How Good Are Your Problem-Solving Skills?
Good problem solving skills are fundamentally important if you're going to be
successful in your career. But problems are something that we don't particularly like.
They're time-consuming. They muscle their way into already packed schedules. They
force us to think about an uncertain future. And they never seem to go away!
That's why, when faced with problems, most of us try to eliminate them as quickly as
possible. But have you ever chosen the easiest or most obvious solution – and then
realized that you have entirely missed a much better solution? Or have you found
yourself fixing just the symptoms of a problem, only for the situation to get much
worse?
To be an effective problem-solver, you need to be systematic and logical in your
approach. This quiz helps you assess your current approach to problem solving. By
improving this, you'll make better overall decisions. And as you increase your
confidence with solving problems, you'll be less likely to rush to the first solution –
which may not necessarily be the best one.
Below, we outline the tools and strategies you can use for each stage of the problemsolving process. Enjoy exploring these stages!
Step 1: Find the Problem
Some problems are very obvious, however others are not so easily identified. As part
of an effective problem-solving process, you need to look actively for problems –
even when things seem to be running fine. Proactive problem solving helps you avoid
emergencies and allows you to be calm and in control when issues arise.
These techniques can help you do this:
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PEST Analysis helps you pick up changes to your environment that you should be
paying attention to. Make sure too that you're watching changes in customer needs
and market dynamics, and that you're monitoring trends that are relevant to your
industry.
Risk Analysis helps you identify significant business risks.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis helps you identify possible points of failure in
your business process, so that you can fix these before problems arise.
After Action Reviews help you scan recent performance to identify things that can
be done better in the future.
Where you have several problems to solve, our articles on Prioritization and Pareto
Analysis help you think about which ones you should focus on first.
Step 2: Find the Facts
After identifying a potential problem, you need information. What factors contribute
to the problem? Who is involved with it? What solutions have been tried before?
What do others think about the problem?
If you move forward to find a solution too quickly, you risk relying on imperfect
information that's based on assumptions and limited perspectives, so make sure that
you research the problem thoroughly.
Step 3: Define the Problem
Now that you understand the problem, define it clearly and completely. Writing a
clear problem definition forces you to establish specific boundaries for the problem.
This keeps the scope from growing too large, and it helps you stay focused on the
main issues.
A great tool to use at this stage is CATWOE. With this process, you analyze potential
problems by looking at them from six perspectives, those of its Customers; Actors
(people within the organization); the Transformation, or business process; the Worldview, or top-down view of what's going on; the Owner; and the wider organizational
Environment. By looking at a situation from these perspectives, you can open your
mind and come to a much sharper and more comprehensive definition of the problem.
Cause and Effect Analysis is another good tool to use here, as it helps you think about
the many different factors that can contribute to a problem. This helps you separate
the symptoms of a problem from its fundamental causes.
Step 4: Find Ideas
With a clear problem definition, start generating ideas for a solution. The key here is
to be flexible in the way you approach a problem. You want to be able to see it from
as many perspectives as possible. Looking for patterns or common elements in
different parts of the problem can sometimes help. You can also use metaphors and
analogies to help analyze the problem, discover similarities to other issues, and think
of solutions based on those similarities.
Traditional brainstorming and reverse brainstorming are very useful here. By taking
the time to generate a range of creative solutions to the problem, you'll significantly
increase the likelihood that you'll find the best possible solution, not just a semiadequate one. Where appropriate, involve people with different viewpoints to expand
the volume of ideas generated.
Step 5: Select and Evaluate
After finding ideas, you'll have many options that must be evaluated. It's tempting at
this stage to charge in and start discarding ideas immediately. However, if you do this
without first determining the criteria for a good solution, you risk rejecting an
alternative that has real potential.
Decide what elements are needed for a realistic and practical solution, and think about
the criteria you'll use to choose between potential solutions.
Paired Comparison Analysis, Grid Analysis and Risk Analysis are useful techniques
here, as are many of the specialist resources available within the Mind Tools
Decision-Making section . Enjoy exploring these!
Step 6: Plan
You might think that choosing a solution is the end of a problem-solving process. In
fact, it's simply the start of the next phase in problem solving: implementation. This
involves lots of planning and preparation. If you haven't already developed a full Risk
Analysis in the evaluation phase, do so now. It's important to know what to be
prepared for as you begin to roll out your proposed solution.
The type of planning that you need to do depends on the size of the implementation
project that you need to set up. For small projects, all you'll often need are Action
Plans that outline who will do what, when, and how. Larger projects need more
sophisticated approaches - you'll find out more about these in the Mind Tools Project
Management and Planning Techniques section. And for projects that affect many
other people, you'll need to think about Change Management as well.
Here, it can be useful to conduct an Impact Analysis to help you identify potential
resistance as well as alert you to problems you may not have anticipated. Force Field
Analysis will also help you uncover the various pressures for and against your
proposed solution. Once you've done the detailed planning, it can also be useful at this
stage to make a final Go/No-Go Decision, making sure that it's actually worth going
ahead with the selected option.
Step 7: Sell the Idea
As part of the planning process, you must convince other stakeholders that your
solution is the best one. You'll likely meet with resistance, so before you try to “sell”
your idea, make sure you've considered all the consequences.
As you begin communicating your plan, listen to what people say, and make changes
as necessary. The better the overall solution meets everyone's needs, the greater its
positive impact will be! For more tips on selling your idea, read our article on
Creating a Value Proposition and use our Sell Your Idea Bite-Sized Training session.
Step 8: Act
Finally, once you've convinced your key stakeholders that your proposed solution is
worth running with, you can move on to the implementation stage. This is the exciting
and rewarding part of problem solving, which makes the whole process seem
worthwhile.
This action stage is an end, but it's also a beginning: once you've completed your
implementation, it's time to move into the next cycle of problem solving by returning
to the scanning stage. By doing this, you'll continue improving your organization as
you move into the future.