Inspiration from an Art Immersion: Work in Progress
Personal reflections and a 3-step problem solving framework
Happy New Year!
It’s a new year to reflect and consider goals for the year ahead. I shared in December my goal to write more in 2024. With this, I started a series of monthly challenges. An accountability mechanism and also something fun for personal growth.
Today’s article recaps my first challenge. For this, I asked you to find an interesting painting or sculpture and sit with it for 3 hours, while reflecting on questions and feelings. The task was to let your mind wander as you appreciated your art and then write about it.
Before proposing this, I had visioned what I thought my approach would be. A bit of self-assurance, that what I was asking of others, was worth taking on! As I actually took it on though, I still found it unexpected. In where my mind went and how.
I found it fun to think in this unstructured way. It also took time to make sense of my thoughts (the image at the top is a digitally-neat version of my manually-messy mind map).
This was the art I chose. It’s in my home office. I see it regularly, in the background, behind my monitors. This isn’t an expensive piece. Nor is it one-of-a-kind. I purchased it a couple years ago, perusing a furniture store while waiting to meet a friend.
Question 1: What drew me to this art?
The furniture store was Scandinavian Designs, a contemporary home store started by a Norwegian immigrant in the 1960s in California. I am half Finnish and my Scandinavian lineage strongly influenced my upbringing. Purchasing this art was practical. It fit my space. It also seamlessly fit my home, with other Scandinavian decor.
But it also reminded me of this. I grew up near here and visit often. The properties along the right side of the image have a peaked roof line similar to the painting. So there’s sentimental connection too.
What drew me to this painting?
Simple. It reminds me of home.
Reflection Question 2: What do I see in this art?
I looked more closely at the elements of the painting. I see this art almost everyday, but the challenge was to really take it in. To look at it. Color, texture, pattern, and shape.
What struck me first was water. The serene presence of blue and the reflection of the houses. A clarity and purity I’d imagine people wanting to stand outside and smell.
I wondered if it’s warm or cold? I see a sunny, summer morning with comfortable, cool air and calm water. Though maybe I’m manifesting what I’d prefer?
The construction is symmetrical and balanced. The water mirroring the sky. The houses aligned and orderly. Yet there is depth and chaos as well.
Tangled textures.
Sheen roughed with matte.
Wood and metal.
The beauty of nature.
Unexpected Detour 1: Why the flower?
I spent time wondering about the house with the flower. It is different from the rest. Is it purely a creative treatment or a symbol of something deeper?
The houses have subtle differences in design. Maybe its a representation of the neighbors on this block?
I’ve lived in a few neighborhoods. There are reasons people move to a place — a view, a desirable location, a common life stage. Commonalities bring people together, a friendly conversation point when you’re outside. Yet no one is exactly the same. These houses all have different personalities, like the people who may live there.
Families also keep waterfront property for generations. Maybe this is a neighborhood turning over? The flower a symbol of growth and new life.
Or…is it just a creative treatment?
Mind wandering…✅
Unexpected Detour 2: More on neighbors…
Where I live now, the homes are side-by-side with little space between (“zero lot line”). Great for kids collecting candy on Halloween. Not so great for a problem we had recently.
Ants. We had ants.
In our kitchen.
Marching one-by-one on our counters.
In the late fall, just as we were planning to leave for holiday travel. This is indeed a problem, a broader one to where we live. But it wasn’t in our whole house, so we needed to determine WHY it was happening where it was.
Wild turn…
Can this creative exercise turn into a problem solving lesson? Yes, yes it can.
As I was appreciating my art, it struck me as a good metaphor. I was deconstructing this painting similarly to how I would a problem. This creative exercise has presented a new challenge.
Let’s see if I can teach problem-solving in a simple way, using my ant problem as an example.
I learned LEAN basics early in my career, and this is a simplified approach. Though, I have used this exact framework on more complex business problems. It’s helpful for getting teams on the same page and moving toward solutions.
It’s also best done with a facilitator, who can guide you through the steps, and with people who represent different areas of expertise. Let’s jump in.
