Consider

Simply buying some one's solution solves one problem but it might not be yours that it solves.

Consider the source. Consider the agenda. Consider the ramifications.

Centered problem solving could take longer, but you'll like the results more.

-- doug smith

 

A Better Solution

A problem that resists your solution is searching for a better way.

It's your partner, not your enemy. It's gently, persistently, pushing you toward a better solution.

-- doug smith

Blame Is Not Your Problem

It's irksome to get blamed for a problem. That can raise emotions that make solving the problem even more difficult. If we can center ourselves first, breathe, and release the blame, maybe we can see what path to take.

We can solve the problem.

Getting blamed for a problem we didn't create doesn't prevent us from solving it.

Let go of the blame, wherever it came from.

-- doug smith

 

Action Step:

The next time you catch yourself blaming anyone for anything, just let go of the blame. 

Peace With Temporary Solutions

 

As a recovering perfectionist, I've tried to make peace with temporary solutions. I do still want everything to be perfect (and to STAY that way) while also learning that even my best ideas are transitional at best. Things will change. I will change. You will change. Our ideas and solutions will also need to change.

If we can stop thinking that solutions are final our problems won't seem so troubling.

Because whatever we don't solve NOW can still be solved later. 

Add a little kaizen to your solution and let it breathe.

What do you think?

-- doug smith

Action Step:

In your next action plan, consider adding a step for continuous improvement. 

Explore More

There is usually more than one solution to any problem. It may be best to avoid what feels like a permanent solution until we've explored other solutions.

-- doug smith

Go Ahead

 

Is there a problem on your mind? Has it been bothering you lately?

If you're thinking about a problem why not think about solving that problem?

It might not be easy. It will be worthwhile.

-- doug smith

Quality Solutions

One hundred bad solutions are not nearly as useful as one good one.

Choose carefully.

-- doug smith

Find It

The answer to a problem is not always obvious, but it is always there.

Find it.

-- doug smith

Find the Flaw In Your Thinking

How does it feel like when your mind is foggy? For me, fogginess happens when there are an overwhelming number of choices, or possibilities, or the problem seems to cut so deep that only a tourniquet will help. Fogginess can also come from incomplete thinking - we stop at a place that makes sense to our unseen bias, and move forward without looking for other facts.

Flaws in our thinking develop when our thinking is misdirected (it was true about something else so it must be true about this), polluted (that advertisement is just SO convincing), corrupted (it might not be exactly right but it's good for me), and any of dozens of factors that fog our thoughts.

The flaw that blocks you knocks you off center. The flaw that deceives you leaves you without a real solution.

Find the flaw in your thinking while you can still find it, or the problem is yours to keep.

-- doug smith

Relax the Overwhelm

Have you ever tried TOO hard to solve a problem?

It's possible. I've been know to over-think a problem. People sometimes take the spaghetti approach -- throw a bunch of solutions at the problem and see what sticks.

Sometimes it works. It doesn't always. Sometimes finesse wins the day. Or patience. Or collaboration.

It isn't always necessary to overwhelm a problem in order to solve it. Maybe, like in the martial arts, it pays to let the problem fall on its own with just a gentle re-direction from you.

-- Doug Smith

Find Solutions

When problems come looking for us we owe it to ourselves to find solutions.

Has a problem found you today? What is your response?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Learn From An Imperfect Solution

How does it feel when the solution that you've implemented doesn't quite work?

That frustrates me. All that work. All that thinking. And the solution is imperfect.

Well, guess what? Many solutions are imperfect. Maybe every solution that is available to you is imperfect. We do live in an imperfect world.

We can still benefit from imperfect solutions. We can still grow and learn from the results that we achieve, even when they are flawed or temporary.

Just because a problem doesn't stay solved doesn't mean that the solution wasn't valuable.

Maybe it served a short term end. Maybe it solved a key part of the problem. And maybe, just maybe, it's a way to learn and find our way to a better solution. Broken solutions lead to better solutions. Problems test and expand our creativity.

Centered problem solvers know that the problem solving is never done. Evolving solutions is part of the deal.

-- Doug Smith

Looking for a way to bring your team together to collaborate on some solutions? Are you curious about how to train your organization to solve problems with a centered, creative approach? Contact me here: doug@dougsmithtraining.com

Be Careful About Symptom Solutions

What's the lazy way out of a problem?

I think the lazy way out of a problem is to pretend that it's not a problem after all. To make some kind of false peace from it and mask your true feelings. To live with the results as if the results were not only inevitable but better than you could have hoped for, anyway.

That's not solving a problem. That's rationalization. "I can't fix it anyway" or "It's too hard to fix" so "I might as well enjoy what we've got..."

Yes, it does make sense to experience what is here fully and to appreciate the value. But not if that means accepting a situation that is unhealthy and unproductive.

Be careful about solutions that only make you feel good about the problem.

Because when even when you feel good about the problem, the problem is still there.

-- Doug Smith

doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

Front Range Leadership: High Performance Leadership Training

Open New Opportunities

Have you ever noticed than right after you solve a problem you still have lots of great ideas swimming in your head?

New insights emerge just begging to be captured and the energy you've spent to find one solution has lead to dozens of viable ideas.

Grab those ideas. Capture those thoughts. Find the next big thing in your work.

Every problem solved opens new opportunities.

It's just another great reason to work + play at solving those pesky problems!

What's your next big idea?

-- Doug Smith

doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

What If It's A Combination?

Wouldn't it be great if there were one absolute answer to every problem? What if there were one universal tool that would always serve us, one magnificent process to problem solving forever and for always?

There are many great problem solving processes. There are many great approaches to leadership. Styles change, tools grow, people evolve. One single answer seldom does the trick.

That unsolved problem just might need a combination of solutions.

Dig them up. Look them over. Try them again. Put them together like the pieces of an elaborate puzzle or the moves in an intricate game. There is an answer there. You just might have to fuse a few together.

-- Doug Smith

Front Range Leadership: Training Supervisors for Success 

doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

Surprise Yourself

What if the opposite of your solution is a better solution?

How innovative are you? Are you willing to take creative risks?

Taking the time to flip expectations can be invigorating. Looking at the opposite of your goal can be enlightening. Life is filled with possibilities, and sometimes we have to sneak up on them and let them surprise us.

Surprise!

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Be Careful With Forced Solutions

It seems faster. It seems more efficient. Why not simply give your constituents no choice by changing what needs to be changed and removing the old way of doing things?

Because, well -- people don't like that sort of thing. And when they don't like something you can count on lots of resistance.

There's not much point in solving a problem by creating new ones.

Centered problem solvers do better than that because they know that a solution that needs to be forced is probably not going to solve your problem.

We might as well find a solution that our constituents embrace -- even when that is more work.

What do you think?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Looking for a way to solve more problems in your organization? Why not bring our workshop Centered Problem Solving to your location.

Don't Force Your Solutions

What happens when you impose your solution on someone else's problem?

If it works, they will be happy that it works and likely still resent you for imposing the solution. If it does not work (which is often the case) you of course will get the blame.

People need to come up with their own solutions. Your advice may be brilliant. Your insistence may be strong. But their resistance to change (and need for ownership) will quite likely get in the way.

We should not force someone to try our solution to their problem.

Even if their ideas aren't as good, they are much more likely to follow them.

Unless your trying to teach both of you a lesson. Good luck with that approach.

Centered problem solving involves much more. It is taking an approach of working on the relationship as well as the problem. It's attacking the process, and not the person. It's cooperating and collaborating. That's not as easy as imposing your own solution -- but much more likely to succeed.


-- Douglas Brent Smith