Are you a problem solver or a solution seeker?

When NASA started to experiment with open innovation, its scientists developed an internal vocabulary to describe the difference between fiercely divided camps: “problem solvers” and “solution seekers.” Their archetypes may ring a bell when you think about your church, workplaces and teams?

The “problem solvers” were those who resisted change. Their identity was invested in their own expertise. They were scientists in the tradition of Galileo, those whose individual genius would light the way.

The “solution seekers” got their name from a heated debate that Hila Lifshitz-Assaf observed, where a highly respected scientist rebuked reluctant colleagues: “Your main responsibility is to seek for solutions, and they may come from the lab, from open innovation, or from collaboration, you should not care! You are the solution seeker!”

It was this group of scientists that got creative and serious about the wider community. They shifted the boundaries of their worlds to invite people in.

In many of our old organizations, their resources, training, recognition, and rewards are geared to problem-solving.

A coaching approach through becoming a ‘solution seeker’ means that you are open to experiment, ready to find answers in unexpected places and from unexpected people.

Shifting from a culture of ‘problem solvers’ to ‘solution seekers’ is hard work. At NASA, this change of posture provided a path for team members to become a new kind of expert, secure and self-confident enough in their abilities to look outward.

This concept has been inspired by a section in the book New power : how power works in our hyperconnected world — and how to make it work for you, Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms.