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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>From: L. Michael Hall<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>2026 Neurons #18<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>April 27, 2026</span></font></b><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>Problem Solving Expertise #18</span></font></i><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=5 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:20.0pt;font-weight:bold'>PROBLEM-SOLVING — 1981<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Alfred Schoennauer published his book, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Problem Finding and Problem Solving </span></i>(1981). What a great title! Given that, it should be a great book! That’s what I immediately thought. And even though I read it years ago, I was in for a shock when I re-read it this year. The shock came because I began <i><span style='font-style:italic'>modeling</span></i> the phenomena of ‘problems.’ So in re-reading the book I realized something incredible—<i><span style='font-style:italic'>the author actually does not know what a problem is</span></i>! Nor does he know how to find one or to solve one! Now if you’re thinking,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“Wow! That’s a pretty radical statement. He did not know what a problem was at all? Or how to solve it at all?” Then let me show you how I came to that conclusion.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>First of all, how did Schoennauer <i><span style='font-style:italic'>define a problem? </span></i>For him, a problem is a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>performance deviance. </span></i>It is a “wrong course of action.” And in organizations, he views them as caused by the decisions of managers. As this is how he thinks about problems, his model is a stepwise search for deviations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“Up to now the problem finder has been engaged in gathering historical data in order to determine the basic causes for performance deviations.” (153). </span></font><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Implications: problems are external things—performance deviations, and they are ‘caused.’ And if you do a historical search you can find the cause. Yet that sounds like searching for symptoms.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“One of the most effective devices is to ask at each stage of the problem-finding process the simple question, Why? If resources are inadequate—Why? When schedules are inappropriate— Why? The purpose: Find the most basic decision that relates to a clue.” (101) “Why were inappropriate resources provided or allowed? Why did management respond in this way? Why did management make that decision?” (16) </span></font><i><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>‘Why’ is effective? </span></font></i><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Six years earlier NLP founders picked up on what Fritz Perls argued, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Don’t ask why! </span></i>It only leads to blaming. It does <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>not</span></b> help with solving problems.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“Problem solving embraces a process in which an attempt is made to find a course of action that will erase the significance deviations in performance.” (171) </span></font><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The problem is the course of action that has deviated from being effective. This circular thinking doesn’t pinpoint the problem, it only identifies the external evidence of a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“Problem solving is concerned with correcting courses of action, or instigating new ones, for those decisions identified as probably inappropriate.” (235) </span></font><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>More circular thinking. If a decision led to a successful result, it was appropriate; if it did not, then it was in appropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>All of this implies that a problem is <i><span style='font-style:italic'>an external course of action. </span></i>And the cause is the manager who made some decision about the course of action. These ideas do not help!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Now because “the manager is ultimately accountable for the performance of his subordinates” it is “decisions that make things happen in the final analysis, and therefore, when things do go wrong, the chances are that decisions are the most significance contributing factor.” (33). “The aim of problem finding is to identify the most basic causes over which the decision maker has discretionary authority to make changes.” (101) “Problem solving is in essence decision making” (16).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Schoennauer was aware that where there are problems, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>there are internal variables, </span></i>but he dismissed them by putting them under the category of “other considerations” (p. 200). He labeled them as “extra-organizational forces.” In that way, while <i><span style='font-style:italic'>thinking</span></i> is implied everywhere in his book, it is hidden in such words as: consider, assess, decide, attitude, etc. Never once does he even consider the real problem as being <i><span style='font-style:italic'>in the mind. </span></i>It is always in what is <i><span style='font-style:italic'>done</span></i> (a behavior), in the course of action, in actions which deviate from plans and decisions. For him, it is always “decisions that make things happen.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Because of this misunderstanding, the entire book is focused on correcting deviations in behavior by making better decisions. And while it does cover all of the areas of concern in an organization, style of leadership, planning, communication, attitude, payment, scheduling, relationships with peers, etc., the problem is always a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>superficial surface problem—one of what someone does or does not do.