Natural Problem Solvers

Retired General Stanley McChrystal was recently on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to talk about the U.S. military and to promote his new memoir My Share of the Task. One line struck with me from the segment.

General McChrystal said that American soldiers are by nature, first and foremost “problem solvers” and they “want to help things get better”.

Regardless of your thoughts on the military, I hope we can all agree that this is a great way to handle ourselves professionally and personally.

I was also reminded of another great line that has resonated and struck with me for almost (gulp) 20 years, going back to my high school football days.

My coach, a great man named Joe Sacco who passed away a few years after I graduated, would always say yell at us “Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

When it comes to marketing, I like to take this same approach. I see a problem. Or at least an opportunity to make things better.

So my next step after seeing the problem is to get to work helping solve it.

Whether it’s redesigning a company’s Facebook page or ghost writing a blog post for the company Web site or strategizing about Twitter aka Twittergizing…I am here to help.

Because I am a problem solver by nature. Or at least, I try to be. It depends on if I know how to solve the problem. Even if I don’t know…I’ll at least ask somebody else for help!