THE VISIBILITY OF PROBLEMS

November 5th, 2019

A visible problem is one that everyone can see. 

If you solve it, then everyone sees that too.  You’re likely to get credit if that’s the case.

Some problems are invisible.  We don’t necessarily realize they exist until they are solved.  This is especially true if an invisible problem is solved in a visible way.  The smart phone might be an example of this.  Before, we had three different devices in order to browse the web, make a phone call and listen to music.  It’s not even clear there actually is a problem until someone draws a technical connection between the three and collapses three devices into one.  An invisible problem with a very visible and much loved solution.

Garbage can be thought of as a visible problem.  We don’t want it around, and waste companies kind of solve this problem by removing it from our sight.  The actual problem of garbage isn’t solved because it usually just goes into a landfill, but the visibility issue is solved.  This is more like sweeping it under the rug.  It’s not really a solution, but it looks like a solution, and the visibility is enough to fund a large business to make it happen.

It’s worth it to wonder if it’s possible to solve an invisible problem with an invisible solution.

At first glance, it might seem as though this is like doing a silent and unseen good deed.

But even that isn’t possible, because even in that instance, there’s at least one person who sees.

If you do a good deed just for the sake of it, and no one ever sees nor knows who it was, at the very least, you know what you did.  And though it might make invisible solutions to invisible problems impossible, it’s still worth it. 

At the end of the day it makes you more likely to do the right thing when you are thrust into the spotlight.