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Reader question:
What does "turn a problem on its head" mean? Please
give examples.
My comments:
When you turn something on its head, you twist it, turn
it sideways or upside-down. To turn something on its head literarily is to
alter it, to contradict it. In a dictionary (Longman) explanation, to turn
something on its head is "to consider a statement or idea in the opposite
way from the way it was intended."
My favorite example of turning a problem on its head runs something
like the following (I have a lot of practice at this):
Owen (not his real name) told me the other day that
he has little interest in studying English because his teacher back in
school many years ago never liked him. "That teacher," he said, "was never
encouraging. I think I never developed an enthusiasm for English because
of that teacher."
Oh dear! All teachers beware! This is how pupils pay you back (just
kidding).
I don't have your teacher around, Owen, to give his side of the story.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But even supposing what you said
is true, I can't help turning your problem on its head a little before
giving it back to you: Your teacher's not your problem. Keep him out of
it.
In all likelihood, your teacher could say that he was not discouraging.
Or he could say that he was less than encouraging because you had never
shown any interest. He could, you see, point his fingers right back at
you.
A good teacher would not do things like that, of course. But let's face
it, Owen, not all teachers are saints and angles and paragons of patience.
They are human like you. They have faults, too, preferring pretty, bright
and attentive students to others being perhaps one of the lesser flaws
amongst them.
Thing is, what happened between you and your school teacher is in the
past. It is just a memory. Your teacher has not been around for years. And
you still blame him for your problem. It sounds a bit far-fetched,
certainly too late.
What you need is a rethink. Your bad memory you can give away. It's not
doing you any good. Give it up. You can give it up for free. Don't be
stingy, give it up for free. I bet you won't be able to fetch five cents
even if you put it up on e-Bay, so don't bother. Just give it up for free.
Then you can cultivate an enthusiasm for English, starting from today.
Get on with your life and let your teacher be. I was going to say "let
bygones be bygones" but then you might be distracted by another cliche.
Let your teacher be. Don't pay him back with a bad memory - He may not
deserve it anyway.
Now, I know breaking up with the past is hard to do. I know what you're
going to say. You'll say you're not lying. You're not making anything up
against your teacher. He hurt you and it still hurts.
I know. I trust you. I feel your pain. So let's go down that line of
thinking a bit and see what that leads to. Suppose your teacher was just
bad. He thought you were no good. He wanted you to fail at English. He
wanted you to fail at everything you do.
Then, what are you going to do? Keep being angry with him and fail just
to prove him right? Fail, so that he could say "I've told you so"?
A better policy, obviously, is to go the other direction and succeed.
And that begins with cultivating an interest in English, starting today.
There's no law saying that one who had little interest in English at
school can't foster it later. There's no law saying that one whose teacher
was not encouraging back at school can't develop that very interest later.
All you need is to starting doing it without reasons and excuses. You can
best do it of course by giving up your teacher as an excuse and tossing
the blame.
You see, when you turn a problem on its head, the problem often ceases
to be.
More newspaper examples next week.
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