Solving problems by thinking critically

9 min readSep 30, 2019

What is critical thinking?

Structured patience

When faced with problems, we tend to rush off and start solving them without stopping to think about what we are going to do. Generally, problem solving involves multiple number of stakeholders and the need to dig deep into large data loads, leaving us with the need to review final recommended solutions from multiple angles in order to create an impact. Therefore it is important to stop and think critically before teams rush off and undertake comprehensive efforts in solving problems. The critical thinking process will differentiate well thought-out solutions versus rushed off ideas.

Assessing causes and consequences

When going through the critical thinking process, first, consider causes by looking at the problematic symptoms and dive deep into the root reasons of their happening. View the symptoms from multiple perspectives. And once you have recommendations, stop and think critically about new problems and risks that you can create by implementing recommendations. In other words, what could be the new problems as a result?

By stopping and thinking about causes first and then consequences, once you do make a recommendation, you’re going to identify the true problem that you need to solve and, hopefully, avoid causing future problems. When you go out to solve a problem, think backwards about the causes, and think forward about the consequences.

Break problems into smaller pieces

A first step in any good critical thinking process is taking a very big problem and breaking it down into smaller ones that you can actually solve. The time you invest thinking through what the components of the problem are is going to pay dividends on the back-end when you look at the possible solutions, because you’ll have a better sense for what recommendations and solutions to pursue, and how those solutions help you solve the bigger problem.

For example, when profits are down, we have to look at smaller components — either revenues are down, or costs are up, or some combination of the two. For revenues, either volumes are down, or prices are down. On volumes, we may have a smaller issue of current customers are buying less, or we’re selling less to prospective customers. You get the drill. The same sort of analysis can be done on the cost side of profits.

When we take big problems and think about breaking them into smaller pieces, those smaller problems become much easier to solve and manage.

Defining and building a structure for the problem

The problem statement

The shortest distance between two points requires you to know where you are starting and where you want to go; if you don’t know the destination, you’re going to get lost or it’ll take you a long time to get there. Therefore, you need to know where that destination is, or what is defined as success for your problem solving efforts.

The problem statement defines that endpoint. A good problem statement, becomes the charter for critical thinking efforts by setting goals, defining scope, boundaries and success criteria, by spelling out constraints, articulating assumptions, and mapping stakeholders and timelines that you’re going to face.

Always, take a look at a problem you’re trying to solve.

Is the problem statement clear?
Do you know what the goals are?
What are the boundaries, constraints, and assumptions?
Do you know who the stakeholders are?
What are the needed timelines or milestones?

Search for the real questions

Always probe to understand why you’re being asked to look at something. Once you have a good understanding of the why, you’re closer to the cause and once you have that understanding, ask why again. Get that deep understanding of what’s causing concern on the stakeholder’s part.

By understanding the real questions, you can avoid solving symptoms, and instead come up with a recommendation that is going to resonate, and be something that delivers impact. Real question open up new answers, new ideas, and new opportunities.

Take a look at a problem you’ve been asked to solve, go back to the stakeholder and understand what’s really driving that request. Why do they care about this? What’s the driver behind the question? When you get a better understanding of this, you’ll find the solutions you come up with are going to be bigger, better, and more exciting.

Define the scope and boundaries

By using the following questions:

What are the real question being asked?
What are the objectives and timelines being asked of?
Who are the stakeholders or influencers involved in the decision? Who can support it and who can derail it?
How will you measure success? Lay out your quantitative and qualitative deliverables.
Define the output scope — what is or is not included in the space you are looking at?
What are your constraints?

Don’t reinvent the wheel

Consider past efforts and ask whether the problem has been considered in the past, what was learnt and what is different now compared to the past. By learning from experience it’s going to prevent you from wasted efforts and help you avoid potential pitfalls.

Change your point of view

In order to better judge the definition of a problem, one needs to look at it from different points of view.

Change perspectives: how is the problem defined from the perspective of the CEO? The front-line staff? Or customers?
Change context: can you re-imagine the problem in new ways? Can you view it from the perspective of different functional units?
Change realities: ask the ‘what if’s? What if you removed some of the constraints? What if you had additional resources? What if you were able to do this instead of that? By changing reality, you may find a different way to define the problem that enables you to pursue different opportunities.

By looking at the problem in new ways, you’re going to get a clear sense of direction around what the real issue is, such that you can generate some innovative and insightful solutions.

Spending the time to look at the problem from different angles and understanding what aspects of it can change may help you uncover really big solution that you never would have seen with your very limited scope.

