When the Sanitation Worker decides that a broken bag is "not his problem," it ultimately becomes a bigger problem than it's worth.
This problem soon becomes the problem of a landlord or superintendent, the elderly couple who have the garden floor apartment, the exterminator hired to eliminate rodent infestations. As the problem goes unsolved, the people that have encountered it grow increasingly frustrated with humanity.
As you can see, someone else's problem never stops growing. Until it's solved.
What you can offer to people–creatively, instinctively, beautifully—all comes down to being a fixer. To become someone who will solve other people's challenges before they get any bigger.
Can you solve a problem that I can't solve for myself? Can you fix something that I'm too tired, or busy to fix? Can you solve a problem that I'm not interested in enough to learn how to resolve?
Problems at their core are: Unresolved impediments. But they're not unsolvable. They're not impossible. Nothing is impossible.
Who do you want to be RIGHT NOW?
In your office, in your community, in your household—if you want to be seen as the "go-to guy," you have to sometimes admit that while it's not your problem, YOU'RE the solution.
The great ones, the thought leaders, our heroes, did things that no one thought were possible. They sang better or wove tapestries with words that we won't soon erase from memory. They're special for a reason.
Most often, it's because they never saw a problem they couldn't solve.
Life is short, and the world's problems belong to all of us, as brothers, sisters, and artists.
Be great. Not because anyone is watching. But because no one remembers the guy who forgot.