Something about problem solving
By: Ola Lindeberg
Tags: Human Behavior, Solutions, Problem Solving, Ideas

Recently I was asked to share some advice on problem solving. If I could give only one piece of advice it would be: Stay on the problem. I could be more specific and talk about the framing of the problem, too narrow definition and so on, but I will keep it as basic as possible. Frankly, many of us have heard about this before, but we still don’t stay on the problem when faced with one. I would argue that it is partially because staying on a problem is hard while spawning solutions and ideas is easier and more fun for the majority of us.

I would like to remind you to stay on the problem. If you don’t, you will risk to solve something else. The solution might be great, but solving the wrong problem could come with a high price.

We love creative solutions

One time a class of preschool children were asked to sort leaves that they had found in the forest on a white sheet. One child suggested that they could sort by type and started. This was continued in various forms, such as size, color and so forth. The teacher observed the children and one of them sorted the leaves in a strange way. It was not clear to the teacher how the child sorted the leaves. After a while the teacher asked about the sorting and the child replied — I’m sorting them as a castle!

We love stories like this, unexpected and creative solutions. I think a lot of us would like to be that person, the one that brings a new perspective and finds a completely new approach. Since we want to solve the problem we focus on the solutions, which can steer us in the wrong direction. If you more or less always do this I would suggest to try to stay on the problem.

Imagine yourself in a room with a group of people. You are all blindfolded and told that there is a rope hidden in the room. Your task is to find the rope and to make a square. Pause for a second. What would you do and how would you solve it? In my experience most of us start to think about how you make a square with a rope when no one can see anything. But you don’t necessarily need to use the rope to make a square, you could make it however you like it!

Stay on the problem

When the focus is on understanding the problem, rather than finding solutions, then you are staying on the problem. You should realize that it is hard to not immediately look for solutions and I don’t have a complete guide that will solve this behavior. Secondly, this is not something where you can check a box and be done with it. Some problems will require several rounds of analysis as more information becomes available. If you are not staying on the problem you need to ask yourself why. Is it because of lacking knowledge and techniques or something else? Once you think you know why you don’t stay on the problem it is time to try one solution and evaluate it. There is no point to just analyse problems and never try solutions. It is a spectrum, where on one end you only analyse problems and never try solutions and on the other end you only try solutions and never analyse. You should avoid being at either end. My point is that the mindset is more important than the specific solution that you go after. Next time you face a problem, allow yourself to analyse the problem before you suggest a solution. If you do, maybe you will be the next person that sorts the leaves as a castle.