Problem solving is an area that each of us is challenged in every day. It may look different for everyone tactically, but we are all facing difficult problems both in our personal and professional lives. This article supposes that problems can be divided into 4 classes. Each of the classes ranges from a well-defined problem with no solution, to a well-defined solution with no problem. The idea of creative solutioning was discussed some in our joint Strategy lecture with guest speaker Sean Coyne, who shared with us the idea of brainsteering, or focusing our problem solving to a specific problem or task. The article touches on the idea of problem solving via exploitation, or using what you already know, and exploration, or moving beyond what you already know to solve problems. These can also be referred to as the Edison and the Einstein ways of solving problems. Which category do you fall into? Which would you like to fall into? Moreso, which would you like your managers and direct reports to fall in to?
While our day to day lives may be relatively standard and we tend to approach problems the same way, I think this article serves as a good reminder to re-focus our problem solving and figure out which pieces of the “puzzle” we already have, which could change, and which are completely ambiguous. Sometimes the answer lies in just looking at the problem differently.
I am currently in the middle of major renovations of my house. In dealing with contractors, I am beginning to learn that is often times easier to tackle a problem by breaking it into smaller components.
When I first closed on the house, I invited a remodeling designer to see my house and show her my ideas. She looked it over, asked me my budget and then told me that I could only do one or two rooms in the budget that I had allocated for a complete interior renovation of my home.
This process was repeated a few times with other vendors and I kept hearing the same statement: “it really depends on what we find when we are done with the demolition”. It finally became clear to me that the reason that the contractor estimates were so high was that all the pieces to the puzzle were not apparent.
So I took it upon myself (and a few friends and craigslist-hired day laborers) to do all the demolition on the house so that it was obvious what wall was load bearing and what wasn’t and what types of plumbing pipes existed.
This has taught me that taking a large problem and breaking it into smaller pieces is a great way to solve problems. Which I am surprised that your article does not necessarily cover.