1. Choose your problems
There
are some problems that have no solutions:
"Show
me infinity"
"Is
there life after death?"
"Is
this all there is?"
"What
is the colour of sounds?"
"How
do you solve world hunger?"
There
is no point trying to solve a problem that cannot be solved - except
for fun. You could ask yourself
"If
I could prove one way or other that there was/wasn't life after
death, what would I need to have and do?"
But,
of course, you have to understand that you cannot prove it one way or
other because people will not acccept an answer that they don't like,
no matter how true it is.
So
when faced with a problem, my first question has to be
"Can
I actually solve this?" If the answer is yes, then I ask myself
"Can
I actually solve this now or do I need to solve something else
first?" More on that later
2.
Make sure you have the right problem
Half
the problem with problem solving is that people are trying to solve
the wrong problem.
For
example, they will say "I don't have enough web sales so the
problem is traffic". Really, the problem wasn't traffic, it was
getting in touch with their customers. Having a million people come
to your site when they're not interested is just wasting everyone's
time and money - especially yours
When
I'm called in to solve the problem, I start with the question
"What
actually is the problem? Not what we think the problem might be but
what is it really?"
If
I'm stuck on a problem, I ask myself
"What
if I'm wrong and I'm trying to solve the wrong problem?"
Let's
review the "solutions" to the problem "How do we solve
world hunger?"
In
the 70s, the problem was defined so "World hunger exists because
we're not growing enough food, so we need to grow more"
And
the "solution" was the Green Revolution. Corn yeilds were
increased by twofold or even threefold. Except that it was all a con.
But that's another story for another day. So, the Green Revolution
was rolled out, corn yield increased (allegedly) and the result -
more world hunger. Oops
In
the 80s, the problem was re-defined as "Well we're producing
more food and the problem is worse. It's because food isn't getting
through to the hungry. Instead we're stockpiling it in food
mountains. So, we need to release it" So, the "solution"
was Band Aid, Live Aid, Sports Aid. Money was raised. Trucks were
bought and food was shipped out. The result - no change.
Since
that time, the problem has been re-defined as "Let's stop
talking about world hunger because we can't solve it. Instead, let's
focus on a small village, a family, a single child - something small
enough that we can make a difference with"
Since
the 80s, there have been a small number of people who asked
"We've
been trying to solve this problem for decades and put huge amounts of
resources into solving problem and none of it has made matters
better. So what is the real problem of world hunger?"
Now,
that's a problem worth solving
3.
Define the problem
So
when faced with a problem, my first question has to be
"Can
I actually solve this?" If the answer is yes, then I ask myself
"Can
I actually solve this now or do I need to solve something else
first?"
It
may be that the problem is complex and needs multiple solutions to
different parts.
So
break it down.
The
obvious place to start is by defining terms
"What
do we mean by 'world hunger'?"
"Is
'hunger' the same the world over?" In other words, are people
hungry in different ways in different places?
4.
Become better at defining problems.
I
have always claimed that once you have a full and exact definition of
the problem, that will automatically provide you with the solution.
However,
it's not always possible to get a full and exact defintion in one go.
In that case, the easiest and simplest thing to do is aim for a
workable defintion and improve it.
In
initial meetings with clients, I have often suggested a solution and
got this conversation:
Them;
"But that only solves 50% of the problem"
Me:
"Great. Let's do it and then we can halve the problem."
Them:
"But what about the rest of the problem?"
Me:
"By solving part of the problem, that means we have more
resources to devote to the unsolved bit rather than be distracted by
the bit that we can already solve. Effectively, you've just doubled
your budget on solving this problem by part solving it first"
The
Japanese Method of "5 Whys" is great for doing this when
there is causal chain
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