I
began my consulting career focusing on helping restaurant owners solve
day-to-day problems. Below are some techniques I found to be effective in
rapidly solving problems.
- Focus on cause,
not blame. The former provides an objective search, the latter provides
emotionalism and recriminations. Don't seek vengeance.
- Problems
usually DO NOT go away by themselves. Face the issue, and deal with it.
Procrastination exacerbates problems and builds stress.
- Ask yourself
immediately, "Is this important?" If the answer is
"no," then live with it. Not all problems need to be fixed.
(All of my cars have imperfections somewhere that don't merit my time to
eliminate.)
- Look for
comparisons. If a door isn't closing, look at other doors and determine
if you can spot any distinctions. These will often lead you to the cause
of the problem.
- Ask yourself
"What's changed?" Virtually all new problems are caused by some
change (else nothing would have gone wrong). Find out if the nature of a
relationship has changed, something new has been installed, or someone
made an alteration.
- Use only
empirical evidence. Focus on what you can see and prove, not what you
suspect or are told. Validate assumptions. ("Yes, she has been late
each morning," or "No, we aren't having poor responses to the
offer.")
- Be aware that
to solve a problem you must remove its cause. Otherwise, you're adapting
to it, which may be appropriate, as well. Putting additional air in a
slow-leaking tire is adaptive, but plugging the leak (or replacing the
tire) is corrective.
- Interim actions
can buy you needed time. Covering a hole in the roof with a tarp is an
interim adaptive action which saves the furniture until a permanent patch
can be installed. (Asking someone to "sleep on it" and talk in
the morning when you are both calmer is an interim action to create a
better environment for reconciliation.)
- Make your
process transparent. Let others know what you're doing and why. Unlike
decision making, problem solving is basically an objective, logical
pursuit and the more people sharing, the more positive suggestions and
the less suspicion as to your motives. ("What do you mean by
that?" is one of those emotionally pregnant accusations which often
follow what was thought to be a rational suggestion but the intent of which
was not shared.)
- Validate to ensure success. Test your thesis on paper (it's easy to turn buttons on a machine and reverse them, but far more difficult to take back what you've said to someone in error or confusion). After you take your corrective or adaptive action, check to ensure that the problem is either removed or accommodated successfully.
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