Qualities of a Team Player - SOLUTION ORIENTED

We are continuing our growth by developing teamwork skills utilizing the lessons contained in John C. Maxwell’s book titled The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player. This book carries the subtitle “Becoming the kind of person every team wants”. Developing a better team always begins with the individuals. To improve the team, improve the individuals on the team.

Quality #16: Make a resolution to find the solution

"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it." - Robert Heinlein

"Don't find fault; find a remedy." - Henry Ford

Consider these truths that all solution-seeking people recognize:

1. Problems are a Matter of Perspective
   1. Obstacles, setbacks, and failures are simply part of life. You cannot avoid them.
   2. But that does not mean you have to allow them to become problems.
   3. The best thing you can do is to meet them with a solution-oriented mind-set. It's just a matter of attitude.
   4. At the same moment that one person wants to say, "I give up", someone else facing the same situation is saying, "What a great opportunity!"

   

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   5. Who you are determines what you see. When it comes to approaching problems, you really have only four choices: flee them, fight them, forget them, or face them.
2. All Problems are Solvable
   1. Some of the great problem solvers have been inventors.
   2. Charles Kettering explained, "When I was Research Head of General Motors and wanted a problem solved, I'd place a table outside the meeting room with a sign: 'Leave slide rules here'. If I didn't do that I'd find someone reaching for his slide rule. Then he'd be on his feet saying, 'Boss, you can't do that.'" [If you don't know what a slide rule is, ask an old engineer!]
   3. No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.
3. Problems Either Stop Us or Stretch Us
   1. Problems either hurt you or help you
   2. Depending on how you approach them, they'll stop you from succeeding or stretch you so that you not only overcome them, but also become a better person in the process
   3. The choice is yours

To become a more solution-oriented team player:

• Refuse to give up
• Refocus your thinking
• Rethink your strategy
• Repeat the process

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc