are selling themselves short.

A young man and an old man decide to build a house, so they set out in search of wood. Deep in the forest, they find a mighty oak, big enough to supply all the wood they need. But no matter how hard they swing, their axes can’t pierce the bark of the tree. Eventually they fall to the ground exhausted.

After a while the young man speaks. “The problem is that the bark of this tree is too strong. We must find a different tree.” He picks up his axe and sets off deeper into the forest.

The old man stays behind. He gazes up at the tree and then feels the edge of his axe with his thumb. “The problem,” he says “is that our axes are too blunt”. He takes a whetstone, sharpens his axe, and has soon chopped down the tree.

Hours later, the young man returns empty-handed. “How did you get this wood?” he asks incredulously “I searched the whole forest, but I couldn’t find a single tree I could cut!”.

The old man smiles “While you were searching for the right solution, I found the right problem”.