12 Days of Real Estate...

For the next 12 days, I will be posting MY version of the 12 days of Christmas as it relates to Real Estate...I don't think I can get it to rhyme at the end, but believe you me, I'm going to try!


On the first day of Real Estate, I will give to you: EINSTEIN!






Einstein is quoted as having said that if he had one hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution.


This quote does illustrate an important point:

Before jumping right into solving a problem, we should step back and invest time and effort to improve our understanding of it. Here are strategies you can use to see problems from many different perspectives and master what is the most important step in problem solving: clearly defining the problem in the first place!






•1. Rephrase the Problem. When a Toyota executive asked employees to brainstorm "ways to increase their productivity", all he got back were blank stares. When he rephrased his request as "ways to make their jobs easier", he could barely keep up with the amount of suggestions. Words carry strong implicit meaning and, as such, play a major role in how we perceive a problem.

In the example above, ‘be productive' might seem like a sacrifice you're doing for the company, while ‘make your job easier' may be more like something you're doing for your own benefit, but from which the company also benefits.

In the end, the problem is still the same, but the feelings - and the points of view - associated with each of them are vastly different.



•o Play freely with the problem statement, rewording it several times. For a methodical approach, take single words and substitute variations.



•o ‘Increase sales'? Try replacing ‘increase' with ‘attract', ‘develop', ‘extend', ‘repeat' and see how your perception of the problem changes. A rich vocabulary plays an important role here, so you may want to use a thesaurus or develop your vocabulary.



Sing along with me now...On the first day of Real Estate, Amanda gave to me...the ablility to think differently.....



Amanda Wernick

Seven Gables Real Estate

Career Development Manager

714-837-7753

amandaw@sevengables.com

Special thanks to Shelly Cofini for her continuous support and inspiration!