If at first you don’t succeed…….Try…..Try…..Try SOMETHING ELSE!

Surely by now everyone has heard the quote from Henry Ford, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you'll always get what you’ve always got”.

I do believe Henry was trying to summarize the famous quote from Albert Einstein, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Either quote is really trying to emphasize that if we are trying to solve our problem by doing the same things over and over, we will fail at reaching a solution. What they are trying to say is, try something, if it doesn’t work, don’t do that again the next time. But why do we continue to try the same thing over and over in the first place? I believe we fail to completely understand the problem so we just keep trying and trying hoping that if we try enough eventually it will work.

????Think about this, think about all the problems that have already been solved that we use as a guide to solve our own problems each and every day. For example, how do I keep my potato chips fresh and crispy once I open the bag? I was taught by my Mom to fold the top of the bag and clasp it with a clothes pin. Well, since I have not seen a clothes pin in about 20 years, I use one of those bag clamps they sell in the potato chip aisle at Wal-Mart to clasp the bag shut. I often wonder why chip bags do not come in a resealable bag like everything else these days. Well, I figure the potato chip manufactures would rather your chips go stale so you will buy more; but that’s just my opinion. Anyway, back to my point of using other proven problem-solving methods to solve your own problems instead of trying the same thing over and over to solve it. The first step in problem solving is to DEFINE your actual problem. If you fail to define your problem, it will be extremely difficult to solve it; especially on the first try. For those of you that have read my second book titled “Problem Solving, the Solution to the Puzzle” (available on Amazon and other major book retailer sites), then you should already have a clear understanding on how to define your problem BEFORE you attempt to solve it. If not, let me elaborate on this just a little.

????Let’s imagine you are in a situation where you are suffering from anxiety, and it’s really taking a toll on the quality of your life. You are having difficulties being around other people, it has affected your relationships, your health, your finances, and your career. This is probably something we have all experienced at one time or another in our lives and we all understand how uncomfortable it is to suffer with; and even more uncomfortable trying to eliminate it. I too spent the better part of this year suffering from severe anxiety, and it was destroying me with each passing day. It seems everything I tried had absolutely no effect on the solution; that is until I realized I had not clearly defined my problem. I was trying to solve my problem by trying the same thing over and over again, and yes, getting the same results (which was nothing). However, once I defined my problem in quantitative terms, I was able to clearly define the problem and then look for proven ways on how to solve it (which I did). I would like to share some tips on how to quantify your problem so you can clearly define the problem and then work on solving it, versus just doing the same thing over and over. ?

????Start with writing down your problem. I know this sounds so cliché but trust me it works. Detail every aspect of what is causing you to experience the problem. Is there a specific person, a specific time, a specific event, maybe its something you experienced in the past that still haunts you today? Write down the symptoms of your problem so you can analyze each one of them individually and then as a group. You will often find there is really only one source of the problem (root cause), yet it is causing multiple symptoms that are causing you even more problems. For example, let’s imagine you have an employee that continually complains about their job, which causes you stress, the stress causes you to lose focus on getting your own work done. Now you are having to work long hours to catch up on your work, which causes you much stress. The symptoms are numerous at this point, all of which cause you to experience anxiety which further exacerbates your overall mental health. The problem (root cause) is not that you suffered from stress and anxiety, the problem is that you did not properly deal with the complaining employee that was creating all your stress & anxiety appropriately. Had you addressed the issue correctly in the first place, you would have avoided suffering all those symptoms later on. The minute you felt stressed you should have taken out your notebook and written down what caused that stress. Define exactly what caused you that stress. In this case you may have written down something like this, “today at 10:00 am while speaking with John Doe, he really stressed me out because he was complaining about having to come in to work way too early, then he went on to complain that he was not getting enough vacation time, and then about his overall schedule”. Once you have allowed John to vent, you should have sat down and written out all his symptoms. Because remember, his symptoms are what lead to him lashing out at you, which then caused you to be stressed. So, John’s problem is really the root cause as to why you are now feeling stressed.

????Now, in a calmer manner separated from John, you can address this issue. How are you going to handle John’s problem before it becomes your problem? You could simply fire John, but that may create an even bigger problem because no one else can do what John does, or it may be difficult to find a replacement in a timely manner. Outside of all the stress of being face-to-face with John, you can better define your problem so you can apply the appropriate action (the first time). Normally, most people would have tried to address every symptom John has. They would have tried to solve each and every symptom he has and would have more than likely failed because they did not address and define the real root cause of his problem. This is an actual situation I dealt with several years ago. I will not mention names, but this young lady complained every day she walked in the door. She complained so much that she caused the entire department to become so stressed and disgruntle that we were missing our departmental targets. I started writing down every complaint she brought to me for about a week. After I had sat down and went through all her complaints, I saw a clear pattern arising. My goal was to Define her actual problem so I could solve it, or at least help her solve it versus just doing what every manager before me was doing; applying discipline hoping it would shut her up (which it never did). It appeared that most of her complaints centered around the work hours she was assigned to work. I knew she was a single mother, had a small child in school, and it was difficult for her to find care for him during certain hours. I brought her in my office and we went through all her complaints. I just straight up ask her if all her stress was coming from the fact that she could not find care for her son during certain work hours. She confessed that was the main reason she was so stressed all the time, which caused her to complain about things she could not control. Once the problem was clearly defined, we started working on the solution. The solution turned out to be quite simple. She would work a staggered shift so she could drop off her son at school in the morning, then pick him up in the afternoon. This solution worked out well for all of us. She ended up being one of the most productive employees in the department (once her problem was solved).

????As far as using solutions that others have already developed, I got the idea of assigning her staggered shifts from my research of single mom’s and their struggles. Many companies implemented various work hours for their single mom’s and dad’s so they were able to properly care for their children. So, just like the old clothes pin on the chip bag, chances are someone may have already figured out the best solution for your problem. Take the time and do your research. You must clearly define what your problem is first though. Until your problem is clearly defined you may find yourself trying to solve the same problem over and over again because you are doing the same thing you have always done, so you will always get, what you have always got… Good luck on your problem-solving journeys my friends! Remember, DEFINE that problem FIRST, do not stop until you have reached the true root cause. After you have clearly defined the problem, research solutions that have already been proven to work. If you can follow this simple methodology, I am certain you will break that chain of insanity! ??????????