Key problem-solving strategies

Key problem-solving strategies

1. How problems differ from decisions

   • Problem
     • ‘Something thrown in front of you’
     • Problems are similar to games – in fact, games are sets of problems.
     • Problem solver
       • You have to be clever, with analytical skills well-honed on many other problems in that particular field.
   • Decision
     • Usually does mean that life will be different
     • It opens the way to changes of some kind or other.
       • Some of these changes are planned, wanted, expected or at least foreseen (the manifest consequences), whereas others are not.
     • Decision-maker
       • You need a much wider range of skills and characteristics.
   • Therefore problems as obstacles or difficulties in the path ahead of us are always secondary to the results of decision making. Decisions create problems
     • One way of solving them – or rather the problem state in your mind – is to alter your decision, or at least your plan.

2. A unified model for decision making and problem-solving

   • The bridge model
     • Defining the aim/problem
     • Choosing the optimum course/solution
     • Generating feasible options
   • The model is useful for your team as well as yourself.
   • It can help everyone to keep in step

3. Asking the right questions

   • Understanding the problem
     • When did you first sense or become aware of the problem or the need for a decision? Have you defined the problem or objective in your own words? (Remember that a problem properly defined is a problem half-solved.) Are there any other possible definitions of the problem worth considering? What general solutions do they suggest? Are you clear about what you are trying to do? Where are you now and where do you want to get to? Have you identified the important factors and salient facts? Do you need to spend more time on obtaining more information? Do you know the relevant policies, rules, limitations, and procedures? Have you reduced the problem to its simplest terms without oversimplifying it?
   • Evaluating the decision and implementing it
     • Have you used all the available information? Have you checked your solution from all angles? Are you clear about the manifest consequences? Have you an implementation plan with dates or times for completion? Is the plan realistic? Do you have a contingency plan if things do not work out as expected? When are you and your team planning to review the decision in the light of experience?
   • Towards solving the problem
     • Have you checked all your main assumptions? Out of all the possible courses or solutions, have you identified a shortlist of the feasible ones? Can you eliminate some of these in order to shorten the list still further? If no solution or course of action seems right by itself, can you synthesize elements in two or more solutions to create an effective way of dealing with the problem? Have you clearly identified the criteria by which the feasible options must be judged? If you are still stuck, can you imagine yourself in the end-state where you want to be? If so, can you work backward from there to where you are now? Has anyone else faced this problem? How did they solve it?
   • Three levels of competence
     • Awareness of problems or the need for decisions
     • Understanding of where you and the team are in relation to the problem or decision.
     • Skill in asking the right questions of the right people at the right time, and being able to test the answers for their truth content.

4. How to approach systems problems

   • System
     • It is a whole made up of integrated parts.
       • Organic
       • Mechanical
       • A process
     • A systems problem is essentially a deviation from the norm.
       • We can represent it visually by two lines
         • The greater the difference between the normal performance and the active performance, the bigger the problem.
   • The main strategy
     • To find the point of deviation and then establish what caused it.
       • To establish the exact time and place of that critical deviation.
       • To identify the cause or causes.
       • Treat causes, not symptoms, if it is possible to do so.
       • To remove the cause of the problem.
   • Beware of the fallacy of the single cause
     • Relatively simple problems
       • There is only one cause
     • Complex problems
       • Ones, two or three causes may be combining to produce the unwanted effect
   • Secondary strategy
     • Where ‘cure’ isn’t possible
       • To mitigate the effects of the problem on the performance of the system as a whole.

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