Problems have patterns. Changing the pattern, changes everything.

Looking back at the challenges I've faced in the different businesses I've had, they would have been far easier to deal with had I understood the fact that all problems have patterns.

So, I've learned that if we can find the pattern within the problem, we can solve it at a systemic level. Think of it as an upstream / downstream effect. The higher up we solve the issue, the more it effects everything which comes after.

It's become the foundation of how I work with founders who are ready to think differently about the challenges they face.

Content vs Context: The First Pattern

I've learned to listen for what founders focus on versus what's actually happening beneath the surface.

Content is the obvious problem: low sales, cash flow issues, team conflicts, market competition.

Context is the deeper structure: the patterns of thinking, the mental frameworks, the stories we tell ourselves that create these surface problems.

For example, an overworked founder believed he was struggling with time management - he wasn’t. He was doing other people's work because he couldn't relinquish control because it was a pattern he’d been doing for years.

The real problem wasn't about productivity. It was about trust (both for his team and what would happen if he let go).

When I help founders see this distinction, something shifts. They stop fighting symptoms and start addressing systems.

The Midlife Advantage

There's something unique about founders around 40 that makes them particularly ready for this kind of pattern recognition.

At midlife, you reach a psychological inflection point. The way you've been working and thinking got you here, but it's no longer serving you.

You don't want to hustle anymore, but you do want to scale. You're seeking something more simple yet impactful. Success driven by meaning and fulfillment, not just financial metrics. This creates the perfect conditions for seeing patterns you've been blind to for years.

The frustrations and stresses you're experiencing aren't obstacles. They're signals pointing toward deeper structures that need attention.

Language as Thinking Fingerprints

One of my core strengths is uncovering how people think by listening to how they speak.

Language patterns are thinking patterns made audible.

When I hear founders say "I need to be involved" or "it's on me" or "they need me with them," I'm listening to verbal fingerprints of their mental framework. These phrases reveal an overarching frame of responsibility with a subtext of control.

The opportunity here is to lead with vision and clarity so they no longer need to be involved at a micro level.

But first, it needs questioning - why this is happening. They need to understand their own patterns and why and how they happen.

Four Techniques for Pattern Recognition

I use four specific techniques to help founders develop this skill:

Look for the thread. What's the common theme across different problems? If you're dealing with "not enough sales," "not enough resources," and "not enough people," you're operating from a meta-pattern of scarcity thinking.

Find the trigger. Look back over the last 12-18 months. What patterns keep showing up? What consistently starts them? Understanding your triggers reveals your automatic responses.

Identify your problem-solving identity. What role do you step into when challenges arise? The hero who saves everyone? The perfectionist who controls everything? The victim who gets overwhelmed?

Examine your stories. What narrative are you telling yourself and your team? The stories we live by create the patterns we experience.

These techniques work because they shift your focus from the content of problems to the context that creates them.

The Story That Changes Everything

I worked with a founder who had been driven by a subconscious need to prove himself since childhood.

This pattern had made him highly successful. But at midlife, he wanted success driven by meaning, not just achievement.

When we uncovered this "need to prove" pattern, everything changed.

By doing the internal work of letting go and creating a new story, he became free not only to exceed his own capabilities but to feel emotionally stable, contented, and happy.

The transformation wasn't only for him. It rippled through his entire organization.

Your Limitations Create Your Problems

Here's the pattern that, if founders could recognize it tomorrow, would have the most immediate impact:

Your perceived limitations about yourself are creating the problems you're trying to solve.

This is a practical solution we can all benefit from. The mental maps we carry about our capabilities, our worth, our role in the world directly shape the problems we experience and how we attempt to solve them.

If you believe you're the only one who can do something right, you'll create problems that require your constant involvement.

If you believe success requires struggle, you'll create unnecessarily complex solutions.

If you believe you need to prove your worth, you'll create problems that demand heroic effort.

The first step is recognizing this pattern with kindness. I remember the level of self-critisism I had about my own mistakes. That changed when I worked with a coach who showed my how to use kindness with sharp thinking to find the pattern and it’s lesson. We are all somewhere on this journey - it’s the human condition.

So, exchange self-judgment for self-correction. Use every problem as a lesson to refine and excel.

The Exponential Influence Effect

When you develop pattern recognition, something remarkable happens.

You gain autonomy and freedom. You experience creativity and courage. You respond with calmness and clarity.

This leads to decisions with far more impact. But it doesn't stop with you.

When you can step back and see patterns, you model this for your team. You show them the same principles. Everyone gets elevated. I call this the exponential influence effect. By working with one person's mindset and psychological growth, we affect many others.

One founder's pattern recognition becomes an organization's competitive advantage.

Seeking the Pattern That Connects

Gregory Bateson said, "seek the pattern that connects."

We're living in dynamic times where everything feels fragmented and fast-moving. But by seeing how things connect, we understand the important nature of relationships between people, places, and all things.

Founders who master this connecting pattern can create what others simply can't.

Because we're all part of bigger systems. Business, cultural, commercial. Seeing the whole picture gives you understanding at every level.

The next time you face a problem that feels impossible, pause and look for the pattern within the problem.

Ask yourself: Am I focused on content or context? What story am I telling myself? What limitations am I assuming?

The pattern you find might just transform everything.