Causality — drill to the root causes

We don’t want to solve symptoms of a problem; we want to solve the much deeper, or proceeding problems. The more you can get to the root, the more effective you’re going to be in preventing future problems and delivering an impactful solution. And when you have recommendations, think forward about the consequences. Are there organizational, customer, or competitor repercussions to anticipate? Understanding root causes, and the effects of recommendations, is going to help you solve the real problem, and avoid unintended consequences.

Critical thinking techniques

Challenge the ‘status quo’

Think critically about the way your business operates in order to generate new and effective ideas. Ask yourself and the people in the organization about the following:

The business model — fundamentally rethink your market definition, how you go to market. Challenge the entire business model for the way you deliver products and services.
The revenue model — ask yourself, how you’d dramatically expand products, pricing, geography, and the reach of your business.
The cost model — challenge what you’re spending money on, and how you’d eliminate overheads from the business to become much more efficient.

The Pareto Principle: the vital few or the ‘80/20’ rule

With problems solving, you need to think critically about the way you spend your time and energy. There are too many problems to solve, and not enough time. The Pareto Principle was coined by Vilfredo Pareto, where 20% of the drivers will drive 80% of the results, and you need to think about your work the same way. You have limited resources and can’t focus on the 80% that only drives 20% of the results. Focus your efforts on the meaningful 20%.

Look at whatever problem you’re trying to solve, understand what the drivers are, and understand how much each driver contributes to the overall impact you’re trying to have. Spend your time solving for the important issues. The ones that have a disproportionate impact on the metric you’re trying to move. It’ll be a much more efficient use of your time, and you’re going to solve the biggest problems your organization faces, first.

The 5 Whys — the root cause

When we keep asking why and keep peeling back our insights about a problem, we can identify what that true root cause, or ultimate insight is, and only then can we solve the problem and drive an impact on the organization. The fifth why is where that real insight resides. As you look at a problem you’re dealing with, when you see that issue, ask yourself why it’s happening, and ask why again and again and again. By the time you get to that fourth or fifth why, hopefully a new insight will pop out and you’ll be able to start solving the real problem that will have a true impact on the organization.

The ‘so whats’ — figuring out the consequences

A great tool for thinking through the consequences of an action is asking the ‘So What’s’, forcing you to go from an early answer to think through all the possible implications and future consequences of your actions. For example, when you have a recommendation, ask yourself, so what? And for the answer to the first so what, another so what, until you are fully satisfied that you’ve strained the consequences to the point possible. Invest time into your so whats, because it’s going to help you avoid future problems that were caused by the recommendation you made.

Conduct effective analyses

When problem solving, you need to think critically about the way you conduct your analysis, choosing which analyses to do, and how to handle the results that come out. Try to use the high level and low level review approach.

High level overview: always step up to the high level problem that you’re trying to solve, and ask what am I proving or disproving with the data that I’m analyzing? Estimate the benefit of even doing the analysis before you start pulling data. Use the Pareto Principle to make a decision. Test your thinking.
Low level overview: in action, only run the numbers you need to run and don’t stay in the data too long. Think about your scoped problem statement, follow the boundaries, don’t over analyze, and don’t lose too much time crunching meaningless data and numbers.

Be efficient, and focus your attention on the answers that matter, because analytical assessment will chew up a lot of your and your team’s time.

Account for implications of you recommendation

When solving a problem, think critically about the results of your analyses and the implications of your recommendation. Look for similarities or differences between the idea and the analytical answers that come out, and other situations that you’ve been in, or the organization has been in. Are there common themes or similar trends? Spend that extra time to go one step beyond the easy answer the analysis provides, and ask, ‘what does this mean for the broader problem’.

Be aware of common problem solving pitfalls

During your critical thinking processes, there are several pitfalls you might fall into. But you can avoid them, by just being aware.

Jumping to answers too quickly. In order to avoid this, define your problem well, have a clear problem statement, ask and understand the question behind the question from the perspective of the stakeholder, evaluate prior efforts, look at the problem thoroughly and understand causality.
Being unwilling to expand the problem space. The problem with being too narrow minded is that your problem, may only be a symptom of a broader pain. Therefore, try to question current operations, the status quo, and ask the 5 Why’s.
Focusing on things that don’t matter. Use the 80/20 Principle here.
Taking analytical results at face value. What do your analytical results mean? What are their implications? Use the so-what and the High/Low overview questions, to dig deeper into your analytical insights.
Not thinking through the future consequences of your answers. Try to ask yourself, if you implement, what’s going to happen? What are the knock-on effects of the recommendation? What will your competitors do? What will happen in the organization? What are the new problems you’re going to cause? Again, use the so-what’s here.

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