When Problem-Solving is a Problem
The way you deal with problems is more important than the problems themselves. Dysfunctional problem-solving makes problems worse.
3 dysfunctional problem-solving leaders:
#1. Tip-toe leaders.
Tip-toe leaders prolong problems by producing tip-toe solutions.
Tip-toe leaders worry too much about personalities, politics, and public perception. You can’t ignore these issues. Just don’t make them central.
Solution: Stretch your kind candor muscles behind closed doors with trusted colleagues. Find language and tone that expresses your heart and speaks to challenges.
#2. Drama-making leaders.
Drama aggravates problems by adding heat. Spend less energy complaining about things in the past and more energy dealing with things you can change.
Cure: Adopt a make-it-better approach. Ask, “How am I making things better with my attitude, words, and behaviors?”
Use the energy of stress to turn your attention to solutions.
#3. Face-saving leaders.
Face-savers worry more about appearances than results. Face-saving leaders:
- Hide tough issues from higher ups.
- Minimize real problems.
- Have things in control when they’re covering their butts.
Sadly, in dysfunctional organizations, face-savers succeed.
Cure: The best way to save face is to own problems and work toward solutions, even if the problems aren’t your fault. Be known as a solution provider, not a self-protective face-saver.
10 questions that enable effective problem-solving:
- Why does this matter?
- What have we already done to solve this problem?
- How are customers impacted by this problem?
- What internal teams/individuals are impacted by this problem?
- What do we assume is true?
- Who needs to be part of the solution?
- If things were going perfectly, what would it look like? Think behaviors.
- What would you like from me?
- What questions should we be asking?
- What’s next?
Use the Five Ws to gather information.
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
What do leaders do to prolong problems?
What are some questions to ask when working to solve problems?
This post is adapted from a Leadership post on October 3, 2016.
It’s always useful to start by making sure the problem is correctly defined. Separate symptoms from the underlying problem.
The questions I always ask is:
1. Who owns the problem?
2. How much time, effort, and money are required to solve this problem.
3. What’s best way to proceed (form a group, delegate the problem to someone, do it myself.
I thought you might chime in with some practical suggestions. Don’t solve problems others should solve. Thanks, Paul.
The biggest problem I see is “analysis paralysis”. Folks get caught up in finding the perfect solution. They spend all their time looking at the data and asking questions (and then more and more questions) without ever coming up with a solution. Much less implementing that solution.
The second biggest problem is “hammeritis”. Their only tool is a hammer, so all their problems look like nails. Sometimes that works. Most of the time, though, all you end up with is broken bits.
Wonderful insights, Jennifer. It feels like problem-solving goes better when you begin with an imperfect solution. Evaluate frequently as you move forward. Make appropriate adjustments and begin again. Cheers
I guess corporate culture contribute (more) to the problems! In the old times, people got themselves together, rolling up sleeves and getting down to work – all on their own – to solve any issue they face or comes up! Now, there is a procedure, report, report-tracking, then meeting after meeting, email after email, oversighting and many more (you name it)! The bigger the company, the more layer there are, and the more the “layer”, the more problem or difficulty emerge!
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