Card #85 – ”Spot Opportunities” from the Creative Whack Pack
Available on the iOS App Store and as a physical deck of cards

A leading business school did a study that showed that its graduates did well at first, but in ten years, they were overtaken by a more streetwise, pragmatic group.
The reason according to the professor who ran the study:
“We taught them how to solve problems, not recognize opportunities.
When opportunity knocked, they put out their ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs.”
What’s the difference between these two activities?
The problem-solver focuses on fixing what’s broken, or making something whole again.
The opportunity-seeker goes further, asking:
How can I take advantage of the ambiguity in this situation by trying something new?
Where might that lead?
What do I see that I wasn’t paying attention to before?
Inventor Alexander Graham Bell must have been thinking along these lines when he said:
When one door closes, another opens; but often we look so long upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
— Where do you hear opportunity knocking?
— How can you answer it?
— What opportunities are present in your current problem?