Change the Questions

 

"To solve our problems, we first need to change our questions; otherwise we'll probably just keep getting the same old answers, over and over again."

-- Marilee Adams

Quality Solutions

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

Choose carefully.

-- doug smith

Simple

Fix what's broken. Pause. Repeat.

-- doug smith

Illusion?

Are you sure about what you're sure about?

The way I'm looking at a problem may not define that problem.

Now what?

-- doug smith

Inner Problems

Inner problems have a way of finding outer reactions.

They get in the way of solving anything, until we solve them. Until we're centered, we're off-kilter, and that's a tough position to solve anything.

The outer reactions that inner problems bring create conflict, tension, complications...a long list of challenges.

Yes, we must solve problems. Maybe a good place to start are those problems hiding inside us.

-- doug smith

Start with your goal

 

Problems are tricky. A problem can present itself in one way, but manifest later completely different, in disguise. 

"I thought I solved that!"

"So did I!"

"How did it ever return?"

"Devious, isn't it?"

Be careful about solving a problem until you know what you really want. Start with your goal.

-- doug smith

Use Your Strengths

 

The most important thing about a problem is what strengths we use to solve it.

-- doug smith

Keep Talking

 

Keep talking.

-- doug smith

A Great Gift

Training people how to solve problems is one of the best gifts ever.

-- doug smith

 

Keep Leading

Every problem is a leadership problem.

-- doug smith

 

Why Resist?

There's no reason to resist problem solving. Solving problems makes things better.

-- doug smith

 

Is This Too Obvious?

 

It's possible for something to be so obvious that it's completely missed. I've missed this one a few times, how about you?

Bigger problems have more than one cause.

Solving one cause when many are in play probably just complicates the causes that remain.

Dig deeper. Get to the center. Solve more.

-- doug smith

Involve Your Team

Solving problems is a great way to engage your team.

-- doug smith

 

Remove the Barriers

Even when we focus on the goal we must still identify and remove the barriers to that goal.

-- doug smith

The Start

Finding the solution to a problem is just the start. Influencing people to implement the solution is its own puzzle.

-- doug smith

 

Be a Bit Presumptuous

It's presumptuous to think that the solution to a problem would last forever. What does?

-- doug smith