Karl Popper is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading philosophers of the 20^th century.  A compendium of his work was published in 1999 and is titled, interestingly, “All Life is Problem Solving.”

Austrian born, Popper spent his later years at the London School of Economics. His philosophy spans the realms of science, economics and politics.  Popper is best known for his theory that says no science can be proven; it can only be disproven. Only through such reasoning can we explain how Newton’s laws of physics can stand as law for centuries, only to be disproven by Einstein, and how Einstein’s laws can be challenged by quantum physics. In other words, nothing can be known for certain to be true. Theories and ideas can only be known for certain NOT to be true. Those of us in business would do well to adopt this type of humility when we feel confident about our decisions or direction. As any great problem-solver knows, there is always the risk that you don’t know what you think you know; there’s always a risk that your solution is the wrong solution, or that it isn’t the best solution, even if it seems to work well enough.

All too heady for you?  Here it is again, in some simpler terms.

In our context, we define stress as the emotional and physical symptoms that occur when one’s needs have not been met or are not met in a sufficient manner. Therefore, when we solve problems, which is distinguishingly what humans do, we reduce stress. And the reason our stress is reduced is because our solutions meet our needs (unmet needs are stressful).

Say your boss gives you an assignment, and you find yourself working long nights and weekends. Seemingly creating stress, you do it because you believe delivering on the assignment will reduce stress faster than not delivering. You work nights and weekends because you find this less stressful than the alternative of not delivering the assignment on time, possibly leading to the loss of your job.

So this is not profound, but it is germane to the core of business. And understanding this core is what leads us to conclude that problem-solving is, in fact, the quintessential skill for companies and their people to possess. Whether you’re producing food, automobiles, information or iPods, your company is definitely in the business of problem solving. And you’re definitely about reducing stress for your customers.

The stress associated with not having food on the table is pretty clear. But what problem is solved with an iPod? Isn’t it just for entertainment?  Of course it is, but we demand entertainment to deal with stress, whether conscious or subconscious.  We need a distraction.  We need to relax.  We need to block out the sound of the subway. We need to store our music somewhere. These are all things we’ve determined are best done with an iPod, and we find doing them with an iPod less stressful than doing them with another device, or not doing them at all.

Taking the view that human existence, and business, can be boiled down to solving problems and reducing stress might be a leap for some, but it’s a leap that can be invigorating—and one that can change the way you go about developing your competencies and people.