Define Carefully

If the solution you want is a magic wand then you haven't yet clearly defined your problem.

-- Doug Smith

P.S. There are no magic wands...

Get Ahead of Your Motivation

Do you ever wait for motivation to hit you before you tackle a tough problem?

I've done that. I've waited for the right moment of motivation before starting to analyze what the problem is or before even defining the problem. The trouble with that is that the problem is getting larger the longer we wait.

We're in charge of our motivation. We create our own motivation. There's never any need to wait for motivation: just go.

Problem solving can't always wait for our interest or motivation. 

Problem solving starts when the problem arises. Why wait?

-- Doug Smith

Understand Your Problem

Have you ever tried to solve a problem that you didn't fully understand?

How did that turn out? Whenever I try to solve a problem that I don't fully understand I'm not happy with the results. I solve the wrong problem. Or I solve a symptom of the problem but not the root cause.

We need to go deeper. We need to take the time to understand what's going on. We need to understand our problem before we solve it.

It's counter-productive to solve a problem we don't understand.

Let's take the time to figure out what's going on. Let's understand our problem first, and then set about coming up with possible solutions.

Do you understand your biggest problem today?

-- Doug Smith

Front Range Leadership: High Performance Leadership Training

doug smith training: helping people communicate more effectively

What have you learned today?