Defining the problem differently

Andrew came up with the poor man's solution to my laptop problem: a $10.49 keyboard. Elegant, it ain't. But it works. How you define a problem often makes a difference in the solution you end up with.

"Ack! I need a new laptop!" is different than "My laptop's keyboard is dead".

"Which preschool can I afford?" is different than "How can I provide my three year old with an appropriate amount of socialization?"

"How can I get this child to stop?!" is different than "Why is he acting this way?"

"I can't take it!" is different from "How can I deal with this?"

And so on. It's easy to mis-define problems. But when we don't define them accurately, we don't resolve them definitively.

Though I'd gladly buy a new laptop, if I could.