I.D.E.A.S. Lead to Breakthroughs!

You don't have to look far these days to discover gargantuan problems in our nation, throughout our states, in cities and surburbs, or neighborhoods, families, friends and other groupings, such as co-workers, even strangers in a crowded elevator. For example, an article published April 3, 2008 revealed that: "More Americans have fallen behind on consumer loans than at any time in nearly 16 years, as credit problems once concentrated in mortgages spread into other forms of debt." An article published the next day announced: "The U.S. economy shed 80,000 jobs in March as employers trimmed their payrolls for a third straight month . . . Revisions to the January and February employment reports painted a bleaker picture than initially reported. For the first two months of the year, the U.S. economy lost 152,000 jobs, up from an earlier estimate of 85,000. . . .The loss of jobs in March, for example, pushed the overall U.S. unemployment rate to 5.1 per cent from February's 4.8 percent."

The dire predictions in a report from the Center for Responsible Lending has hit like an engulfing tsunami. Almost two years ago, the CRL reported: "As this year ends (2006), 2.2 million households in the subprime market either have lost their homes to foreclosure or hold subprime mortgages that will fail over the next several years. These foreclosures will cost homeowners as much as $164 billion, primarily in lost home equity. We project that one out of five (19 percent) subprime mortgages originated during the past two years will end in foreclosure. This rate is nearly double the projected rate of subprime loans made in 2002, and it exceeds the worst foreclosure experience in the modern mortgage market, which occurred uring the 'Oil Patch' disaster of the 1980s. Even during the recent period of strong housing appreciation, subprime foreclosures have been high. As many as one in eight (13 percent) subprime loans ended in foreclosure within five years of origination. The past housing boom masked the high proportion of homeowners who have struggled with subprime loans. For many borrowers, strong house price growth increased the amount of equity in their homes and enabled them to refinance their mortgages despite being behind on the monthly payments. When these distressed prepayments are added to the foreclosure rates, the total 'failure rate' for subprime loans approaches 25 percent."

In a more recent analysis of the housing crisis, Kelly Edmiston, a senior economist in Community Affairs at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and Roger Zalneratitis, a research associate at the bank, reported: "Residential foreclosures in the United States have been rising very rapidly since 2006. In the second quarter of 2007, the share of outstanding morgages in some state of foreclosure stood at 1.4 percent, near historic highs and up from less than 1 percent a year earlier. The number of mortgages entering the foreclosure process reached an all-time high in mid-2007, suggesting that the foreclosure surge is likely to get worse before it gets better."

On the other end of that troubled spectrum, consider this statistic. The state and federal prisons in this country will release more than 600,000 former inmates into the nation's communities each year for about a decade, with no concrete assurance to citizens that these individuals have done more than simply outlived court sanctions.

Why do 5.1 percent of the nation's employees find themselves unemployed? Why have 2.2 million or more homebuyers lost houses that they just moved into two to four years ago? How are more than 600,000 former inmates going to find opportunities to join the law abiding communities when jobs are disappearing by the thousands and their parents, relatives and other loved ones confront the potential of serious residential down-sizing on the one hand, and possible homelessness of the other extreme?

Believe it or not, these puzzling problems have answers because no problem can pre-exist its answer. That principle, or law forms the foundation of a concept I refer to as I.D.E.A.S. The acronym stands for Innovative, Dynamic, Enteprising Answer Systems. I suggest that everyone confronting what appear to be complex challenges, unbreachable barriers, even preplexing problems can discover breakthroughs to actual answers when they learn how to understand and use I.D.E.A.S. First, please understand that this concept is not a technique, but a set of systems that work together to reveal workable answers to any dilemma.

Grasping this concept begins with understanding and embracing its foundational principle. No problem, challenge, dilemma, even tragedy can pre-exist its solution, aka answer. Let's test the principle. What is two plus two? Four, of course. Well could I frame the "problem" if the concept of four did not exist? What is the difference between up and down? Well, I must reach for, or climb to one, and either stand on, or must fall to the other? Could I have framed the question before the answer existed? Let consider another example, this one from a historical incident reported in the Bible. Shortly after Moses led the former slaves of Egypt, aka the Israelites across the Red Sea, they came to a place they call Marah, because the waters there were too bitter to drink. Grumbling and complaining, the Israelites turned to Moses for an answer. Moses turned to God, who said: "See that tree growing there? Throw it into the waters and they will become drinkable." There's no telling how long that tree had been growing there, the answer to a dilemma that the Israelites could not even state until they were within proximity of the answer.

That's the key to understanding this concept. You cannot even see the "challenge," the "dilemma," the "tragedy," or the "problem" clear enough to state it until you are in proximity of the answer. So why do we get trapped into endless, confusing discussions and debates about the various challenges, dilemmas, even problems we confront? To implement the principles that lead you to answers that become foundations for workable solutions to any problem you confront, you need: I.D.E.A.S.

This acronym stands for Innovative, Dynamic, Enterprising, Answers System. Innovative means to introduce something new, or to apply a new, different use to something that currently exists. For example, when mercantile shippers began loading truck trailers into the cargo holds of transport ships, that was an innovation called "container freight." The so-called "smart cards," created by financial services companies, designed for customers who want the convenience of a "debit" card, not associated with a personal bank account, represent another example of innovation. So learning how to innovate is your initial "step" in your personal and/or professional breakthrough.

Dynamic means to be characterized by continuous change, marked by intensity and vigor. Dynamic refers to an interactive system or process, especially one involving competing or conflicting forces. It's Greek root word is "dunamis, which refers to power; and that comes from another Greek word--dunasthai--which means to be able. So not only must you learn to innovate to achieve a breakthrough in life, you must also learn to amass the power to do activate your innovation. For example, I decided last year that a particular project I wanted to market would do better if I could reach about 500,000 prospects, rather than 5,000. You see, if I reach 5,000 prospects and 10 percent respond, I have 500 responses, and 10 percent purchase, I have 50 sales. Sounds good until I realized that if the same 10 percent of 500,000 responded, I have 50,000 qualified prospects. and with just one percent buyers, I have 500 sales instead of 50. Since trying to reach 500,000 people is prohibitely costly and labor intensive if done manually, I needed to find a tool that would empower me to do it cost efficiently and less intensively. A features-rich, user-friendly Email Marketing Suite, including an autoresponder tool provided the power I needed.

Enterprising means showing the initiative and willingness to undertake new projects. Now, for example, I'm designing a comprehensive online education program, aimed at the more than 70 million baby boomers, all of whom are headed for forced retirement without sufficient preparation. Imagine being able to educate, maybe just five percent of about 70 million people during the next 18 years, as individuals born between 1946 and 1964 reach retirement age. That a potential 3.5 million customers. Even if my education program cost just $10 per customer, that's $35 million. To achieve breakthrough from poverty to wealth, you must engage enterprising thinking.

Answers mean a correct solution to a problem. For example, if I ask you to solve the problem 2+2, and you wrote 5, you will have suggested a solution, but it's incorrect. Four, on the other hand is the correct answer. Now consider a startling truth. Could I have even framed the problem statement, prior to the existence of the answer? Absolutely not! So you see, here's one of the most fantastic perspectives about I.D.E.A.S. being the basis for breakthrough: Solutions always pre-exist problems. In other words, there's no reason to discuss and debate problems. The purpose of the problem statement is to form a basis for recognizing the solution.

Systems means all of the following: a group of interacting, interrelated or interdependent elements forming a complex whole; a functionally related group of elements, especially--the human body, an organism as a whole, especially with regard to its vital processes or functions; a condition of harmonious, orderly interaction, an organized and coordinated method; a procedure; and a group of interacting mechanical or electrical components.

So to achieve consistent, effective breakthroughs, no matter what barriers or obstacles block your progress, you need to learn to use new and different, powerful systems to discover correct solutions to the problems that trap you in poverty, for example, and virtual uselessness."

In other words, you need I.D.E.A.S.