I am currently on holiday in France enjoying the sun and doing what the French call some bricolage (DIY or handywork). In particular I had to replace a plastic storage unit that got broken into at the back of our garage. I thought a wooden two-foot-high box like chest would be a more secure option. So I duly bought one online, loaded what was delivered into the back of my car and drove down to the Mediterranean on the excellent French autoroutes. I did think it looked rather large as I put panel after panel in the back of the car but was busy and in a hurry so gave it no second thought.
 
I was rather surprised to discover when I finally inspected my purchase properly in the garage in France that it was not a chest at all but a four by two-foot mini shed complete with doors and roof with asphalt! Not wanting or actually able to take it back to the UK, despite some initial annoyance and uncertainty, I built it anyway. After some inevitable trials and tribulations, including the purchase and fitting of a new shelf, I ended up with a better storage solution which was still reasonably compact, has more space and a padlock fitting to deter the local thieves.
 
The best business and professional leaders I have worked with have had one characteristic in common. Take them a problem and they look at it with a fresh mind and seek out not only the solution but the opportunities the issue and its resolution may bring.

​See for example this article Leaders Don't Fix Problems, They Turn Them Into Opportunities which suggests The ability to not just solve a problem but to turn that problem into an opportunity is the mark of true leadership. While here is another article How to Change Your Mindset to See Problems as Opportunities from the same source which advises Talk to any successful entrepreneur, or any professional with a positive attitude, and you'll find one key trait in common: all of them have a unique mentality that allows them to handle challenges differently. Rather than seeing problems as burdensome forces of opposition, they see problems as opportunities--opportunities to learn, grow, improve, or adjust in a way that leaves them better off than before the problem existed.
 
Here are some examples of Turning Problems into Opportunities which includes the now ubiquitous Post-it Notes that resulted from a glue that was being developed but failed to stick things together.
 
I also like this interesting Harvard Business Review article which discusses an example of two managers faced with the same challenge — one approached it as a problem to overcome, and the other, a possibility for reinvention.
 
“In the middle of difficulty,”said Albert Einstein, “lies opportunity.”
 
Or as John F. Kennedy said “When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters-one represents danger, the other represents opportunity.”

I visited Clandon Park House this weekend,  an early 18th century Palladian mansion which sadly burned down in April 2015. Fortunately, the National Trust which owns the property has determined to embark on the immense task of reconstructing the property which is entirely feasible because the brick structure largely withstood the flames and heat.
 
However, in order to do so they are having to work out exactly what the house consisted of before and then to rebuild the entire interior using where they can material and objects from the old building that survived the fire at least to some extent. It’s a bit like a massive jigsaw puzzle. In one room a state bedroom they have discovered that what they thought to be the original red wall paper covering has been revealed by the fire to mask the original and much earlier bright blue panelling, a completely unexpected and unknown decorative scheme which the restorers are now considering reinstating.
 
What they are in effect having to do is use root cause analysis to work out what was there before, however surprising, and then rebuild. This is a common technique used in the IT industry and can be defined as a systematic process for identifying “root causes” of problems or events and an approach for responding to them. RCA is based on the basic idea that effective management requires more than merely “putting out fires” for problems that develop, but finding a way to prevent them.
 
It was also no doubt used to trace the origins of the fire which apparently occurred because of a faulty electric component which started a fire in the basement that then spread up a lift shaft and around the building. They can even understand how the fire spread upwards and sideways and then back down into the basement.
 
This technique is in effect the application of scientific techniques to solving problems. As this article suggests it enables a deeper and more systematic approach: But what do you do when you have a problem at work? Do you jump straight in and treat the symptoms, or do you stop to consider whether there's actually a deeper problem that needs your attention? If you only fix the symptoms – what you see on the surface – the problem will almost certainly return, and need fixing over, and over again.
 
