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iQuestions Faculty, Rodney Cox 
 
 
Question: 
 
I'm a very aggressive problem solver and I'm very frustrated with 
people on my team who won't step up. How can I get them to change? 
 
Answer: 
 
Let’s talk about problem-solving for a moment.  
 
God has created two different types of problem-solvers: some that are 
aggressive, and some that are passive.  
 
Think about it for a minute. If we solved every problem aggressively, 
we might tend to compound the complex problems. Wouldn’t that tell 
us that God would create a natural strength of complex problem-
solving? That’s the passive person that’s on your team—the one that 
you might not think is stepping up to the plate quite as quick as they 
should. 
 
Let’s talk about baseball for a moment, because I think it’s a perfect 
analogy to help us to understand or to illustrate it. 
 
Let’s assume when we hear the crack of a bat, that that’s the problem. 
The ball is in play, we need to make an “out.”  
 
Infielders, when they hear the crack of the bat, tend to step towards 
the ball.  
 
Outfielders do something different. When they hear the crack of the 
bat, they take a step away from the ball. Calculation and triangulation 
is required to catch a fly ball. 
 
 
 
The difference between a season of baseball and a championship 
season of baseball is how we place that talent on the field. That’s very 
much what it’s like to build a close-knit team, and empowering each 
person to lead from their strengths. 
 
See, the real issue is the judgments that take place when people solve 
problems differently than I do.  
 
Let’s say that I’m a step-up, take-charge individual. When I hear that 
crack of the bat I step up. I reach down and pick up the problem. I 
look it square in the eyes and start solving it, just in time to hear the 
pitter-patter of the feet of that passive problem solver taking a step 
away.  
 
What is it that comes across my mind about the person stepping away 
from that problem? What judgments take place about the way they do 
it differently than I do? 
 
Let’s step over into the other camp. Say I’m that passive person. I 
take a step back. Before I ever get the chance to size up the problem 
to determine whether I should pick it up or not—whether it’s a 
complex problem or not—the aggressive person picks up the problem 
and starts solving it without me.  
 
What are the judgments that take place, if I’m on the passive side of 
the scale about that aggressive person?  
 
When we judge our differences, it divides us. It’s only when we value 
our differences and help each person lead from their strength and 
empower each person to lead from their strength, that we can actually 
step towards each other and become that close-knit ministry team God 
has called us to be.  
Cox -2- 
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