Do you know how you solve problems

It’s a curious question because we can often blaze ahead problem solving ... without being aware of our process for how we’re actually doing it. 

Perhaps we’re on auto pilot, not conscious of what we’re doing or too busy in the details of the problem solving task to think about it. 

We can’t get better at a critically important skill like problem solving if we’re not tuned in to it. 

The World Economic Forum suggests problem solving is right up there in the skills we need for today and even more frequently in the future. 

So how do you solve problems? 

▫️Do you get all the information you can? 
▫️Assess your options? 
▫️Generate some alternatives? 
▫️Try out some solutions? 
▫️Experiment a little?
▫️Consult with respected peers? 
▫️Try a Google search to see what others have done? 
▫️Or phone a friend? 

Each of these is part of a suite of problem solving tools and techniques. 

As you work through solving your next problem, challenge or tricky situation, make a mental (or physical or digital) note of what you do... and how you do it. 

There’s greater 
▫️possibility, 
▫️efficiency and 
▫️creativity 
on the other side of our awareness. 

Sitting with the problem longer

The pressure of meetings, deadlines and things to do can mean we accept the first idea. 

But try and stay with the problem longer. Really pick it apart, with other minds and perspectives. 

It might be easier to fall in behind the first or dominant voice with a solution, rather than offering up something else. 

If you’re leading the meeting, it’s vital that additional contributions are invited at solution time and that those suggestions are welcomed when they’re given. 

Or when problem solving alone, allow time to work longer on the problem, to ponder and wonder over it. 

The race is not for the first or quickest answer. It’s for the most effective solution with the time and resources available. 

If you usually jump in first ... wait. 
And if you usually wait ... step in as soon as you have something. 

Developing a creative mindset

As problems and challenges persist for our customers, clients (and ourselves), a more creative mindset might help us and them out. 

How do you solve a challenge?

Do you go with what you’ve done before? Or seek out the possibility of a new solution and idea? 

Existing or well known solutions are safer; someone’s already done them, we can copy or replicate, change a few things and we’re good to go. 

Or are we?

The more we all keep replicating what’s already out there, thinking it’s working, the more limited our thinking becomes. 

Having the confidence to adopt a more creative mindset is risky yes, but with the risk can come incredible gains and rewards. 

The links to commercial success are clear. 

A more creative mindset helps us design and deliver better services, solutions and success for our clients and customers. 

A little more creativity please

You can see I’m a fan of regularly applying the skills of creativity: in thinking, writing and idea generation. 

The World Economic Forum said the top 3 skills we’d need by 2020 would be
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Creativity.

In their updated skills list for 2025, creativity features in half of the top 10 skills, in one form or another. 

And here we are… in a world where we’ve been adapting to a global pandemic, working from home, leading remotely, changing business practices, generating new products, serving customers in new ways and ... keeping it together!

Sir Ken Robinson said “...we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it.”

It’s worth putting some of that creativity back in, and learning to be even just a little more creative! 

We need creativity now and for our future and it's worth asking for a little more creativity please, and being able to deliver a little more creativity. 

Patterns in our thinking

We see patterns in fabrics, in nature and in design and architecture. 

Patterns exist in many other parts of our world: 
The time we wake up. 
How we behave. 
The actions we take. 
The way we tackle and complete tasks. 

Some of the patterns that go unnoticed - or at least under noticed - are the patterns in our thinking. 

How we solve problems. 
How we learn. 
How we make sense of things. 

If we’re unaware of our thinking patterns, were less able to change them to ways that will work for us. 

First we can get better at noticing. It’s turning up our powers of observation, taking note, capturing an insight, connecting the dots. 

This is Sensemaking and it’s a powerful skill in these times of change and uncertainty. 

Where are the patterns in your thinking? What do you see and notice? What dots can you connect?

The better we are at observing and identifying patterns, the easier it becomes to interrupt them, in pursuit of better ways of working.