Solution Provider
SOLUTION PROVIDER
Posted on May 3, 2018 by Yann Tromeur
Or shall I say SolutionS Provider ?
First, keep calm.
Being stressed and moving all over the place can get you things done, but the moment you think you closed it, well, you can suffer many drawbacks from this behavior:
- No lessons learned: when you get rid of things fast, might work for a moment but are you sure that you fixed the root cause of your problem. => think documenting / improvement
- Exhaustion: well how long can you perform at 120 mph? Do you know how your colleagues / employees feel about it. => think long term / strategy
- Did you kill the beast? : are you a hundred percent sure this is a bull’s eye shot you took? An identical issue / a spawned problem might re-emerge. => (re) evaluate your solution
That is when tools come in useful…
Second, please review the three steps closely with a fresh mind.
Storm is passed, problem is solved. Now what? Let’s elevate the issue and avoid any unforeseen consequence or, worse, a reiteration:
ent yourself from exhaustion.
- Think documenting and what improvement the team could make to avoid any similar issue. Post mortem review: write things down communication to team involved. Always think documenting (use standards) and reviewing, a meeting can be useful as well, even a short unformal one.
- The goal is to succeed, it is not a speed race: you might need time for this to happen. Always think long term and strategy, you need to be alert and ready, stay calm and meditate (yes DO THAT) to prev
We often struggle facing issues in our daily work, those can be big or small challenges, urgent or not, critical or basic. Overcoming those issues, resolving those problems can be a tremendous task, both exhausting and time consuming.
- Once you have kept your cool and write things down, go back to the crime scene and CSI the corpse: is it really dead? Did my silver bullet really killed the monster? Review the solution and its forthcoming events : improvements, re-organization… in short any necessary changes; and once you have done : put a second bullet and kill it again. MAKE SURE THE ISSUE IS GONE FOR GOOD.
In short : DOCUMENT, REVIEW, DOUBLE CHECK.
This tip comes from several readings I made in the past years. Obvious but I need to write it down to emphasize what is not the most obvious for the most of us: discipline yourself and stick to it.
For this short method, I used two main sources for this short problem solving.
Ray Dalio ‘s
Ray Dalio is a famous investor who published is work principles last year. If not already, you should buy this interesting book: https://www.principles.com/
I just wanted to share with you this 5-steps method for problem solving, consisting of iterations and very similar to coding, like doing small steps to debug. In fact, Dalio calls the system he works on its “machines”.
So it’s fairly easy:
- Have a very clear goal.
- Identify and don’t tolerate the problems that stand in the way.
- Diagnose the problems look for their origins.
- Design plans to get around the root cause of the problems you diagnosed. If any new problem arise, go back to 3.
- Apply and do the designs as foreseen.
And voilà ! problem solved. Ray Dalio’s method can be called almost perfect and is quite complete. Training is definitely needed, and also needs time to follow.
Flip it !
No, this is not a method to make better pancakes or omelettes !
Three steps from problem solving:
- identify and define the issue
- define your solution again and again until it looks perfect
- transform it to a greater good
So basically, that is it.
The trickiest part for the one is the iteration when the actual flipping occurs. This is a very good method for teamwork oriented solution and definitely a must in meeting or for AGILE organisations.
I guess everyone have their own best tricks for problem solving. I hope mine will guide you along the way when needed. Make them yours !