Effective Problem-Solving: Part One

Bottleneck, def. 1. a: a narrow route b: a point of traffic congestion 2. a: someone or something that slows or halts free movement and progress (Merriam-Webster)

Every significant challenge and every strategic decision in our lives boils down to just one thing: problem-solving.

Struggling to communicate in a relationship? Not enough sales at work? Lack of support in your role? These are all problems- situations that could be improved. Problem-solving is simply the process we go through to secure better outcomes.

And yet, so often, we get stuck- not because solutions are unavailable, but because unseen bottlenecks slow down the process. Identifying these obstacles to progress is key to moving forward and living more effective and fulfilled lives.

In this series for Linkedin, I will look at five significant bottlenecks in our problem-solving process, and what we can do to overcome them.

The first bottleneck arises when we try to define our problem.

Here the chief risk is doing too much, rather than too little. We want to state the problem plainly, without bringing in any assumptions about what is causing it.

This sounds simple, but it is often remarkably difficult to do. ??

Suppose you feel tired today. It’s natural to jump to conclusions about why that is- to quickly settle on the conclusion that you didn’t sleep well last night. The problem then becomes ‘I didn’t sleep well last night’ rather than ‘I feel tired.’

Or imagine instead that your team consistently misses deadlines. It’s easy to jump to conclusions- ‘they’re disengaged’ or ‘productivity is declining.’ But these assumptions may exclude other explanations.

This tendency to observe the world through the lens of our theories is well-known to psychologists. Look at the image below. What do you see?

?Do you see a duck? Or perhaps a rabbit? Or maybe both?

This image- first published in a 23 October 1982 issue of Fliegende Bl?tter, a German humour magazine- is intentionally ambiguous. It isn’t correct to describe it as ‘really’ a duck or a rabbit. Both interpretations are equally valid.

What the image shows is that what we call observation isn’t just the act of sensing what is ‘out there’ in the world. Our brains are relentless pattern-seeking machines. We don’t see things in all their open ambiguity, we close them according to our expectations. Psychologists call this phenomenon the ‘theory laden-ness’ of observation. ?

Similarly, when we think about our problems, we don’t only see the problems themselves, but also our theories about why those problems occurred in the first place.

This matters because, just as with the duck-rabbit image, our problems can support multiple interpretations.

We may feel tired because we didn’t get enough sleep, but it may also be because our body has started to fight an infection, or there is a lack of fresh air in the office.

Our team may miss deadlines because of low productivity, but it may also be because of a lack of clarity on priorities, or unrealistic expectations.

When we quickly diagnose the cause of our problems, we inevitably narrow our focus on a limited range of solutions. If our diagnosis is wrong, we will end up wasting a lot of time and energy on solutions that don’t work.

In defining our problems, then, we should take our cues from the Hippocratic Oath; ‘Do no harm.’

We ought to define our problems in the simplest and most neutral terms, without including any theory about why the problem is happening.

We might only say: ???

-?????? I feel off today

-?????? That meeting didn’t go well

-?????? I am not satisfied with my social life

These descriptions identify an unsatisfactory situation, but don't bring in any assumptions about why this is happening. They sound alarmingly na?ve in their simplicity. This is a good thing. It shows that we have only stated what we clearly know to be true.

Now consider some problems that you are currently facing in your own life and work.

Can you describe your problem in a simple, neutral and direct way, without bringing in any assumptions about what caused it?

P.S. ?If you’d like to help your team become more effective problem solvers, I offer interactive workshops designed to improve problem-solving skills. Feel free to reach out to discuss how I can support your team!