2 + 2 = 4

Like a lot of you here on BP, I work a full-time job that has nothing to do with real estate investing.  Having owned by own business in the past I can say from experience that both self-employment and full-time employment present their own unique challenges.  One of the challenges specific to standard full-time employment can be shifting priorities and reactionary decision making.  This can be especially true when “fear management”, which I define as people managing from a place of fear, becomes micromanagement and out of control, well…control.  This is what I’m experiencing at the moment.  I don’t respond well to being micromanaged.  I’m a senior leader and didn’t get where I am by not knowing how to do my job.  I also don’t respond well to being controlled.  Guess what…I’ve not been very happy recently!

I’ve been living with this situation and mulling its realities. It’s now come to my attention that folks who fall into these ruts all share a common thought problem.  They all believe their way is the only right way.  Now, while I absolutely believe there are absolutes in the world, most of what we deal with in day to day life, particularly in a work setting, is far from absolute.  I mean, does it really matter whether I prefer my email font to be Arial or Calibri?  For internal emails, really?  Or, is there really an absolute right and wrong on whether an email to a team at large should be opened with “All” or “Everyone”?

The fact is, 2+2=4.  However, so does 2x2, 3+1, 5-1, 8/2, 4+0, etc.  

Math isn’t my strong suit, so I can’t even begin to tell you how many possible equations there are that would produce a result of 4, but I can tell you it’s a lot.  And, they are all correct even though most people would have probably looked at the first jumble of numbers and operators and pulled out 2+2.  That’s the most common equation…the equation we’re most familiar with.  It isn’t the only right equation.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this phenomenon in the last several weeks.  I couldn’t exactly figure out at first what it has to do with real estate investing, until I listened to Brandon Turner’s podcast.  See…it’s all about creativity.

Sometimes the deal that is presented to us doesn’t come with two 2’s and a plus symbol.  Some deals have a 6, 11, 15, 24, a division symbol and a multiplication symbol.  If you’re only looking for 2’s and plus symbols, you’re going to miss that as a potential deal.  You have to think outside the box of only 2+2=4.  You have to look at what you’re given and figure out how to come up with the right answer using the numbers and operators the deal provides.

That doesn’t mean you force an equation that can never be made into the solution you need to achieve.  If you need a deal to produce 12, but it has given you three 7’s, 11, 23 and a plus sign, guess what…you’re never going to make that deal equal what you need it to.  On the other hand, if that same deal had given you a minus sign, instead of the plus symbol, then you’ve got a deal.  After all, did anyone say you must use ALL the numbers?

It’s important that we erase the lines of the boxes our experience has built around us.  We must train our brains to look at deals from every angle.  We must see what others can’t, particularly in markets where deals are hard to find.  Creativity is the tool we can use to create deals where others don’t see them.  It is the lever we need to lift that house up and find the value that no one else has found.

Good luck and remember, 2x2=2+2!