Cultivating a Visionary Creation Culture

It's 2024 and it's time to declare that "Problem Culture" is out… We've moved through cancel culture, hustle culture and many more cultural mindsets that don't serve us. It's time for problem culture to go too, because it's not the way. It's rooted in the Old Game and in an urgency of communication that is meant to have us feeling like we're 'responding' 24/7.

Problem culture keeps us stuck in a “problems as status quo” view.  And we simply won't get where we need to go and accomplish what we need to collectively if that's our mindset. We need to shift to a culture that focuses on visionary creations from a place that is very different from most of what gets built today.

What do I mean by "Problem Culture" exactly? I mean that the desire/motivation/intention and perspective needed to create solutions that will serve us for the next 100 years are NOT actually rooted in problems.

As someone who worked in marketing for many years, often with startups, I saw countless pitch decks and presentations that framed an entire company's existence around the "Problem-Solution" axis. It's what everyone is trained to do, especially if you're pitching VCs. And it always bothered me. It's such a negative framing, and I would see that framing spill over into all the marketing and communications that companies did. No matter how hard you try, making someone feel good by pointing out problems doesn't work. (Even if you quickly say, "don't worry we have the solution!")

Some of the best and most innovative creations, and the most effortless and enjoyable things we can sustain for the longest periods of time - they did not come about because there was a ‘problem’… You don’t ‘need’ to have problems in order to create something beautiful AND immensely helpful for the world.  

Some examples: 

• Having children - 
  • there’s no ‘problem’ having children solves. (And if you approach it in that way, thinking that having kids will solve an unhappy marriage or a bad situation, then you often get more problems.)  Making a baby is rooted in an act of love and sharing of love between 2 people. 
• Relationships/ Dating - 
  • If we think being alone is a ‘problem’ or that we have problems that a partner will fix, then we often find dating sufferable or never find the right mate. 
  • If we're rooted in love of ourselves, our life, enjoying the moment, seeing possibilities… we often find we accidentally meet our forever loves in that place. 
• Dancing - 
  • Do you need a problem to Dance?! Dancing is fun, social, and movement feels good. Music is inspiring. These are not problems - the creation of dance is rooted in joy. 
• Makeup - 
  • Thankfully, this is one I've seen evolve over the years for many women. Wearing Makeup doesn’t solve any problems, unless you believe your face is a ‘problem’ (a very sad belief).   If you’re wearing makeup because you think you’re not pretty enough, that’s a sufferable activity.  If you’re wearing makeup to enhance your best features and to be creative or playful, that’s enjoyable. 
• Food - 
  • Our bodies don’t run on air and water only… we need food to thrive.  If we see that as a ‘problem’ or an inconvenience to be solved, it’s sufferable. It’s not a problem to need healthy food 3 times a day, it’s a natural part of being a human who uses energy.  
  • “Problem culture” around food is so rampant that people skip meals and try to minimize the effort or attention put into food.  If we shift to seeing food as an opportunity to experience joy, nurturing, healing, and connecting with others, then it’s enjoyable.  Visionary creations and new ideas are born from this place. 
• Art & Music - 
  • “Art wants out” as a friend and mentor once said. Was the Sistine Chapel painted because there was a problem? Does the Mona Lisa solve any specific problem?  Do you need a problem to listen to the Beach Boys? (Although, "Good Vibrations" was scientifically proven to make people the happiest!) Art is an expression and the creation of it is often for the artist themselves more than for an audience. 

A mindset of “Problem culture” - always needing to root everything we do in its relation to solving or improving a problem -  leads to not sticking with things and therefore is naturally unsustainable.  It's a negative framing, and we need support with positive framing more than ever. (Which is why Value Blocks are so helpful - they frame everything we give value to in a positive way.)

A problem perspective leads to shorter product lifecycles (which is great for the hyper growth-based Old Game) but not great for our earth, or our happiness.   

To change our habits and perspectives, we need sustainable solutions. And those are the ones rooted in visionary, opportunity-focused starting points.

I truly believe that part of why so many startups and projects fail is because they have been conditioned to see everything through the “Problem-Solution” pitch deck perspective. 

It’s too rigid and immediately sets you up with negative framing. It almost always keep you thinking/ dreaming too small. And, if you're trying to gain support or funding, it makes the first point of contact something very finicky... People might not agree that the problem you’ve stated is ‘enough of a problem’, or they may not believe that the proposed solution actually solves said problem.  It’s a never-ending trap. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean we ignore the problems completely… we just don’t DWELL there. We don’t focus our communications and reasoning for everything we do as rooted in the problem. 

A more timeless and natural approach is to focus on the visions people want for our world and the experiences it will take to get there.  This supports ideation, creation, innovation, and joy on the journey. 

We learn, we understand, we observe; and then we take care of any suffering and we get to building something beautiful because it feels good to build it. Not because there’s an imminent problem. 

So many of our world’s biggest opportunities are just on the other side of overcoming the fear of what might happen if we let go of the problems we’ve been talking about for our whole lives. 

How good can it get? 

Our experience is simply a labyrinth of learning, evolution, and individual and collective growth.  It's the way.

Sistine Chapel Photo by Calvin Craig / Unsplash