Problem-solving in a start-up

I’ll never forget sitting in my architecture design studio II where I first heard about IDEO. All I remember was that they were the ones that invented things that were used on everyday products. They were idea people. People that thought outside of the box. 

They would take an idea and sit down as an entire company and start jamming out ideas on post notes. No idea was too outlandish or “dumb”. It also didn’t matter who came up with the idea. You could have the principal of the firm or a junior designer coming up with an idea. The key to the success of that problem-solving exercise was they were looking for an answer by any means. It didn’t depend on the lens that the person had on, if the idea could be explored and dug into then it could be solved. 

I wanted to be them. So I started to think outside of the box. This led me to sales. 

If you lookout my Linkedin you will see a track of sales and marketing. What I have actually been doing over these years is working with teams to solve problems. Sales simply provides a solution to an issue or problem that needs to be solved. Sometimes people are aware of these problems and sometimes they need to be taught. Regardless, there are steps and processes that allow for an investigation. 

The most important aspect is bringing a team together and letting creative people do what they do best by dissecting the problem and coming up with a solution that works. For the last few years, I’ve been doing sales in the marketing and experimental world. My job was to go find the business. Start a conversation. I would bring the client and the client’s problem to my team. My art director would ask questions, my project manager would ask questions and my designer would ask questions. Then we would come back together as a team and brainstorm. If we didn’t get back together or if there was a miscommunication all hell would break loose. 

Where weakness would happen is when one part of the team would start making decisions without consulting the rest of the team. I’ll never forget looking at a project and saying, “that’s not what the client wanted!” The designer would say, “this is what I heard” and explain to me. I would then relay what I heard to them. We had obviously skipped a portion in the process and diverted a lot. This would leave me going into a mad rush to get the items fixed or adjusted and the design team scrambling to fix the problem. 

Communication is key.

 Instead of objecting, you ask open-ended questions. It is the easiest way to expand on someone's response. Can you imagine sitting down and asking a thousand yes or no questions? You will probably get a whole lot of yes and no answers and no real insight. 

Open-ended questions. 

Tell me

Help me understand

How do you

What is the purpose of

Why did you

These are just a few open-ended questions that will create dialogue. 

Remember that problem-solving at a company is a process. Two of my favorite idea generating processes that I like to use are the following. One is called a lotus diagram. The lotus diagram is a brainstorming methodology that helps you expand on ideas. It also allows you to organize your thoughts and identify key themes. In the end, it is a great way to add a visual aspect the figuring out the solution. 

You can see this link here to get more information ( https://online.visual-paradigm.com/diagrams/templates/lotus-diagram/lotus-diagram-template/ )

The premise is easy. You have a central idea in the middle of the chart. Then you come up with 8 ways to get to that middle item. Then you do the same for those 8 other ideas as to how you can achieve an end result. 

A great example of a finished lotus chart can be seen here. https://www.classtools.net/blog/lotus-diagram-template-for-essay-planning/

My second favorite methodology is simply getting together as a group and coming up with 20-40 things that will improve the business. Every person involved in the activity will do this. Then as a team, you all come together and eliminate the duplicates. You will then create a top 10 items that will improve the business. This list is agreed upon by everyone. Everything is then broken down by sales, marketing, operations, and people. You then decide what can be accomplished weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. As you go through your year you will be able to check items off as they are completed. 

Feel free to email me [email protected] if you want access to an example of the spreadsheet. 

At the end of all of this, I hope you understand that approaching the problem by yourself won’t help you solve it any faster. I learned a long time ago that a good leader knows where his or her limitations are and that is where they look to others on their team to fill those gaps. 

Simple question: How do you tackle problems in your business?