Problem Solving

Asking the right people the right questions – in the right order.

When you’ve done that as often as we have, you can’t help but notice certain questions that seem to pop up in every problem, regardless of its subject, size or complexity.

Checking that it is, actually, a problem.

Are you sure it is actually a problem?

Depending on the answers these can be real time savers when asked at the very beginning of any problem solving process:

1. Is it really a problem?
2. Oh yeah? Says who?
3. Are we sure this hasn’t already been solved by someone smarter than us?

Houston, We Have a Problem.

Ok, so now we’re sure it’s a genuine problem. Let’s see what we’re dealing with:

1. What – exactly is the problem? What isn’t?
2. What are all the possible causes? (there’s never only one)
3. How are they feeding each other?

Notice that so far we haven’t asked ‘whose fault is this?’ or ‘who can we blame?’

We’re not about to either; we’re after cause and effect, not scapegoats.

Ok – it’s a problem… but what now?

Map the problem.

Expressing the problem as a map captures every useful fact about what it is, why it’s happening and what can we do about it and lays it out for anyone to see it clearly, probably for the first time..

That’s when different questions begin to arise, almost organically. Questions like:

1. What could we change to alter the path of the problem?
2. Where should we target our efforts for the maximum effect?
3. Which targets should we hit first?

Discover the solutions within.

Now the focus moves from investigation to innovation; it’s time to get creative:

1. What if we did the exact opposite of what we’re currently doing?
2. What have we never tried that might work now?
3. How would we do things differently if we started from scratch?