[Flash] Look Up for the Watermarks! How My Dad Taught Us to Find Problems to Solve

A consummate salesman, he was forever searching for problems to solve.

Every time he walked into a building, my dad instinctively looked up. He was searching for watermarks on the ceiling.

Roof damage announces itself through watermarks. And any stain on the inside means a roof leak on the outside… a problem he could fix and a sale he could close.

It didn’t matter if he was in Target or at a restaurant. He always looked up.

And he taught us to do the same. My dad would invariably point out the watermarks, which then made me, my mom, and my siblings crane our necks back to look at the ceiling, searching for the water stain he so proudly found.

Leaving us gawking at the ceiling, my dad would immediately find the building’s manager. When my dad pointed up, the manager also had to crane his neck to acknowledge his roofing problem. 

And then, like a hero ready to save the day, my dad would ceremoniously hand the manager his business card and announce, as if doing him a favor, “I’ll send someone out in the morning to give you a free estimate to fix the water leak in your roof.”

My dad had a solution. His job was to find the problems that needed that solution.

He passed away many years ago, but whenever I enter a building, I still look up, searching for watermarks in the ceiling.

I’ve been an entrepreneur and a leader for over two decades. While I’ve had many ideas over those years, I have always felt the most confident selling the ones that solve a problem I can point to.

If you want to progress your career, you don’t need to work harder. You need to look for problems that need solving, situations that need improving.

And when you’re ready to move into leadership, stop solving every problem. Instead, mentor others to become problem solvers and situation improvers. 

Unfortunately, sometimes we get enamored with a brilliant idea, and when we pitch it, we forget to demonstrate how it will measurably improve someone’s life. And so it doesn’t.

Even our job titles are useless without communicating our contributions.

Always look for the proverbial watermarks. Then point to them so people recognize the difference you’re making.

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