#265. How to find and solve problems
Another thing school doesn’t teach me.
One of the things that I don’t like about the school system is the emphasis on problem-solving. Problem-solving is an amazing skill to have, but the way school teaches problem-solving is all wrong.
Knowing how to solve a math problem isn’t the same as knowing how to solve a real-world problem. While math problems aren’t necessarily easy, most of them are simple. Follow the rules and you’ll get the right answer. There might be too many rules and steps to memorize, making it harder to solve the problem, but following the rules is the objective.
That’s good problem-solving if what you’re dealing with is based solely on facts. Knowing how to solve a math problem might help you if you’re an architect, or analyst, or chemist.
Real-world problems aren’t always based solely on facts. Real-world problems might need creativity. Real-world problems might need team-oriented skills. Every problem isn’t a math problem. Furthermore, every problem can’t be analyzed by a 5-page essay.
Even worse, school doesn’t teach you how to find the problems that need to solve. School makes you fully aware to one type of problem, but other problems can go by unnoticed.
Problems don’t always slap you in the face. A college student might not even notice the problem of not having any scholarships, until they have to take out a loan.
Businesses don’t always notice their competitor crawling up on their market share or a flaw in their product. Take Samsung for example. Last year’s, Galaxy Note 7 was a great phone, until a flaw in their product caused explosions. Those explosions forced governments to recall the Galaxy Note 7. because of this unforeseen problem, Samsung lost money AND market share.
I wish school would teach me how to find and fix real-world problems. But, I’m going to be forced to either learn from other people’s mistakes or my own.
