Problems make the world go round. It would seem the point of our lives is solving problems and thereby discover why we are here. Is our purpose fulfilled by the problems we have solved? Our body is designed to stimulate happiness brain chemicals when we are engaged in a challenge that will help us survive.
One of the characteristics of being an entrepreneur is being innovative? What does that mean? It means being creative and perhaps thinking outside the box when faced with a challenge, a Vision, or a goal, Entrepreneurs often solve problems we didn’t know we had but are thankful after they have shown us the value of their thinking. Steven Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers have all shown us that there could be a different way.
In our personal lives and in our daily business tasks, we may not be working toward a Vision but just handling the day-to-day issues that have to be solved. One of the side affects of greater technological efficiencies has been to make life come at us faster. We had snail mail, then fax machines, then email. The result is we can get answers faster, but then everybody expects us to answer faster. You could leave a snail mail letter lying around for a few days because no one knew when it would arrive, but with email, everyone knows its instant.
Problems can be just as demanding because if things don’t work, our customers want their money back or consider using a different source. Therefore, solving problems are necessary to stay in business or optimize resources. Wouldn’t it make sense that people good at solving problems could be in demand and that companies good at solving problems could be leading the pack?
Should we dread problems or say Oh Boy! I get to tackle another challenge? I have always been good at starting things early. That really takes the heat out of deadlines and turning out poor results because I was late in getting started or did not allow enough time. I have now learned a formula for approaching problems that makes treating them the same and working through the results a process.
The Shallengbergers in their work, Start With a Vision laid out a 6 step process that has been proven successful globally by businesses that faced problems they couldn’t solve. I have added another step, but the process is essentially the same. The basis of solving a problem effectively is understanding the root cause. This is the step most people and organizations give short shrift because no one likes problems, wants them to go away, don’t want to invest too many calories in figuring them out, and will often grab the nearest solution.
The second issue is that most of the time a problem is considered a twostep issue. What is the problem, what is the solution? The first obstacle in solving problems this way is that people and organizations are stuck in a closed framework when facing a problem. They have negative energy about the problem and usually few alternatives. We are also sceptical about solutions because we have become cynics about all the promises to solve our issue.
Consider a new process. When given a problem, first consider a Vision of what you would like the result to look like. What would be the dream? Now with the dream in mind, we have a clear target. Next consider the current situation. What is it we need to fix. Then assess the obstacles between the current situation and the Vision. We need to solve for the obstacles and we need to be sure we are solving for the correct obstacle.
This is where so many solutions are incorrect. We often solve a periphery problem and not the root cause. A Great problem solver will begin with allowing all the time necessary to find the root cause. The Challenger rocket that blew up in 1986 was found to have a bad “O” ring. Solving for the “O” ring would be a periphery problem since there are thousands of parts on a rocket and each faulty part could lead to a new accident. When investigators dug deep they found that the engineers knew the “O” ring was bad and said don’t launch, but they had no authority and only one person could stop the launch. Now anyone can stop a launch and there have not been more accidents.
Once the root cause (s) is determined, the next step is find the alternatives. This might also necessitate some time and expertise from different people, departments, outside experts, or commissioned studies. Solving the root cause could eliminate the obstacles to achieving the Vision. Once the alternatives are listed, the right ones have to be selected and then execution has to be institgated.
This next step is called the Plan. It has who, what, and by when’s. Who will do the work, what will they do, and by when will they be finished. This process might take a month or maybe years. Each by when might be a steppingstone to the next fix. It might take ten by when’s by many participants to finally arrive at the solution. The solution also delivers the Vision.
Along the way there is constant evaluation and reflection. Often data is necessary to reflect progress or continuing problems. Adjustments can be made. If it is decided that the alternatives selected miss the mark, either more adjustments can be made, or the process can be restarted with new evaluations of the root cause.
A person or organization could have lots of Plans in action. Each one can be observed, monitored, and evaluated. They could even be charted, and data processing could be applied to track progress. A person who has mastered the process could be invoking solutions at a rapid rate. More problems might invite the necessity of more teams. This process is likely to create more solutions and give everyone the confidence that their organization can make steady progress because they can solve their problems.
Startups like to fail fast so they learn fast. What they are learning is that their theory for a solution was incorrect. They then are happy they get to try another one thinking they may arrive at a solution before the competition finds one. Clearly the race is on to find EV batteries that will allow greater time between recharging. You can imagine the investigations into root causes and alternatives. This is the process. What prevents a battery from lasting longer and how do we improve it?
If we changed our own orientation to looking for problems that impeded progress instead of trying to avoid them or throwing quick fixes at them, we might become more valuable in this process. A person known as a “problem fixer” could become a valuable asset worthy of promotion. They might be a person considered indispensable and not one to be fired. they may stand out as a person that needs to be promoted to prevent the competition from stealing them and to elevate their focus to bigger problems.
Leaders should definitely look at the Vision and the obstacles for achieving the Mission and invoke this process on each of the obstacles. The leader could have many plans in action working toward sustaining their operation and in making it more competitive, more profitable, and more fulfilling for all the stakeholders.
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