Problems Can Be Our Friends

“Inside of every problem lies an opportunity.” — Robert Kiyosaki, businessman and author

Do you like problems? I don’t and you likely don’t either. But experts say — and I am still learning — that problems can be our friends. If we address problems wisely, they can help us and our teams learn, grow, and improve. Bottom line: Problems provide an opportunity to make things better.

To illustrate this point, look at the things that surround us and that we use every day. They were developed in response to a problem. For example, the problem of not being able to listen to a lot of music without carrying around a suitcase of CDs is the reason why we can listen to thousands of songs on a one-inch square object clipped to our shirts.

Problems are why we have phones that fit in the palm of our hands, backup cameras on our cars, indoor toilets ... the examples are endless. So, the first key to making problems our friends is to change our mindsets and view problems as opportunities to make things better for us and the people around us.

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The next key to making problems truly be our friends is to have an effective and thoughtful problem-solving process that we carefully follow and execute. Following is an “IDEAL” problem-solving process that can help us achieve the desired outcomes and benefits we desire.

IDEAL Problem-Solving Strategy

The IDEAL problem-solving approach was introduced by John Bransford and Barry Stein back in 1984 in their book “The Ideal Problem-Solver: a Guide to Improving Thinking, Learning, and Creativity.” Here is my modified version and explanation of this model:

I – Identify the problem.

D – Define the cause(s).

E – Explore possible solutions.

A – Act.

L – Look and learn.

Lets dig deeper into the five components.

First is identifying the problem. It is essential to be clear what the problem really is. Steve Jobs explained: “If you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution.” Inventor Charles Kettering adds, “A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.” It is helpful to ask questions of the parties affected by a problem, and to avoid the blame game. I agree with Henry Ford’s advice: “Don’t find fault, find a remedy.” Albert Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about the solution.” I think Einstein was purposefully exaggerating but the point is clear — we need to make sure we really understand the problem before moving on.

Second is defining the cause. A huge part of solving a problem is finding the root cause(s). Why did this problem happen? One helpful technique is to consider if one or more of these key areas potentially caused an issue:

• People: Was there human error caused by inadequate training, carelessness, etc.?
• Process: Is there a deficiency in our processes?
• Technology: Is there a problem with our technology?

Let me illustrate using a problem that happened over 15 years ago with my print and mail team. One day we mistakenly mailed out 2,000 customer bills where the back of the customers’ bills had the information of another customer. Oops! Fortunately, the consequences were minimal but could have been significant. We analyzed the root causes and found we had a people problem (a printer operator had carelessly not followed a standard procedure), a process deficiency (in hindsight, we could have had an additional quality check), and a technology weakness (our two printers had a switch that had to be manually turned on to ensure the second printer was printing the right customer data on the back of the bill).

Third is exploring possible solutions. Now that we know the problem and the root causes, we can turn our attention to possible solutions. Businessman Travis Kalanick said — and I tend to agree — “Every problem has a solution. You just have to be creative enough to find it.” It helps to encourage brainstorming and solicit creative ideas from people close to the situation, such as team members and relevant support staff. Also, identify key stakeholders and find “win-win” solutions for you and them. A word of caution: Be careful to avoid “unintended consequences.” Unintended consequences can occur when we are too hasty in making decisions and have not thought through the long-term impact. In the above bill problem example, we landed on multiple solutions including: coaching the operator who made the mistake and retraining all operators on standard procedures; adding a periodic visual quality check as bills are being printed; and setting the printer switch to always be on so it’s constantly verifying the front and back of bill information are in sync.

The fourth step is to act. Now is the time to choose the best solution(s) and fix the problem. Ensure that all relevant team members and other support staff are on board so the implementation of the selected solutions work. Make sure there is an appropriate implementation plan, set expectations, and err on the side of overcommunicating versus under-communicating. In the bill problem example, we implemented the proposed solutions identified above.

The last step is to look and learn. The “look” part of this last step is to monitor results and make sure that our solutions work as intended. In the bill problem example, the team has produced over 160 million bills since the above solutions were adopted. Guess how many of these bills had the problem happen again? Zero! However, in the real world, solutions don’t always work as planned, so we need to carefully monitor and avoid premature celebrations. If solutions are working, we need to make sure they are documented and the people involved are trained and supported.

What about the “learn” part of this step? Perhaps the best learning experiences we have are when we make mistakes, then resolve and reflect on what we can do differently in the future. There is an old saying, often attributed to Julius Caesar, that “experience is the best teacher.” I think a better saying is, “Reflected experience is the best teacher.” Leadership expert and professor Warren Bennis had the opportunity to conduct extended interviews with some of the most successful leaders in various fields across our country. One of the key takeaways from his study is that all of these great leaders acknowledged making mistakes, but by reflecting and learning from mistakes, they became better people and leaders. This concept was supported by author Ron Friedman when he said, “Mistakes are the tuition you pay for success.”

In closing, I like the sentiment that author Tony Robbins expressed when he said, “Every problem is a gift. Without them, we wouldn’t grow.” Author Alfred A. Montapert similarly encourages us to “Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.” Let's go make problems our friends.