It is particularly used in the medical profession, but I suggest has a broader application to resolving practice, management and business issues in the professional world by drilling down and truly understanding the issue before trying to solve it. Aristotle suggests that “A prerequisite for knowing anything is understanding why it is as it is—in other words, grasping its primary cause."
 
It is too easy to jump in and reach a preliminary conclusion on a professional matter that on the surface looks right but on a deeper analysis is manifestly wrong. The assumption in my example that the wall covering was red when in fact the true historic reality was different.
 
I am not of course suggesting metaphorically as it were to have a fire to gain a deeper understanding, but to delve deeply into the facts to understand and resolve the true cause if the problem. And this means working to get to the simple essence of the issue as this Forbes article advises Are we sure we are working on the right problem? Are we really capturing the essence of it? Do we have all the background information we need to understand it fully? Do we all understand the problem the same way?
 
It also cites Albert Einstein who wisely said If I have an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about the solution. He also suggested "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." which I think is particularly apposite.
 
Henry Ford advised "Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than trying to solve them."The team rebuilding Clandon Park House are definitely trying to solve a series of challenges using in depth understanding as I suggest we all should in our professional lives when we encounter difficult and fundamental problems.

I was privileged this week to have a student who is interested in becoming a lawyer work shadowing me for a few days. I tried to give as much information and impart what knowledge I could to give them as good an insight into the law and its practice as possible.
 
It reminded me that in my experience there seem to be two basic approaches to sharing knowledge in professional practices. The first is - not to. The theory seems to be that if you keep knowledge to yourself then somehow this enables you to get ahead of your colleagues in your particular practice area and improves your expertise whilst keeping your colleagues in the dark.
 
It would appear that the argument is that “hoarding knowledge” gives you some kind of competitive advantage. See this article Why do employees hoard their knowledge, and what can be done to prevent this?  which suggests:
 
A key reason for why knowledge hoarding occurs is a “knowledge is power” workplace culture, where employees conceal their knowledge from others for personal gain or to make themselves indispensable in their work environments. In organizations with a competitive internal work environment, the contributor of an idea may be assuming a great deal of personal vulnerability by revealing the secrets of their own competitive edge.
 
However, this approach seems to be a dangerous one for organisations to promote or even countenance. See this Forbes blog Why Hoarding Knowledge Imperils Your Organization which refers to:
 
A recent study published in the Academy of Management Journal highlighted the impact of such practices, both on individual careers but also the organization as a whole.
 
“Employees who intentionally hide more knowledge seem bound to receive such selfish behavior in return from their co-workers, which will ultimately hurt them and decrease their creativity,” the authors say.
 
In other words, it becomes dog eat dog, with everyone eventually losing out.  Suffice to say, creating (or changing) culture so that it is more open and sharing is far from easy, but it certainly pays off.
 
By contrast the second approach, which is active and deliberate knowledge sharing provides organisational and individual benefits. The professional practice exposes more of its workers to a broader knowledge base whilst the persons involved apart from any personal satisfaction they may gain in sharing, also benefit from the inevitable reciprocity where they in turn learn from those they share with.
 
See for example this blog 5 Benefits of Knowledge Sharing within an Organization which suggests that Knowledge sharing is essential for a company to achieve success, since it can facilitate decision-making capabilities, build learning organizations (through a learning routine) and finally, stimulate cultural change and innovation. Or this blog Top Benefits of Knowledge Sharing Across an Organization which concludes that Information sharing in the workplace is an excellent way of developing a community within a business. Employees can offer helpful insights along with reviewing any previously shared information that might be flawed. It not only boosts employee efficiency but also helps companies in cutting down costs and time associated with knowledge search.
 
In this information age I believe one of our greatest challenges is information overload as data comes at us thick and fast during our day to day practices. Having a knowledge sharing culture seems not only best practice but essential to understanding how our specific practice areas are developing.
 
The American novelist Louis L'Amour summed it up well when he said Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value.
 
Or as the Dalai Lama more profoundly suggests Share your knowledge. It’s a way 
to achieve immortality.