Every puzzle is an opportunity.
Seeing opportunity is an acquired skill, just like any problem solving. What opportunity is, in its purest form, is seeing the gap between a need and a have. Adding to that, there’s an element of confidence and optimism.
Back in maths class, we used to have competitions in solving sudokus. In a very simple form, the puzzle is a problem with confining rules, which creates a problem with a solution.
When some of my classmates looked at a puzzle like that, they saw an opportunity to get embarrassed and humiliated. They found the puzzles quite hard, and didn’t like solving them.
At the time, I didn’t understand them as all I saw was a puzzle, a competition and an opportunity to evolve my logical thinking. I saw the gap between the unsolved puzzle and the desired outcome with a solution.
In most situations we find ourselves in, there’s friction and at times there are problems. Seeing the gap creates room for a solution.
Seeing a possibility to fill that gap creates an opportunity.