Problem-solving discipline: set yourself free from yourself

Often, I look back at lessons from the past and realise how I never appreciated their true value at the time. How lucky we are to have memories and notebooks!

There was an old saying in construction: “Ask a man with a hammer and he’ll tell you that every problem in the World needs a nail knocking in.”

Now, I'd be the last person to criticise a craftsperson but this is a great illustration of how much we can limit ourselves by approaching problems solely from within our own disciplines or experience. It is a fact that, just as a stone hitting a pond leaves ripples, almost everything we do will have a knock-on effect on other functions and disciplines in our companies, as well as on the value-chain. How many initiatives have failed to launch or reach their full potential because they hit an obstacle in a neighbouring function?

• A marketing initiative fell foul of internal engagement.
• A sales-growth plan stretched beyond capacity of procurement or logistics.
• A strong programme in one country caused disengagement in another
• A clever event violated the brand.

I’m sure you can think of something, too. This is why we have transformation and change initiatives.

This is also why we need to be aware of business beyond ourselves – beyond our experience and realm of responsibility; and the best ways to do that are to wipe our minds clean, listen, observe and collaborate.

And the same argument applies to approaching fresh problems, challenges and opportunities. I remember Sean Connery's question to Kevin Costner in The Untouchables: “What are you prepared to do to catch Al Capone?” “Everything within the law.” “And then what are you going to do? Because do you think he will stop there?”

Challenges and opportunities are unlimited – they do not stop at the limits of our experience or capabilities. So then what do we do? Maybe there is something in that old saying of thinking outside the box if you realise that the box is you! I was dismayed yesterday to speak to a service designer about a new opportunity and to hear them immediately chase service design as the solution without asking who the client was, or even what the challenge was. It was classic ‘man with a hammer’ behaviour.

The greatest gift of having been trained as an engineer is that it’s become my instinct to break problems down to their fundamentals and look for patterns – to leave preconceptions at the door and start from scratch with just principles and paper. I have applied that to marketing, to staff engagement, finance, crisis and many other tasks that have come my way. It’s always worked. I never realised the value of that until I left engineering. Or maybe I never did.

Did you know that the Norton Thevenin principles of electronics can be used to explain CSR within a business value-chain? Yes... my colleagues looked at me like that, too. That's another story. 

Here’s a joke to end with:

Four engineers are in a car when it breaks down: a mechanical engineer, a chemical engineer, an electrical and a software engineer. “It’s the gearbox” says the mechanical. “Check the fuse box” says the electrical. “It’s the air/fuel ratio” declares the chemical. And the software engineer says: “Why don’t we all try getting out and getting back in again?”

Look past your eyes and put down your hammer – there’s more success to be had than any of us alone can conceive.