Evaluate Carefully

It's easier to make a problem worse, than it is to solve it so evaluate your solution carefully.

-- doug smith

Talk it thru...

Stuck? Is that problem persistent?

When problems ensue try talking them thru.

It might be exactly what you need.

-- doug smith

 

Skip the Fear

Fear of creativity keeps many problems from getting solved.

Skip the fear. Expand your creativity.

-- doug smith

 

Either Way

Fix the problem and then fix yourself, or fix yourself and then fix the problem. Centered problem solving works either way.

-- doug smith

 

Remove the Problem's Pain

All problems contain some pain. The best solutions do not numb the pain but rather remove or redirect the pain into usefulness.

-- doug smith

Maybe a Pause to Listen?

Do you ever wear yourself out trying to help someone else solve a problem? It is so tempting to come up with solutions. Even when you're sure they will work, will they really? 

I'm working on taking a pause. What is the request? What is the need? What is my role?

You may not need to solve someone else's problem -- they may just need your attentive listening.

-- doug smith

Are you ready?

Are you feeling a little busy? Are there more problems than you can juggle at once? It feels new, and yet the world has always had unsolved problems waiting for your help. There are more people now, many more, and that does make a difference. Everything is multiplied. 

Which makes you even more important than ever.

The world will always need centered problem solvers.

Are you ready?

-- doug smith

Get Started

We don't have forever to solve a problem.

-- doug smith

We Are More Than Ready

Our problems are no match for our strengths.

-- doug smith

Infinite Possibilities

Problems pile up. Answer hide. Frustration builds. Still, there are always more answers. There are always more possibilities. Our biggest challenge is to give up before we have explored enough possibilities to find a winner. There's a winner (or two or more) in there. Keep digging. Keep generating ideas. Keep focused on possibilities.

We may never run out of problems but we'll also never exhaust our possibilities for solving them.

-- doug smith

Leadership Call to Action:

Stay curious!

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 

Mind / Heart Connection

Solve the problem on your mind to open up more room in your heart.

-- Doug Smith

One Creative Plan

A problem may have an endless chain of causes and yet be solved by one creative plan.

-- Doug Smith

More Creativity, Please

Closer. No closer.

The toughest problems are in need of our best creativity.

-- Doug Smith

Endless Supply of Solutions

The creative problem solver in you always has more solutions than you need.

-- Doug Smith

Get Creative

Hidden within every problem is a creative solution.

-- Doug Smith

Find the Answers That Work

Have you given up on finding all the answers?

The good news is, you do not need to find all the answers. They will change, anyway. Centered, creative problem solvers forces on answers that work. Answers that bring you closer to your goals. Answers that get out of their own way and lead to progress, not more problems.

Creative problems solvers don't need all the answers -- just the ones that work.

-- Doug Smith

Collaborate Don't Dictate

Do you ever find it easy to identify the solution to someone else's problem?

Without the headaches and heartburn of the problem sitting in your own life, it can seem far more simple and easy to solve.

Seem. That does not mean that it is. And when we take on the problems of another without asking them what they've already done or plan to do, any solution that we do develop is likely to fall short. Ownership of the solution is just as important as creativity.

Sometimes solving someone else's problem for them is a big mistake.

Collaborate rather than dictate. Share ideas. Work together. Understand the problem at it's heart and center and not just on the surface. That takes time. That takes patience. And that takes collaboration.

Centered problem solvers collaborate with creativity, courage, clarity, and compassion. Leave any of that out, and the solution may be incomplete and ineffective.

We've all tried that already, haven't we? Why not start to get it right?



-- Doug Smith

Are you looking for a way to develop more collaborative problem solving on your team? Would it be worth two days of your team's time to work with a process that will solve big problems for years to come? Contact me today to see how a facilitated, creative, centered problem solving session with your team can make a huge impact in your results.

doug@dougsmithtraining.com

Dig Deeper

If that problem has been around awhile, if that problem is cagey to the point of making you scratch your head, you might need many solutions. Many ideas.

Creative, centered problem solvers stay with the process long enough to develop more solutions that any one problem needs.

The gold is deep. Keep digging.

-- Doug Smith

Centered Problem Solvers Ask The Tough Questions

Problems resist easy answers. That's why we need to ask the tough questions.

Why are things the way they are? What is the deeper cause? On the surface, we may think we understand a problem. Digging deeper, asking probing and open ended questions, we can get at the heart of what is really going on.

Are people being rewarded for incorrect behavior? Is someone benefitting from the problem situation? If so, who? Is it too easy to ignore the problem? Is the source of the problem aware that there is even a problem?

For example, those who most resist a fair distribution of work are those who may not be working too hard. Why change?  Executives making juicy bonuses may not even be aware of how hard it is to live paycheck to paycheck.

Creative problem solvers ask the tough questions with curiosity.

Not to judge. Not to punish. But to know. What's really going on?

Centered problem solvers use their creativity to separate people from the problem. They use their compassion to feel the discomfort of those in the throws of the problem. They use their courage to boldly propose better paths. And, they use their clarity to define their goal.

Ask the tough questions. Stay curious about the answers. Solve those pesky problems.

Where could you be more curious today?

-- Doug Smith