5 creative ways how to solve your problems faster
Running company is more similar to running marathon. You do not need to sprint, but doing quick decisions helps you win the race. Knowing where you should run faster and where save more energy is crucial thing. Using methods for problem solving help you with maintaining pace and solve your problem faster
Beginners mind
“In beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few”
Remember when you were doing something for the first time and there was not written way how to do it? So you had to chose your own path? Well, it happens to all beginners. But when you are solving problems for 9th or 199th time you stick to the way how you always used to do it. It may cause some unpleasant situations and you are not able to come with new solutions. It hurts especially when old ones are not working. Thinking way you used to all time, keep you out of new solutions.It’s also called cognitive bias or course by knowledge. You know so much about topic, that you become blind to other possibilities. When you find yourself in that situation, and you can’t find new way to solve problem. When you are looking for new solutions, do not do things, because you used to do it all the time. Relax and become beginner again. What would you do, if you faced problem for first time and you didn’t knew anything about it? Answers may surprise you.
Binary thinking
Machiavelli said that things are not only black and white, but they are also in shades of grey. Well, this does not apply when we are talking about binary thinking. This technique can help you emphasise differences. There is only 1 or 0, A or B, gain or lose — nothing between. It may be very useful when you are looking for adjectives how to express yourself or your company brand. When you express yourself “something in between”, you can be sure, people won’t get it. It also works in process when you need accept solutions of same weight and you can’t decide which one is right. In this case try to think binary only in matter of loses or gains.
Summit view
“You can not solve your problems with the same thinking you used when you created them.”
I enjoy heights, not only for great view, but also for change of perspective how you look at things. You can see different and overall picture of things around you. Climbing imaginary summit help you understand overall picture of what are you doing. When you are deep into problem and can not decide if include feature to your product, look at things from top. How would that feature affect your customers? Does it bring them some value, is it just nice thing to have?
Also good work and life balance support this kind of thinking. Your subconscious have place to work on problems in the background. You may find yourself having best ideas when you are not working but sitting in the toilet, or having shower. However, that’s topic for another article. For now, when you find you can’t see the way out of problem, climb summit and quickly decide.
Dirty hands
Have you been at meeting where everybody was talking about something totally different? Everybody seemed confident and nodded when other person said anything. This is a huge time-waster. When talking is not enough, grab a modern age weapons as flip-chart, pen and draw that sticky figure. You do not need to be artist. Ovals, squares and letters works great enough. Every time, simulation or prototype will take you under 5 minutes, it’s no-brainer. Doing this simple preview will reveal much more facts and things to consider. Simulating situation could be useful for improving customer service call. Or quick prototype of product you are working on. This method will bring you much more information to work with. And also helps you make better informed decision.
Worst case scenario
Decision making could be pretty stressful under time pressure. If you want to proceed quickly and do not have time to consider all pros and cons — you consider only stakes. What are gains and loses? What is the worst thing, could happen to you, if you will make bad decision? Will you lose your job? Will you lose your life? Or maybe just some person may be angry at you? Asking that question, remove all false believes and you will start thinking clear. Knowing answer help you decide. Is it worth proceeding or you need more time to explore situation deeply. Maybe you won’t worry about some things so much, and focus your energy to important ones.
Surely you have been using most of these models before, knowing them under different name. (That’s because I made it up). Now you can easily recall and use them when you find it useful. It may save you precious time and help you solve problems faster.
