We don’t give ourselves enough credit for the number of problems we solve every day. Some problems are solved almost instantaneously or through habit. Other problems bring on a degree of frustration that many times we find ourselves procrastinating. Does this remind you of yourself? I know I will sometime avoid facing a problem head on. I may keep it churning around in my thoughts delaying what needs done - addressing the problem and finding a solution!
If you are a small business owner and struggling with solving problems and finding solutions, I’m going to clue you into what I’ve learned about problem solving. These steps work whether you’re solving a problem with your business partner or addressing a behavior issue with your child. By bringing your attention to the process, you will become more aware and focused. My goal is to teach you a process of skills that will lead to good solutions and awesome outcomes.
When faced with a problem, do you respond with, “Now what do I do?” So many times we follow our tendency to do what comes to mind. Our anxiety builds and our solution may only solve one piece of the problem. Sometime later, we find ourselves faced with a variation of the first problem. To stop this cycle, pay more attention to these process you are using when problem solving. Once you begin to practice the steps outlined here, it will become automatic. Depending on the problem you are solving, you may go through the steps in a matter of minutes or it may take weeks or longer.
Clear Mindset
The best start to effective problem solving is living in the present with a mindset focused on today. Perhaps there has been a problem brewing in your company that involves employee behaviors. Once you and everyone involved have acknowledged the problem exists, the key to progress is focusing on the solution. Your mindset must be forward thinking to how tomorrow can look better and feel better once the problem is solved. Forget pointing fingers and placing blame.
Knowledge Bank
The more you know about the problem and the circumstances, the better positioned you will be to solve the problem.
Start with what you know. Write it down. Then ask yourself - what else do I need to know? Ask how and why questions of those people close to the problem. If need be, collect knowledge from all your team members and stakeholders – employees at all levels of the company, new and repeat customers, and suppliers. Depending on the problem you are trying to solve, it may be worthwhile to talk to your professional partners as well – your CPA and your attorney.
As you are collecting data, look for the root cause. Think of it as solving a puzzle. Play detective. After collecting information from all involved, you may need to circle back for more information.
Brainstorming Sessions
Once you have gathered enough knowledge about the problem and have an idea where the issues fall, brainstorm all possible solutions no matter how crazy. Brainstorm with your team. Provide a directive as to what outcome the session is working towards. Create an environment where every idea is welcomed. Also, set a time limit because an endless amount time may cause ideas to run flat and the energy in the room to fizzle.
Think about this example: somewhere in the last six weeks, one person had an idea for a restaurant to enter into the grocery business. Depending when that idea was presented to the conversation, it might have been received with laughter. But once the stay at home orders were implemented across communities, people started seeing empty shelves at stores, sometimes creating a run on stores and hording of goods. News broadcasts showed large crops of raw food intended for restaurants being trashed. Restaurants had immediately cancelled orders and that filtered down the supply chain all the way to the farmer’s field. But, a few weeks later, some restaurants did in fact enter into the grocery business. That crazy, LOL idea became a revenue stream for hundreds of restaurants. Some restaurants even selected a fixed array of items and included some chef’s recipes to maximize the flavors and foods. Lesson here – when brainstorming, every idea is a good idea.
Creativity Lab
A big obstacle to creative thinking is our dominant thoughts. The law of dominant thought is based on the fact that your actions follow your thoughts and images and what you have chosen to remember. In order to remove dominant thought from brainstorming and creativity, a good exercise is to simply write the dominant thoughts that everyone in the group has towards the problem or situation. For instance, a dominant thought may be that meal planning is only used by people who want to lose weight when in fact meal planning is just as important to diabetics and cardiac patients.
Remove limits such as budgets or timelines. Not that these aren’t important, they just shouldn’t get in the way of thinking of creative solutions. The process will allow you to circle back to these components when an idea continues to rise to the top and needs further vetting.
Don’t focus too much on the how; that will come later. Avoid replying to ideas with ”but” especially is this is part of your personality. Some people just naturally start with what could go wrong. This is helpful information but when the team is focusing on creativity, it’s not the time or place.
Be curious. When someone presents a creative idea, ask for a bigger vision of the idea. Encourage them to take it as far as they can. Ask for specifics. Just be curious in understanding how the other person sees the problem and their solution.
Vet and Select
The last step in problem solving is to vet the creative ideas against what you know. Determine which idea is best at addressing the problem and moving towards the desired outcome. Make sure the idea you are considering addresses the problem areas, is reasonable and achievable and doesn’t create more problems. I always encourage my clients to work through a “what if”. If the idea is implemented, how does it look? Does it address the initial problem and improve your business?
One final thought, simply saying “don’t do that again” is not a way to solve a problem. This never gets to the why something happened or the intention of the action or cause of the problem.
Making sense of it all
Don’t be careless with your problem solving. Here is a recap of the steps you should follow when looking for solutions. If you pay more attention to the process, you will become more aware and focused, leading to good solutions and awesome outcomes.
Clear Mindset – The best start to effective problem solving is forgetting the past, focus on the present with the focusing on moving forward.
Knowledge Bank - The more you know about the problem and the circumstances, the better positioned you will be to solve the problem.
Brainstorming Sessions - Once you have gathered details about the problem and have an idea where the issues fall, brainstorm all possible solutions no matter how crazy.
Creativity Lab - Dominant thoughts block our creative thinking. Identify what may be blocking creativity and push beyond these boundaries for new solutions.
Vet and Select – View all the information and vet the ideas against what you know. Select the solution that best solves the problem and improves or moves your business forward.
I know problem solving can create a lot of anxiety in your business. You worry about whether you are making the right decision and fear the consequences if you don’t. Follow these tips and the process will allow for better decisions. With that will come greater confidence and a stronger business model.
If you are still struggling with a decision or problem, a peer group mastermind may help. If you are interested in joining a group, contact me here.