You have a problem. You’re struggling with it and it seems things are getting out of hand.
Get the upper hand today as GenuLines looks at problem solving.
How Defining Your Problem Can Often Help You to Solve It
For many of us, the initial reaction to any problem that seams unsurmountable is to panic. Car won’t start when you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere?
Now you have tons of problems and issues running through your head.
You’re going to be late, or you’re going to starve. You might be without your phone, or you’re cold, or you’re scared.
These are valid issues but they’re not the main problem. And in some cases they can distract you from the matter at hand.
What you need to do then is to take a breather, get a grip and define your problem.
Defining the Problem
This lets you cut through the issues and narrow things down to the one thing that’s getting you into trouble. In this case, the problem is that your car won’t start.
Forget the rest and instead focus on that one central challenge.
You might also have ‘other’ problems. But for this exercise the most effective thing to do is to pick one to focus on first.
Finding the Root
When defining your problem it’s also important to make sure that you’re at the root of it. The problem ‘you are going to be late’ is harder to solve because it’s more ‘high level’.
If the root of your problem is ‘your car won’t start’ then that’s a better place to begin.
Then again you might further simplify this and say ‘you’ve run out of petrol’. Now the solution becomes clearer because you’ve broken it down.
Rewording the Problem
If this hasn’t immediately helped, then you might want to try rewording the problem.
In this case you can think of your problem almost as an equation. You’re flipping it around while keeping the meaning the same.
you can often start seeing answers.
Your car won’t start
Your car is broken
You have no mode of transport
You have no way of getting home
These last two ‘rephrases’ in some cases might start to offer up solutions. A solution to not being able to get home is to call a friend
– or you might stay in a local hotel for the night. By rephrasing the question you can view it from different angles and this can end with a solution.
This all comes down to ‘knowing your ‘enemy’. Once you’ve done this you’ll have a target you can aim for and a solution will be much more likely.
JohnK 5-29-2023
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