What do you do if your executive clients struggle with problem solving?

Start by assessing your client's problem-solving skills, focusing on areas needing improvement. Evaluate their approach, decision-making process, and critical thinking ability. Encourage reflection on past successes and challenges to identify patterns. This self-assessment yields valuable insights, guiding targeted skill development.

1. Begin by understanding the specific challenges the executive is facing in problem-solving. This might involve exploring their thought processes, decision-making approach, or any obstacles they perceive. 2. Evaluate the executive's current problem-solving skills to identify strengths and areas for improvement. This can be done through self-assessment tools, feedback from colleagues, or observation of real-life problem-solving situations. 3. Encourage the executive to adopt a growth mindset, where they view problems as opportunities for learning and growth rather than insurmountable obstacles. This can help them approach problem-solving with greater confidence and resilience

Primeiro ou?o o cliente e analiso a situa??o e posteriormente apresento outras possibilidades e solu??es. Caso o cliente aceite alguma outra possibilidade de solu??o, eu alinho com ele e posteriormente acompanho a situa??o por um tempo para realmente ter certeza que foi a melhor solu??o no momento.

Provide structured problem-solving frameworks, offer guidance and support in analyzing the situation, encourage brainstorming and creativity, and facilitate collaboration among team members to generate innovative solutions.

If executive clients are facing challenges in problem-solving, it's important to assess their specific issues and provide targeted support. Offer guidance on problem-solving techniques and encourage critical thinking by asking thought-provoking questions and fostering collaboration. Consider providing training sessions or workshops focused on problem-solving skills, and offer constructive feedback throughout the process. Promote a growth mindset, lead by example, and emphasize the importance of learning from failures. By taking these steps, you can help executive clients improve their problem-solving abilities and navigate complex challenges more effectively.

After identifying gaps in your client's problem-solving skills, introduce structured frameworks. Examples include the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle or the 5 Whys technique. These frameworks break down complex problems into manageable stages, enhancing problem-solving efficiency by providing a systematic approach.

Teach your clients problem-solving frameworks and methodologies that they can apply to analyze and solve complex problems more effectively. Provide them with tools and techniques for structuring their thinking, gathering relevant information, and generating creative solutions.

In addition to the frameworks like PDCA & 5 Whys techniques, I encourage clients to perform 2 specific tasks. 1) Frame the problem clearly - This will help the client to gain more clarity on the problem. Often I have seen clients iterate on this step a numerously, resulting a enhanced clarity of the problem 2) Perspectives: Often problems are seen from a certain stakeholder/organisational perspective only. I always encourage the client to review the same problem statement from various stakeholders perspective. This approach help bring out varies dimensions of the problem to the fore.

Encourage your clients to think outside the box and explore innovative approaches to problem-solving. Foster a creative and open-minded environment where they feel comfortable experimenting with new ideas and perspectives.

Encouraging executive clients to embrace creativity is pivotal for problem-solving. Introduce exercises like brainstorming or mind mapping to stimulate divergent thinking. These methods allow exploration of diverse solutions without judgment, fostering an environment for innovative ideas to emerge. Creative thinking entails challenging assumptions and exploring problems from fresh perspectives, often leading to more effective solutions.

To further encourage creativity, consider integrating arts-based methods into problem-solving processes. Activities like drawing, storytelling, or improvisational theater can unlock new ways of thinking and viewing challenges. These creative exercises not only stimulate imaginative thinking but also break down conventional barriers to problem-solving, enabling executives to approach issues with a fresh perspective and increased innovation.

Recognising that the skill of problem solving is not mastered in one attempt is key to setting yourself up for success. It is important to understand that your problem solving ability should not be evaluated in binary - it is not that you either have it or don't have it at all. Recognising that we all are at different levels of problem solving ability is game changing mindset that one needs to adopt. Once we internalise this mindset, every time we don't get the desired result in problem solving we will not visualise this as a failure but just a step in the journey. Just like in a video game, when you are unable complete a level, you don't come down a level, you restart from the same level.

This is brilliant.. as a people leader you don’t have to also have all the solutions. Include your (in)direct team in crowd-sourcing solutions to a problem and you may be surprised with the ideation and support you receive when doing so! That then comes with greater buy-in as the ideation can be a collective process as opposed to something thrust on them!!

This is most important.. taking time to reflect is key as sometimes not all problems need solving! You don’t have to hammer each nail! Reflection helps the person also figure out which are most impactful problems to solve for and then understand hesitancy behind their inability to solve those issues and whether they want to break the solution into a few different micro-steps that gets them moving, solving bits and gaining momentum to get them to the finish line with problem!

Incorporate cross-industry insights: Encourage executives to look beyond their industry norms for problem-solving inspiration, drawing on diverse perspectives to spur innovation. Promote experimental learning: Foster a culture where trial and error are valued, allowing executives to test out ideas in low-risk settings to enhance their creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Utilize technology and tools: Integrate digital tools and platforms that facilitate creative collaboration and idea generation, such as virtual whiteboards or idea management software.