Many of you have been encountering any type of problems to solve for your workplace. I have been dealing with different types of problems over last 15 years, mostly should provide engineering solution to clients. As one of team members or project lead to work together with other colleagues to confront complex issues, I should sometimes develop the solid and comprehensive methodology to overcome internal conflicts. In order to do that, I should have adapted particular skills and processes to achieve team objective, valued business and engineering solution to clients.
I am always seeking and researching for tips and techniques for problem solving – from structuring problems to delivering solutions. I found two short articles which I think useful to share with my MP cohort.
The first article is “Art and Science of Problem Solving in Any Business” and second one is “the most 4 effective ways leaders solve problems” Two authors made two valid points for problem solving skills. The first is “People & Management” and second is “Strategy and Opportunities”. The People & Management is that a great many problems are actually due to policies and processes being reinterpreted by management as they’re being implemented, which in turn causes confusion about how and when things are supposed to be done. The Strategy and Opportunities is that defining the problem, as well as in dealing with it in such a way that you not only resolve the immediate issue but use the opportunity to improve your business as strategy. They are very simple and straight-forward thoughts. But, I have overlooked them in the process of establishing the project team and scope as well as delivering final solution to management team.
The Art and Science of Problem Solving in Any Business
The 4 most effective ways leaders solve problems
Thanks, Jay, for sharing these articles. The Forbes article on “The Four Most Effective Ways that Leaders Solve Problems” and when you talked about “Strategy and Opportunity” especially intrigued me.
One particular point in the article that stood out to me was when it stated “the most effective leaders approach problems through a lens of opportunity.” I believe that this is a vitally important point but, like you said, something that is hard to implement on a regular basis. The article goes on to talk about how leaders who lack vision only see the problems that lie in front of them blocking out all the possibilities that lie within the problem. It states, “They never realize that, in the end, all problems are the same – just packaged differently.”
I think that as we have gone through Management Practice, this is a key component that we are developing in learning how to see the opportunities within a problem. We are doing this by learning to implement a solid strategy around a problem, not just seeing the immediate problem at hand and creating an immediate solution.
The article goes on to say that “Effective leaders connect the dots and map-out a realistic plan of action in advance… never shoot from the hip when problem solving.” By doing this effective leaders “make the problem solving process more efficient by recognizing that each problem has its own nuances that may require a distinct strategy towards a viable resolution.”
Things like problem statements, issue trees, and story boarding have helped me in MP to create a solid strategy around solving a problem instead of just “shoot[ing] from the hip” like I would have done previously.