Four Steps to Improved Problem Solving

In our last post we said that the most effective starting point for improving your problem solving was by ensuring you’re solving the right problem. Assuming you have, then it makes sense to go about finding a solution. That’s where a good process comes in. Remember, a problem is simply the variance between the current state and the desired state. To close the performance gap, it’s important to be deliberate about the steps you take. We believe following a simple, four-step process, will help you significantly improve the likelihood you’ll reach a favorable outcome.

1. Define: When asked, 85% of executives admit that their companies are poor at problem diagnosis (yet another problem). It’s hard to properly diagnose, let alone solve, a problem that is poorly defined. The best way to ensure the issue you’re addressing is the right one is by defining the problem in a way that paves the way for effective analysis. Using a team, bringing in outside experts, and thinking through various ways to formulate the problem are especially useful during this step.

2. Decompose: Once a problem is well defined, it’s tempting to jump right into ‘solution mode’—brainstorming ways to address the challenge. Resist this temptation because often times the solution to a problem isn’t as obvious as it seems at first. The problem needs to be broken down, or as we say decomposed, into potential causes. A logic tree or issue tree is an effective way to aid in thinking through the potential drivers of the problem. Structured thinking using an approach like this is a sure fire way to improve your odds of success.

3. Analyze: With the potential causes of the problem identified, now you can begin in earnest investigating the source(s) of the issue. You’ll want to examine each potential cause to determine if it is the root cause of the performance gap. A very effective technique for this is the “Five Whys”. By asking the question ‘why’ until you get to the point you can’t answer it anymore (typically this takes five times), you’ll end up at what will likely be the root cause. At that point, you can identify potential solutions.

4. Act: But a potential solution is just that—a potential solution. You’ll need to implement the intervention you’ve developed and then check to see if it actually solved the problem. There’s a chance it only addressed part of the performance shortfall. If it wasn’t a root cause after all, it might not have any of it. The reason you act and then recheck is to determine the degree to which improvement has been made and decide what you might do next.

Problem solving is something managers engage in every day. Unfortunately, they rely more on experience and intuition than structured thinking. No doubt, ‘gut feel’ can help in addressing challenges. It’s structured thinking, however, that will yield the most benefit, especially when the problems you face are complex.

If you’d like to learn more about strategic thinking, check out the Twelve Skills brief Unlocking Problem Solving.

Serious about improving your skills? Get the companion guide to the Twelve Skills book the Twelve Skills Executive Presence Workbook. Packed with thought provoking activities, hands on exercises, and bonus material, it’s a proven way to boost your knowhow. Best of all, IT’S FREE! 

Get your own complimentary copy here.

How to Improve Problem Solving: Determine Your Real Problem

When it comes to improving problem solving, people typically focus on ways to enhance their process. It’s good thinking and can yield positive results. Training your team in problem solving methodologies is a great way to get everyone grounded. Speeding up the process can be effective too. Even sharpening your analytical skills is beneficial. That said, the very best way to improve your approach may be to just ask right at the start: “What problem are we trying to solve?”

This might seem so obvious it’s hardly worth mentioning. Who would intentionally solve the wrong problem? As it turns out, lots of people do and they’re not even aware of it. In fact, it’s one of the most common biases that plagues managers: Plunging In. Chances are you’ve experienced it yourself at some point.

Here’s an example. 

A large social service organization had so many open positions it was impacting their ability to deliver care to their customers effectively. Shifts were under-staffed causing managers to do front line work driving up over time hours and pushing the entire workforce dangerously close to burnt out.

Managers concluded they must have a recruiting problem.

So they dug in and worked diligently to improve recuriting. And it worked. They accelerated hiring and onboarding as planned. The result? Hiring improved, but turnover increased.

The managers then figured the issue must be training. It seemed reasonable that new employees coming into the organization must not have the skills they need to be effective in their fledgling roles. Thus, a new training program was quickly designed and implemented. At the end of the next quarter the managers were frustrated to find that training expenses went up while turnover and retention didn’t budge.

Exasperated, a cross functional team was chartered and they finally asked the ever important question: What’s the real problem here? 

As it turned out, once the team explored the process end to end, they discovered the turnover problem wasn’t a byproduct of hiring, onboarding, or training—it had to do with the how the organization was delivering services. Ultimately, the team redesigned the way work was done, which entailed innovating the care delivery process and changing the staffing/supervisory model to so that fewer staff were needed, not more.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “If I had a hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem, and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” We’re not sure if that’s the right mix of time (or even if Einstein actually said this) but the wisdom is consistent with combating Plunging In bias.

Spend time up front determining what your real problem is and you’ll save yourself time and money on the back end figuring out what you were trying to do in the first place.

If you’d like to learn more about strategic thinking, check out the Twelve Skills brief Unlocking Problem Solving.

Serious about improving your skills? Get the companion guide to the Twelve Skills book the Twelve Skills Problem Solving Workbook. Packed with thought provoking activities, hands on exercises, and bonus material, it’s a proven way to boost your knowhow. Best of all, IT’S FREE! 

Get your own complimentary copy here.