I have problems and I love it

Our ability to problem solve has a direct correlation to our personal development and progression but more importantly the progression and momentum of our teams and organisations

It was Carly Fiorina, the first female CEO to lead a fortune top 20 business who said, ‘leadership is problem solving’. I also like what leadership expert Craig Groeschel said: ‘As leaders or aspiring leaders you should give yourself the job title CPS or chief problem solver’ and adopt this a behavior.

There’s no doubt a key component to effective leadership is the ability to solve problems. Our ability to define the scale of a problem and deliver the solution determines our responsibility and remuneration and can be a significant determining factor in our careers.

If the problem you are solving has a small impact on the environment, revenue or bottom line than your reward should reflect this and if the problem you are solving has the potential for a large impact your reward should match accordingly.

Below I’ve identified three important steps as part of problem solving effectively:

Mentality

Your ability to approach the problem with the right mentality can determine your effectiveness to resolve the challenge.

1.?????Approach the problem with the mentality you and or your team can solve the problem and if not, take accountability and ask yourself what do I need to do to be in a position to solve this problem individually or as a team.

2.?????What opportunity does this problem provide. Can I assign this to someone in the team who is developing within the business to create further engagement and skills development or does the problem prompt us to devise a new product or service.

Isolate

Secondly break the problem down into pieces and isolate each component. This will enable you to take the problem apart piece by piece and solve the problem in manageable stages. At this point try to avoid assumptive solutions and try to work collaboratively with a diverse team ideating.

Stress test

Lastly stress test your solutions intellectually and tangibly if possible. Constructive conflict is very healthy at this point and the team should analytical/logical thinkers to challenge assumptions. At this stage diverse perspectives are key to identify flaws in the solutions from different perspectives.