What happens when you have a problem? Do you crash and burn? Or do you try and figure out how you can overcome it?
Oftentimes, problem solving is one of the many characteristics of good leaders, entrepreneurs, and managers. It isn’t that these people never have problems (or that they have all the answers), but they are able adapt to the problem, identify a solution and deliver a result.
Discovering Problems
We have problems every day. They are unavoidable.
Your car breaks down. You find out that you overdrafted your checking account. You see that the Eee PC is sold out at Newegg and have to think of something else to get your wife for Christmas… The list goes on and on.
The fact remains… no one is without problems.
But a lot of people are without solutions.
Adapting to the Problem
One thing I do right away when I see a problem is try to break it up into smaller chunks. It might be my programming background, but things just seem easier to me when they are a bit less big.
One of the tricky things about problems is they like to arrive in different flavors. There are problems that are seemingly inconsequential. This might be a little bug on your blog. Maybe the columns don’t line up right or something. And then there are huge roadblocks – like trying to find clients for you freelance business.
I usually try to figure out what I have that will make the problem easier to handle. It might be a friend or someone in my professional network who I know has had a similar experience. If it’s programming related, I will try to figure out what I have coded in the past that could help. If all else fails, I ask for help.
In any case though, I try to look at the problem from a different angle, or a different paradigm, and see what I can do that will fix it.
Identifying Multiple Solutions for Every Problem
The most important thing about coming up with solutions is you need to have multiple. I am not talking about one or two… You need to have identified at least 5.
This can be pretty taxing for a lot of people. 5 solutions?
It’s a lot easier than you think.
5 Solutions
When brainstorming your list of solutions, there are going to be two that will always be there.
They are:
- Do nothing
- Ask for help
Sometimes, the best response is to simply, do nothing.
For example, I have been in situations where a client has practically begged me to take on one of their projects, but I just didn’t have the time. I could have done it, and buried myself with my current clients, or I could have charged a premium fee; but I didn’t. I just politely refused and gave them the number of a friend who would be interested.
Other times, it’s best to ask for help.
In the above situation, it might have been wise to ask my friend for help, and we could have arranged for some sort of finder’s fee. Then, we could have done the work together.
The other 3 solutions
Oftentimes, the best course isn’t to do nothing or ask for help, but to solve the problem yourself. This is what comprises the other three solutions.
Summary
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly what those other three solutions are because they are dependent on the problem. I can tell you that it is easier to brainstorm if the problem is broken down into chunks, though.
My point is that you need to have multiple solutions for every problem. That way it gives you a choice of what is the best route to take.
If you limit yourself to one solution, it might bite you in the ass further down the road because you had a limited view point.
Not a good situation to be in, especially if you are in the middle of a mutli-million dollar project!
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