Operationalizing your Problem Solving Process
You are always building the machine... ⚙️ What goes into it? 👇
With every problem that you face, you invest into your process. Some of your problem-solving game:
✅ Opportunity: First, you keep eyes open for the next big challenge, especially the fun “problem" of capturing a new opportunity. 💡
✅ Discomfort: Next, you call it out. Like an awkward family holiday, you are brave to acknowledge an elephant in the room, and to address the issue head on. As Dr. Brené Brown says, you choose a brief moment of discomfort over a long time of resentment. 🏋️
✅ Tools: At a tech conference a few years ago, the SWAG t-shirt slogan read “The problem solver’s problem solver.” That has stuck with me over the years! That is your tribe too. You find the right kinds of tools to track, communicate and problem-solve quickly. 🛠️
✅ Writing: You take the time to write it down.
The Inside Innovator
Louis Gump suggests a few key tips for writing up a plan in his chapter titled “Craft the Strategy”:
- Commit your big ideas to a summary
- Write down indicators of success, a few handy metrics — how else will you know that you've won?
- Articulate your big vision, how this ties into the lofty, unattainable ideal for your company
- Pick a few values to guide you — single words work great!
- Create a mini business plan or value statement — if you get it to ROI, that works too!
- Identify the resources you might require — that’ll let everyone know that there is a cost of doing business
You’ll need buy in, and writing down your plans might just make you luck out when you need them. My uncle used to always say “Luck comes from preparation, and I’m the luckiest guy I know.”
The Inside Innovator
✅ Hands On: you get hands on! Sandra Lam lists “Problem Solver” as her #1 trait of an Intrapreneur. Could this be the number one most common attribute among you and your unicorn peers? We think so.
“[You] are comfortable in embracing the fact that there is a problem and acknowledging it. You identify the problem, break it down, and analyze the root cause… [You find] the broken parts in a process or system and do not mind getting [your] hands dirty to find ways of doing things better.”
The “5 Whys”
✅ Root Cause: You bring empathy and design thinking as you solutionize.
You ask the “5 Why’s”, you get to bedrock-level root cause so that you can solve the real, underlying need. You’d rather bleed than patch it over with a bandaid or stopgap.
You walk through the entire process start to finish, you play it back to your stakeholders. You think about how the solution will make us feel. You consider the cost of not solving it.
You facilitate group brain*writing* (written down brainstorming) so that you hear all of the important voices.
Well done, keep going, lead on!