</span></i> It is never viewed deeper than that. He did mention “attitude” frequently, but he never explored <i><span style='font-style:italic'>the thinking </span></i>within an attitude. For him, what’s inside of a person is a “black box” and cannot be opened up (136-7). He did ask:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“Did the decision makers reflect a healthy attitude toward change? Toward strategic, long-term planning deliberati ons, toward risk, toward people, and toward authority? (142).</span></font><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>His problem solving in 1981 operated from a false premise, one that could have been easily corrected if only he had asked, “What is a problem?” If he had only examined the word itself, he would have realized it is a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>nominalization </span></i>(that is,<i><span style='font-style:italic'> a verb</span></i> turned into a noun). You can’t put a ‘problem’ in a wheelbarrow. You can’t weigh it or smell it or handle it. It is not a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>sensory-based phenomena.</span></i> Instead, something is being “throw in front” of you as a block or hindrance. That’s the verb. What is being <i><span style='font-style:italic'>thrown in front of you?</span></i> And literally? No. So it is actually a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>metaphor.</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>Metaphorically, </span></font></i><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>a problem occurs when some mental idea, memory, belief, statement, etc. (the way you are thinking) is thrown in front of your mind and emotions so that you cannot mentally see the path forward and you feel stuck, blocked from moving forward. A problem is only a problem when you have an objective that you want to reach and do not know how or believe that something is interfering. In this pretty straightforward and simple way, we can quickly discern what a problem is—a mental-emotional state of thinking/ feeling blocked. <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Every problem is inside of someone’s mind. </span></i>No problem exists ‘out there’ in the world beyond the mind. The <i><span style='font-style:italic'>solution</span></i> to any and every problem <i><span style='font-style:italic'>occurs in the mind.</span></i> And when you know that, you know <i><span style='font-style:italic'>where</span></i> to search. You know your next step is to do a <i><span style='font-style:italic'>meta probe </span></i>into the mind of the person.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Now in spite of my critique, there are some good things in the book. I liked his orientation about problem finding “before the fact,” before an external ‘problem’ arises.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“The perspective of problem finding, before the fact, is different from that of problem finding, after the fact. While the initial focus in after-the-fact problem finding is directed to results, the before-the-fact problem-finding focus is on the environment, on decisions, on resources, and on activities, in order to detect elements that in the future may cause unsatisfactory results.” (154)</span></font><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>And yet still there is no awareness in that paragraph about the true essence of a problem as a problem in thinking. About information gathering he did write, “The decision is usually only as effective as the information on which it is based” (139). That should have opened his eyes. He even asked, Is it sufficient, current, and based on the best sources? While that book was a good first attempt at problem-solving, today we can do so much better with the Neuro-Semantic modeling of ‘problems’ and ‘solving.’<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><br clear=all style='page-break-before:always'></span></font><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>NEURO-SEMANTIC NEWS<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font size=3 face=Symbol><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font size=3><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>We’ll be in Mauritius in July, contact Bruneau at <a href="mailto:bruneau@gometaltd.com">bruneau@gometaltd.com</a> or Joyce at <a href="mailto:thecleversayinfo@gmail.com">thecleversayinfo@gmail.com</a> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></font></p><p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font size=3 face=Symbol><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>I’ll be in Australia in August this year. </span></font><a href="https://the-coaching-room.mykajabi.com/michael-hall-event-2026">https://the-coaching-room.mykajabi.com/michael-hall-event-2026</a>.<b><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold'>L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Executive Director, Neuro-Semantics<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold'>738 Beaver Lodge<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Grand Jct., CO. 81505 USA<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold'><a href="http://www.neurosemantics.com/"><font color=blue><span style='color:blue'>www.neurosemantics.com</span></font></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'>To subscribe or unsubscribe to Neurons, send request to <a href="mailto:meta@acsol.net"><font color=blue><span style='color:blue'>meta@acsol.net</span></font></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><img border=0 width=323 height=466 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01DCD592.CC904260" alt="134324 NeuroSemantics Inside Out Front Cover"></span></font><b><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p></div></body></html>