A Definitive Guide to Problem-Solving: Part 3
There’s no one way to solve a problem — in fact, you should avoid using canned approaches. But there are ideas, steps, plans and questions that problem-solving professionals have found useful for decades.
This is a five-part series on problem-solving. Click to see steps one, two, four and five.
Making a Map
After the problem-solving team pours out its ideas and questions, the organization may realize that there is more than one right answer and many potential side effects. This is why everything — ideas, questions, potential side effects — should be recorded and arranged when digging into the problem. The end goal is to have a problem statement, a map of the company’s problems.
Maps allow multiple different perspectives — economic, social, environmental — to be listed and listened to. The map will give problem-solvers what Bossi calls a “horizontal view” of the problem.
“If I work on economics and finance, I can’t appreciate the work that others do, nor can I see how their performance is affecting my performance or how my performance is affecting the work of others,” he says.
Nickols agrees that maps are useful, similar to a cartographer charting the territory she’s exploring. “The complete map is never done,” he says. “You will regularly get enough of it to get to where you want to be. But there’s still a lot of uncharted territory out there.”
A map will also allow companies to know some of the solution’s performance indicators and potential side effects. “We must first figure out what the indicators of performance are and how they are connected to one another,” Bossi says. “Once you know indicators of performance, you can find the person responsible for a certain type of performance or one who has a good view of what’s happening and why we are underperforming in one of the other areas.”
A written system of performance indicators will show organizations causes and effects of different decisions, allowing the problem solvers to understand how different solutions could affect other areas of the business. If one part of the business is changed, and that change affects another part, this view of the problem-solving process may allow the organization to understand why. Without the map, the events may seem disconnected.
Another way to arrange a problem statement comes from Weiss’ Key Business Solutions, wherein he suggests that companies use the ABC — or arrange, brainstorm, choose — method to break down a problem. Using this technique, companies “arrange” by setting a clear goal, generating evaluation criteria and informing the team of the analysis. Then, they “brainstorm,” group similar ideas together and find new ideas, treating all ideas equally. Finally, they “choose” by adding details to the solution and scoring outcomes against set criteria.
Digging into a problem allows a company to avoid using a canned approach to problem-solving. Nickols says that most organizations are “committed to canned approaches,” no matter what kind of problem they’re up against. “It just doesn’t work,” he says, adding that most people realize how complex problems are after looking at questions, concerns and potential side effects.
After the map has been drawn up, it’s time to implement a solution.
About the Author | Hal Conick
Hal Conick is a staff writer for the AMA’s magazines and e-newsletters. He can be reached at hconick@ama.org or on Twitter at @HalConick.
