H4D Sprint Tools to Solve Problems
We love problems at BMNT. The harder, the better. And preferably a problem with a 1–3 year time horizon.
Man = Problem-Solving Animal
Why do we love problems? Because problem-solving plays to many of our strengths as human beings. We are hunters. Our minds and bodies are optimized to be laser focused on a target.
We are built to accomplish the mission.
What is so different about people who focused on solving problems? Their orientation to the outside world changes completely. Anything that crosses their path is a potential tool. Everything is assessed for its usefulness, not whether it’s “cool” or “interesting”.
That emphasis on usefulness cuts away all the fat. What’s left is the core of a real solution to a validated problem.
Great Tools for Solving Problems
You have probably heard about a lot of different “innovation” practices, strategies, or frameworks. The sheer volume of options is overwhelming (here’s 27 to get you started), and all of them are supposed to help you with being “innovative”, whatever the heck that means.
Forget about “innovation”. It’s a meaningless buzzword that confuses more than its helps. Instead of “innovation”, try this instead: Solve really hard problems. And when you finish, find another hard problem and solve that one. Then start over again!
When you’re solving a problem, use whatever tools make sense. You must be ruthlessly focused on validating the problem and rapidly testing aspects of possible solutions. Each tool must serve one of these purposes.
Know when to use the various tools in your toolkit, and — more importantly — when they are worthless or even counterproductive. Here are some examples of the tools that we use at a tactical level with our customers:
Top-down Frameworks Suck
Compare this problem-based approach to our typical mode of working. Normally we use whatever software, methodology, or workflow that we used last time. We don’t demand much of ourselves, or our team. There is no sense of urgency. We plod slowly through the process without any enthusiasm. And no one really cares about the outcome.
This always happens when you focus on the process. Inevitably the organization forgets about the “Why?” in favor of the “How?”. The tail starts to wag the dog. After a few months — maybe years if you have a slow budgeting process — you will realize that you aren’t getting bang for your buck. The process isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Go Forth & Solve
Instead of picking a process, try picking a problem. Then figure out what you’re willing to sacrifice so that you can spend some time focusing on this problem. That simple process will push you past any convenient definition of “innovation” and force you to determine what truly matters to you and your organization.
Convert yourself into problem solver. Identify and validate problems. Find and start using tools. Build and test sketches of the solution. Good luck!
