6 Questions Leaders Ask to Solve Any Problem

Whether you need to lead teams towards success or drive a change in your own life, strong problem solving skills can make a huge difference to your life and career.

To solve any problem effectively, leaders ask themselves or others the following six questions.

1. What is the problem here?

Identifying the problem is the first step. This might sound like common sense, but recognition of the problem is the critical to the rest of the process.

The more clearly you’ve defined the problem, the easier the subsequent steps of the problem solving process will be.

A common error people make is mistaking the symptoms or implications of the problem as the problem itself.

2. Why is it happening?

Leaders try to figure out what is causing the problem. This involves researching the problem and trying to look at it from different perspectives.

One of the most common tools to do this is applying the 5 Whys Technique and ask the question “Why” to the problem, and iterating by asking ‘Why’ again to the answer until you can identify the real cause.

This approach helps separate the cause and the effect to identify what the root cause truly is.

3. What are the possible solutions?

This step involves identifying as many potential solutions to the problem as possible. The most common approach used involves using brainstorming techniques such as discussing in a group or brain writing.

At this stage, it is not important to validate the feasibility of the problem but is important to try and look at the problem from different perspectives.

If trying to solve the problem individually, using mind maps can help make sure one is looking at the whole system while considering potential solutions and not a subset of the problem.

4. What is the best solution?

Selecting the best solution truly tests an individual’s decision-making capability. Be it picking the right bid for the company or a purchase decision between two houses, the first step here is to define the most important criteria.

For instance, Does the solution need to be implemented in a short runway? Is there a restricted budget? How important are the long-term benefits over short-term benefits.

The second step is to rate the criteria and identify the relative importance of these criteria. The different solutions can be mapped against these criteria. When weighing the pros and cons of each solution, the relative importance of these criteria help make selection process easier.

5. How can I implement the solution?

Implementation of the solution involves identifying the different steps and tasks required to create an action plan. The action plan should involve an owner and a target completion date for each of the tasks.

Implementations plans are more successful when they are designed to start small and then expand, or when milestones are clearly defined.

6. Am I on track?

This step involves periodic reflection of the tasks and statuses to track actual progress against the plan. If there are any areas that can be improved, feel free to make changes in the plan.

(Bonus Step) Feeling Stuck? Get Feedback

A cross functional team and brainstorming on a white board have been proven to bring good results in problem solving since different people bring in different points of view, and fresh ideas.

So don’t be shy, if you are feeling stuck during any of the above steps, seek out for help from trusted colleagues or friends

Why is Problem Solving important for the jobs of the future?

The Problem Solving technique has been proven to be a structured way to think through a problem. This facilitates a thorough investigation of the problems and potential solutions, helping break down any ambiguity and anxiety associated with the problem. Once due diligence has been done to the problem, the implementation effort can be channelized more effectively.

How we teach Problem Solving at Skill Up?

At Skill Up, we make our students practice their problem solving skills by starting with a problem their company or industry is facing, or even a problem or change they are trying to drive in their personal life.

This allows our students to practice addressing an ambiguous, yet non-threatening problem through the above six questions to get more comfortable with the different questions to ask and means of answering them before they apply the technique to more complex problems.

Want to find out more, or just want to say Hi? Reach out at info@skillup.ai