Your value in society is unfortunately dependent on your ability to solve problems.
In every thought that sprouts in our heads or every action that we take we’re solving MILLIONS of problems. Molecular and colossal.
Thousands of years ago in the pre-stone age our ancestors had to fight day in and day out for their life. There was no alternative.
They had to solve millions of problems daily.
And, this evolutionary trait of systematic problem solving is why we’ve advanced as a people.
Without It we only would’ve made it so far.
But, I’m about to show you a battle-tested problem solving framework I use daily in the trenches at both APAC AI and APAC Farming where we tackle Humanity’s biggest problems by the second.
Traditional Problem Solving:
Traditional problem solving systems usually only solve traditional problems. It’s like trying to use a pickaxe to mine a star. It’s not going to work.
Traditional problem solving usually involves these 4 questions:
- What happened?
- Why did it happen?
- How should we act?
- What will be the future result?
While these questions seem simple, you can’t hide everything behind abstraction forever because entropy(complexity) will build up quickly.
So, over time I deduced the 4 rational processes that act as the foundation for these 4 fundamental questions.
Situation Analysis
Clarifies the problem situation(what happened)
Problem Analysis
Herein lyes the root cause or multi-root causes of the problem and their relationships. Cause and result are usually connected through a system diagram representing a bathtub (input → middlelayer → result)
Decision Analysis
In this stage, 3 potential solutions are formulated and their feasibility on a 2x2 matrix
Environment Analysis
Clarifies the problem situation(what happened)
Potential Problem Analysis
Potential problems that have the same root cause are predicted here and preventative measures are deployed.
Problem Analysis
- Define the problem
- Specify the problem
- Identify differences and changes
- Formulate possible causes
- Test causes against facts
- Prove true causes
- Re-write assumptions and conduct review
Decision Analysis
- State a decision
- Describe and Classify Objectives
- Weight Objectives
- Plot out potential decisions on 2x2 matrix
- Generate Alternatives
- Evaluate Alternatives
- Evaluate risks
- Make definitive decision
Potential-Problem Analysis
- Identify potential problems
- Identify the causes
- take preventative actions
- plan for contingencies
- set triggers
Environment Analysis
- Closely monitor area where root causes are most likely to lie
- Set sensors that monitor on your behalf
- Stress test environment if possible to crush possible future problems
Distinction
Different tasks involve different problems, which in turn desire different approaches. A situation analysis will clarify the distinctions in your approach and as a result make it much more likely for you to solve your problem as quickly as possible.
The situation-analysis provides an insight into necessity, priority, and urgency of the various tasks.
When the 2x2 matrix has been plot out with potential solutions and actions preparations may begin. By using a good problem analysis in advance, a process will be created to prevent future problems or in emergencies to limit the damage.
Cause
The time, energy, and money it takes to make a decision greatly increases with the number of choices available so with that said certain root causes are therefore excluded. Based on a “this is” and “this is not” deduction analysis so you can have a clear overview of possible causes.
Efficiency
The registration of a problem is not a uniform process. In spite of the mass abundance of information available people usually misinterpret and overlook crucial information that can solve the target problem.
Successful and un-successful troubleshooting is a matter of bi-directional problem deconstruction.
Top-down and down-top.
Conclusion
All problems have causes. Causality is present. The matter is determining the causes that are responsible and manipulating them to suit your needs.
This process is fantastic for CEOs, marketers, Executives, and engineers.
However, there is a limit to the number of problems a single human can solve. In that advent, there is someone who can lend their arm out to you so you can achieve your dreams.
Athena.
Athena is a hyper-intelligent AI companion that helps you make world-class decisions in real-time that help you navigate unforeseen risks deep into the future.
Current Beta testers are using Athena to give them an edge in sales deals and investment deals.
Want to supercharge your decision-making some more? Sign up to Athena now.
Here’s a quick demo:
