The Problem Solving Paradox

Jumping to Conclusions

Oftentimes when we face challenging problems we don't know what we don't know, and we want to jump right in to finding the solution. We move straight from the horse and carriage problem to a faster horse solution. But what we're giving up is the opportunity to innovate into the automobile. At the rate our lives proceed. It often feels the most prudent thing is to find a solution and find it quickly. But giving ourselves The space to to fully understand the problem will often yield better results in the in the ultimate solution.

Define the Problem

HaveHave you ever had a leak under your sink before? Before you can go about solving that leak. And preventing hundreds of dollars of damage to your house, you better know just where that leak is coming from., you've probably replaced parts on a leaky sink only to have the leak persist. It's tempting to rush ahead with a solution you're convinced will solve the problem, but that often addresses something other than the root cause. Instead, take the time to fully understand the problem and find the source of the leak. Once you've identified that true problem, you can finally move forward and seek out a solution. In the age of MP3 players, the market didn't need another unit that could hold more songs. It needed a unit like the iPod that was easy to use. Before Ford and the model a people would have gone around selling faster horses.

Explore the Solution

Once you've defined the problem. Now you can move forward with the solution. When you know that the leak is coming from the faucet and not from your disposal in your sink, you know exactly which place which part needs replacing. Even still at this stage in the process, it's tempting to move forward with the first and most obvious solution. For simple problems like a leaky sink, this may be the best path forward. But for complex problems like most of us face in a work environment, it's worth spending the time to explore our options. You don't have to take too much time in this part of the of the process, but it will be payoff in the end. Once you have a few options laid out in front of you, you can select the best and move forward with that.

Giving Space to the Problem Solver

If you manage a team of problem solvers. It's even more critical that you give space for the problem. Definition management is often under pressure to deliver results against aggressive timelines. The drawback to this pressure can be rushed solutions that either don't fully solve the problem if it wasn't understood in the first place or give us resolutions that are not optimal for the long-term business needs. Carving out some time and space for members of your team to fully understand the problem before exploring solutions will yield better results for the individual you as their manager and the organization overall.

Problem Definition and Solution Exploration is Messy

For complex problems, it’s more than likely you’ll go back and forth between problem definition and solution exploration as our initial attempts at fully understanding a problem may fall short. Despite your best attempts at recreating the failure, it may remain a mystery. This is when you step back and work on re-defining the problem. Check your assumptions, re-frame your understanding of the problem and try again.

Problem solving is like planning in this way. Planning is critical to any successful attempts to meet goals, whether individually or as an organization. However, if you hold blindly to a plan that is no longer serving you, it has lost all it’s value. At that point, you must plan again with your latest inputs and information. It’s the same with problem solving, if your original understanding of the problem is not helping you progress towards its resolution, this is new information, new inputs that needs to be considering in the original definition.

Suddenly, problem definition and solution exploration has become an iterative spiral where you converge, sometimes slowly, on the final goal. It’s for complex problems like this that you can’t fully understand the scope, shape, and complexity of the problem until you’ve tried to solve it.

This may seem like a paradox or contradiction, but its the reality in working in our multi-faceted reality.

The Words We Use Matter

One work of caution, if you talk about a problem by referencing the solution you are planning, but you have yet to fully understand the problem, you may be setting yourself up for distraction and wasted time. Going back to our leaky sink example, if you observe the leak and immediately set up a ‘Faucet Replacement’ project with a team, a budget, and a procurement plan only to realize it’s really just a bad seal on your hot water line hose, your thinking, and financial commitments will all be directed in the wrong direction.

Its All Part of the Process

If you find yourself frustrated by trying to define the problem, only to feel that the only way forward is to try out solutions, you’re not alone. That’s part of the iterative process of problem solving. Just remember that you may need to go back to defining the problem before you get to that satisfying resolution of a sink with no leaks!