There’s a well know story that speaks to the mindset of people and businesses.

A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of North Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back an email saying:

SITUATION HOPELESS. NO ONE WEARS SHOES.

The other writes back triumphantly:

GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. THEY HAVE NO SHOES.

In simple terms, is this a problem, or is this an opportunity? Is the glass half full, or is the glass half empty? The ‘external’ reality of the situation doesn’t change – there’s not another picture of a half full glass. It’s what you choose to see, and how you choose to see the situation.

Every time a client comes to me with ‘a problem’, the first thing I do is reframe their ‘problem’ as an ‘opportunity’. Because if they approach something with a ‘problem’ mindset what they get is a defensive, negative, problematic approach and outcome.

The situation is never hopeless. The glass is always half full. There is only ‘opportunity’.