Suggested Problem Solving Guidelines

Centered problem solving relies on problem solvers who are focused, mindful, centered individuals. Working collaboratively is easier when the team members are personally fine. Here are some suggested guidelines for working together in a way that helps sustain that sense of centeredness.

Speak and act with clarity, creativity, courage, and compassion.

That's it.

These are also four core strengths of leadership, with the fifth being centeredness (which results from careful attention and development to the other four.)

None of us are perfect at any of these key strengths. Putting them together in focused combination bonds and builds us in ways that are far more difficult otherwise.

Clarity, creativity, courage, compassion, and centeredness: it's the heart of centered problem solving.

-- doug smith

 

High Performance Survival

High performance leaders solve problems. They solve their problems and they work with their team members to solve collective team problems (because any team problem becomes a collective problem - impossible to isolate.)

Using the right balance of clarity, courage, creativity, and compassion high performance leaders facilitate the kind of dialogue that challenges, encourages, cooperates, and collaborates. They talk about it. Their team talks about it. They get it done.

It can be rough going solving problems. Personalities can get excited. High performance leaders find ways to remain centered. How? Of course it depends. Here are some ways to remain centered when you're solving problems:

• Breathe
• Pause
• Maintain respect
• Think creatively
• Consider many, many possibilities
• Suspend your inner judge and stay curious
• Trust that others have ideas as great as yours

There's more to it of course. Solving problems is a dynamic, difficult adventure. But by taking the time to solve problems your team will become more cohesive and your results more productive.

Survival depends on ever-increasing problem skills.

And when you DO constantly learn and grow your problem solving skills, teams can move from surviving to thriving.

Isn't that what you want?

-- doug smith 

Problems AND People

Centered leaders solve problems without hurting people.

That takes time. That takes attention. That takes focus.

-- Doug Smith

Centered Problem Solving Similarity #1

This entry is a set of notes for my work in Centered Leadership and Centered Problem Solving. If you're interested in dimensions, personality types, and core concepts behind Centered Problem Solving this may interest you. If not, it won't.

My work in CPS (Centered Problem Solving) is based on four personality types. I've interpreted them as four core leadership skills in my Centered Leadership Model and added a fifth - Centering.

There are many similarities with other personality models so this work is somewhat derivative. It's also I hope an evolution and synthesis of several similar and yet disparate types of sorting mechanisms. The purpose is to help leaders become more effect and efficient problem solvers who are capable of building great relationships while achieving great results.

Our tendency, since we are strongest in one of the four types (however you define them) is to focus on either results or relationships. When we do that we incur a cost to the dimension we are no focusing on. It does not need to be that way. In the parlay of improv, it's not an either/or choice but rather a both/and possibility. We can have both. The key is centering our focus and remaining flexible in our leadership strengths. That does require us to develop those three strengths that we are not as strong in, while also managing and regulating the strength that we are most strong in.

I'm calling this article Similarity #1 not because it is the first that I've encountered but simply as a way to sequence my occasional writings on this topic. It is by no means the first similarity I've found but I did stumble into it today (while looking for images around Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements, which also fit within the category of similarities -- at least I can see how the four agreements relate and apply to the Centered Problem Solving and Centered Leadership model.)

The similarity I found today is Adizes Methodology. Here's a link to some useful information on that:

http://paei.wikidot.com/adizes-methodology

I encourage you to read it. Part of the reason for writing this is so that I can save that link and refer to it again later.

This chart, taken from that source, is especially interesting in tracking personality types (or strengths) and their dimensions:

Source: http://paei.wdfiles.com/local--files/adizes-methodology/1-PAEI_Big_Table.gif

It's delightful how it does correspond to the four types of personalities identified in many sorter tools such as those mapped in this chart:

I've also hand-drawn an overlay chart for my quick take on The Adzes PAEI Model slightly rearranged to correspond with my Centered Leadership quadrants, with Ruiz's Four Agreements tracked to each quadrant. Some people might see this as a stretch. I see it as a helpful view of how our strengths can be expanded, strengthened, and made more flexible.

The Four Agreements, while not an exact fit with the types, can be thought of as much as challenges for each type as they are strengths. Someone whose main leadership strength is Courage (Effort) must be careful to always do their best. Those of us who have Creativity as a core strength must learn the agreement "don't take anything personally". Those who are strong with Clarity are very interested in making sure that none makes assumptions. And, those whose core strength is Compassion must strengthen their ability to be impeccable with their word.

Of course, absolutely, all four types benefit from embracing and developing all four agreements. The more I think about it, the less I think the four agreements map to type. They are skills. They are agreements. They are major life changes. All four core leadership strengths should develop them.

Still, I found it curious and decided to share it here for future reference and as part of my ongoing work on developing Centered Leadership and Centered Problem Solving (and yes, I am well aware that there is ample and useful -- even brilliant work on Centered Leadership with a slightly different approach. Again, it's not either/or here but rather both/and. I highly recommend that you read up on the approaches to centered leadership (also sometimes called mindful leadership) as detailed in the fine work of Joanna Barsh and Johanne Lavoie in Centered Leadership, and from Janice Marturano in Finding The Space To Lead.)

Big Questions

1. What similarities do you see in any of the popular personality sorters?
2. Do you see preferences as another term for strengths? Why or why not?
3. How can learning about our personality strengths help us develop our leadership and problem solving skills?
4. What implications exist to apply personality sorters to collaborative, creative, and centered problem solving?
5. For that matter, what similarities or differences do you see in what is described as collaborative problem solving, creative problem solving, and (my spin) centered problem solving?
6. What personality types have you been avoiding when you assemble your problem solving efforts? What should you do about that?

-- Doug Smith

Centered Leaders Stay Focused

Are you easily distracted?

Many of us are blessed with the ability to shift our focus instantly. We can move our attention from the problem we're working on to a few items on our phone. We can forget what's pressing on us and drift into long periods of cat videos or project management cartoons.

Centered leaders stay focused. Centered problem solving keeps us focused whether or not the problem is solved. 

The goal, to put it simply, is the goal. All the problem is doing is standing in the way of the goal.

Are you a centered leader?

What are you doing to continue in your leadership development?

- Douglas Brent Smith

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