What the Best Problem Solvers Know About Suffering

As continuous improvement professionals, we’re trained to counter root causes and solve problems.

When we see waste, we eliminate it. When we see defects, we reduce them. When we see variation, we seek to understand its causes and minimize them. Over time, this way of thinking becomes second nature. We begin to view problems as opportunities for improvement.

That’s a good thing, obviously. But it’s also been my experience that life doesn’t always cooperate.

For example, life has a way of presenting challenges that can’t be solved with things like root cause analysis or a kaizen event… i.e., a serious health issue, the loss of a loved one, or a broken relationship.

Suffer Well

When faced with challenges that can’t be analyzed, improved, or solved away, I’ve often found myself reflecting on a phrase that’s become really important to me: “suffer well.”

Not because suffering is good. And not because we should seek it out. But because suffering is inevitable. Every person reading this article has experienced it, is experiencing it, or eventually will experience it.

The real question isn’t whether we will suffer. Instead, the question we must answer is how we’ll respond when we do.

I’ve seen people encounter hardship and emerge from it with greater wisdom, deeper compassion, and stronger faith. I’ve also seen people become consumed by bitterness, anger, and despair. The circumstances may be similar, but the outcomes are radically different.

Put another way, suffering doesn’t define us…our response does.

Facing Reality

One of Lean’s foundational principles is to face reality. We teach leaders to go and see. We encourage teams to understand the current condition before jumping to conclusions.

The same principle applies during difficult seasons of life.

When suffering enters our lives, our first instinct is to resist. We ask, “Why is this happening?” We spend energy wishing things were different. Those reactions are understandable, but they rarely move us forward.

The best problem solvers do something different. They acknowledge reality, even when they don’t like it. They accept the current condition before determining how to respond. They understand that denial doesn’t eliminate suffering…it only delays growth.

Over the years, I’ve noticed something interesting.

Suffering often reveals what success conceals.

Success can make us feel self-sufficient. It can create the illusion that we’re in control. Difficult seasons have a way of stripping away those illusions. They remind us of our limitations. They remind us how much we need other people. And they teach us that strength and vulnerability aren’t opposites.

Clarity through Uncertainty

Some of the most meaningful lessons I’ve learned about leadership, relationships, and faith didn’t come during periods of success. They came during periods of uncertainty. They came when I didn’t have answers. Looking back, I wouldn’t choose those experiences or wish them on others…but I also wouldn’t trade what they taught me.

As continuous improvement professionals, we spend our careers improving processes, reducing waste, and solving problems. But some of life’s greatest challenges aren’t opportunities to improve a process. They’re opportunities to improve ourselves.

And perhaps that’s the lesson suffering teaches best.

Not every hardship can be fixed. Not every wound can be avoided. Not every burden can be removed.

But every trial presents a choice…they can make us smaller, harder, and more bitter. Or they can make us wiser, stronger, and more compassionate.

The suffering may be unavoidable.

How we respond is not.

So, suffer well.

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