3-Step Problem-Solving
Step 1: Frame the Problem
Look at a problem like you would a painting. Paintings literally have a frame, defined edges where you’d confidently say — that’s the painting and that’s the wall. The frame contains your area of focus.
With a problem, the edges may not be as clear. Defining the frame is to determine where the problem is and is not happening. As well when in time, and not. This helps prevent you from getting into solutions and then asking ‘what problem are we trying to solve’?
With our ant problem, the where was our kitchen and only one wall. They weren’t going into the pantry and not in other areas of the house. The when was not everyday. It was a rainy-day problem, on the west-facing wall of our kitchen.
After framing, now calibrate. Is interpretation of the problem consistent? Are you measuring the same as others? Note where differences exist or more information is needed. This might look like gathering data, past experiences, or signals of future problems that you want to discuss (and align on) before moving to solutions.
For problems that are complex, political, or affecting many teams, framing and calibrating can take a long time. Don’t speed through this step.
Our calibration was simple. Whether we had 10 ants or 1000, my spouse and I were in agreement, it was a problem!
Step 2: List Potential Causes
Once you’ve defined (and agreed) to your problem, the next step is to list potential causes. Think expansively and identify all the possible reasons in different categories.
People — Those who come in contact with your problem area.
Objects — Non-living things you suspect could be a cause.
Environment — Surrounding conditions like temperature, light, nature, etc.
Interactions — How potential causes may be coming together (or not).
What’s most important is you cover the breadth of your frame. If you suspect many causes in one category, break it up into smaller categories. Simply add more bones to this “fishbone” diagram.
For our problem, potential causes were in all categories. Though we were able to quickly rule some out. And this is common in business problem solving too.
Causes you have no control over, or are unwilling to change. An example of this in my ant problem is the rainy fall weather or where we live.
Causes that are unlikely. More subjective, but worth discussing to focus on higher likelihood options first. Our front door entrance is close to the problem area. Though as much as Amazon delivery was coming to our front door this time of year, it was an unlikely cause for ants!
Causes that are not unique to your framed area. An example is the pest control service we have around our entire house. There was no reason to believe it wasn’t working on only this side.
List all potential causes. Then strike out the uncontrollable, unlikely, and not unique, as a simple way to track. If you’re wrong, revisit later.
After this, calibrate on the causes to ensure interpretation is consistent and clear across your group.
3. Ask Why 5 Times
Now here’s where it gets fun. With potential causes listed, some de-prioritized, and people interpreting consistently, you start to ask WHY.
Channel your inner child and ask…
WHY is this happening?
WHY is that happening?
WHY is that not happening?
Parents, you get me, right?
Asking WHY 5 times is often enough to identify causes you can address. Though the goal is to keep asking WHY until you feel you’ve gotten to the “root” of the problem.
For our ant problem, we knew we had a crack in the exterior wall. It was a good thing to fix, whether we had this problem or not. These types of ‘no regret’ solutions may surface early and require little debate, as they’re more obvious.
Though we did not know if the crack was the only cause. The question of why water was accumulating on the side of our house illustrates how asking WHY can surface other solutions. I’ve provided some examples of questioning and solution-checking as well.
Our gutters were clogged, but our neighbors were not. Our neighbor’s drain was clogged, but ours was not. Our neighbor’s drain was outside our problem frame, but on the edge, and a cause for our problem (that we could not see).
How might you prevent this problem from occurring again? Continuing to ask WHY is an effective way to go beyond (only) the reactive solutions.
And don’t forget to check around the edges (anything just outside the frame of your problem).
So there you have it!
A 3-step problem-solving framework, sparked by the image of close neighbors in a painting. A practical and sentimental painting I chose to deeply appreciate for 3 hours. In a challenge to let your mind wander, which was both fun and unexpected.
I started this article with my goal of writing more in 2024. I also had a goal of sharing this article with you last week. Goal adjusted along with arbitrary, self-imposed deadline. MY why for this goal is quality, more-so than speed.
I am working on more high-quality writing in 2024 🙂
Tell me how I did.
Was this problem-solving framework helpful? I’ve hopefully solved any ant problems you could have in your home.
Follow me on LinkedIn and Medium for future recaps. And check back soon for the next challenge.
