Are you a ‘fixer’ or a ‘buyer’?
When I was a little kid, I mean from about four-years-old, I was fascinated with what made things ‘tick’. Mom knew better than to leave me alone without something really interesting to figure out. We would go to the second hand store and I’d get a clock or a radio or an old turntable for a few pennies because it didn’t work anymore. I’d take it home and proceed to take it apart piece by piece. I was absolutely intrigued with making it work again. Fully 90% of the time I succeeded.
Sometimes, mom would bring me her jewelry box to sort out. She had a lot of long chain necklaces and they’d get tangled. She’d try to get them untangled but make it worse. I’d sit there and look at the knots for a few minutes without doing anything. Then, with just a few twists and turns, the entire knot would relax and fall apart. One of the few things that I used to do that she seemed to appreciate was to figure out those damn knots for her.
This has carried over into my adult life. I’m a fixer. If something does not work, people bring it to me to figure out. My friends often bring me a toy or gadget that was supposed to be ‘assemble at home’ and dump it in my lap. Unfortunately, I will sometimes spend way too much time in ‘making it work’ rather than toss it in the junk heap and just buy a new thing.
I also love puzzles. All kinds of puzzles; game puzzles, puzzling people, puzzling problems, puzzling animals that no one else wants. The challenge of fixing the unfixable is a major adrenaline rush for me. I’ve taken dangerous horses that were on the way to the slaughterhouse and turned them into show animals that have sold for as much as $10,000.00. The more lost the cause, the more hooked I am.
I’ll look at a problem from all angles. Something that will frustrate the hell out of me is when people refuse to look at something from a different angle so that they cannot see an obvious answer. Makes me want to scream.
In business or life, people are often amazed at how easy it is for me to fix a complicated issue, but at the same time I cannot seem to grasp some of the most basic principles that are so easy for other people.
Why is it that some of us can look at a very complicated puzzle and just see the answer, but cannot remember to make sure that the socks we are wearing match? Or, we can close an elusive and complicated business deal, but cannot seem to remember to turn off the bathtub spigot before flooding the bathroom?
So, are you a fixer or a buyer?
Jeannie