Are You Solving the Right Problem? by Courtney Clark

Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash

I got stuck solving the wrong problem once. When I got engaged to my husband, I was embarrassed about my cooking skills. I had scorched only three pans beyond saving, but that was two more than I felt good about. (Oh, I also set a toaster oven on fire once. But that was in college, so I’d like to think that won’t happen again.) 

When I reached my thirties, I had definitely gotten better at cooking. But my food was just…okay. I was practicing all the time—I worked fewer hours than my husband, who was my fiancé at the time, so I’d pull out the Cooking Light magazine, find a recipe, and cook us dinner most nights. He’d cook about once a week, and his food was just better than mine. Significantly better. He was confident in the kitchen, and his food was so full of flavor. 

I decided I needed to improve faster. I joined cooking classes at Williams Sonoma, and I learned how to roast a chicken. I watched Food Network. I practiced my knife skills and worked on getting comfortable with when meat was fully cooked. I became more skilled at timing dishes so they’d all be done at the same time. I was getting a little better. And then my husband and I went on our honeymoon.  

We ended up in Italy, where I ate what felt like five meals a day, four of which were pasta. Our first Sunday back after we returned from Rome, we were grocery shopping. There, at the checkout, was a copy of Gourmet Magazine: “The Pasta Issue.” And the photo on the cover was of penne salsiccia, which I’d had a LOT of in Italy. I threw that magazine down on the conveyor belt and committed to reading it cover to cover. 

The following Sunday, we were back at the grocery store. This time, I was armed with a shopping list that included ALL of the ingredients for that delicious penne salsiccia from the cover of Gourmet Magazine. As I prowled through the store, I heard my newlywed husband behind me go, “Uh, Courtney? Heavy whipping cream? Butter? Sausage? Is this from Cooking Light?” 

“No, it’s from that gourmet magazine I bought, with recipes for dishes like we had in Italy! I’m going to make penne salsiccia tonight. I can’t wait!” I responded. 

6:00 p.m. I’m starting dinner. This recipe calls for VERY expensive, very fragile threads of saffron to be soaked in water. I’m trying not to panic. 

6:28. I’m trying not to scald the heavy whipping cream in the pan. 

6:47. I’m trying not to overcook the pasta. 

6:52. I carry the plates out to the table. I set them down with a deep breath. For a moment I consider letting my husband take the first bite and tell me what he thinks, but then I think FORGET THAT. THIS WAS MY IDEA. I MADE THIS MEAL. I put the bite in my mouth, and I turn to my husband in shock. 

I can’t believe what I’m tasting. 

“I don’t stink at cooking! Cooking Light must stink at cooking! Because I. am. AMAZING!” I would have said more, but I needed to use my mouth for the important work of eating my phenomenal pasta. 

If you’re not solving the right problem, you’re not solving the problem at all. 

Here’s what I realized: I had been using low-fat materials and expecting restaurant-quality results. No shade to Cooking Light, but there’s a reason full-fat food tastes better. My cooking issue was simply a materials problem. But I had been trying for over a year to solve it with more SKILLS training. No wonder it wasn’t working! You can’t solve a materials problem with more skills training. 

Has anything like that ever happened to you, either at home or at work? You know there’s a problem, so you leap to solve it. But if you aren’t solving the right problem, you’re not solving the problem at all.   

Diagnosed with cancer for the first time at age 26, Courtney Clark went to work for several cancer nonprofits. At age 29, she founded the nonprofit Austin Involved, creating programs to engage young professionals in philanthropy in simple, affordable ways. In the first year of operating Austin Involved, Courtney was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and underwent three brain surgeries. Today, Courtney is an in-demand keynote speaker who presents internationally to organizations on how to adapt faster and achieve more by developing resilience, adaptability and ReVisionary Thinking™. For more tips on how to revise your plan when things aren’t going your way, pick up a copy of ReVisionary Thinking, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other fine retailers.