Last week, I wrote an article on ‘double-loop learning’ which explained how the Royal Marines relearnt how to shoot.
This week, I want to take double-loop learning one step further and provide you with a simple but very effective tool for solving problems.
The aim of this article is to give you a very simple technique for ‘problem solving’ that you can take and apply to your organisation.
It is my hope that you can take this tool and build yourself a reputation as someone who knows how to fix things!
There is a lot of theory that sits behind this tool. If you want me to explain more of it, just leave a comment below and I will explain it in a future article. This post is about providing you with a practical tool that I use to develop leaders who can solve problems.
The definition of a problem is a ‘challenge that we don’t want’. Usually because, we don’t know how to solve it. One person’s problem might be another person’s challenge – it’s completely dependent upon your own personal experience.
Problems cause us stress because we get stuck. How many times have you been lying in bed with a problem swirling round in your head? This mental merry go round creates frustration and in extreme cases anxiety. It occupies ‘attention points’ which we then can’t use elsewhere. Unsolved problems cause us to be less effective because they use up brain capacity that we could be putting to better use.
I want you to take a moment to think about how your organisation solves problems?
Which end of the scale are you at?
If you think that you don’t have any problems it’s because you either don’t know what they are or you’re firmly in your comfort zone and aren’t being challenged enough. In my experience, this is rare.
When we come up against a problem, we go to the ‘computer’ part of our brain. This part of the brain contains our ‘scripts’ for how we interpret an illogical world.
I don’t want to get into too much detail on this but to give you an example – many people have a script that says the world should be ‘a fair and just place.’ This is a good thing to work towards and I believe that we should do our utmost to treat others in line with this belief. But in reality, the world is not a fair place – bad things happen. We cannot control everything and if we have a script that says ‘the world is fair’ – it is only going to create frustration when we find evidence that proves that we’re wrong.
You can tell people who have this script because they say things like ‘that’s not fair!’ Well, who told them that the world was a fair place? It would be nice if it was – but until this becomes a reality – this is not a helpful script.
When we come across problems – we go to our mental computer and try and find a script that helps us deal with the problem. Our brain looks back to see where we have encountered this problem before and what we did about it. Often, this causes us to jump from the problem (or the concern) to the countermeasure.
The countermeasure is based on our experience of what we did before when faced with this problem – therefore, our logical brain tells us that what we did before should work again…
The trouble with this approach is that it fails to take into account the root causes that have created the problem.
It can lead us to fix symptoms. Fixing symptoms might cause the problem to go away for a while but you can guarantee it will reappear in the future. This is what most companies do – they fix symptoms.
Solving problems requires us to address root causes.
This often requires us to double-loop learn.
It is much harder to do this because our brains are ‘wired for efficiency’ – this is why we jump from the concern to the countermeasure.
To give you a simple example, many people might be dissatisfied with their weight or the way they look in some way.
So the concern is, ‘I am not happy with my weight’. They immediately jump from the concern to the countermeasure of ‘doing more exercise’. But as I have said before – diet contributes more to weight loss than exercise so they’re miss out one of the most significant ‘root causes’. I have simplified a more complex problem for the purpose of this article but I am sure you get the idea!
Concern – Cause – Countermeasure
This is the process that you have to go through to solve problems.
The following slide illustrates some of the common problems that I’ve come across before – as well as the solutions that were generated.
You might recognise some of these problems. These solutions might even work for you. The key point here is that this is a simple and structured process which actually solves problems permanently.
So how do you take this approach and use it yourself?
This six step process will explain how…
- Start with the ‘low-hanging fruit’. Ask people in your team, if we could solve one problem today – what would it be? This will generate support and buy-in from your colleagues and leadership.
- Gather all the ‘right people in one room for an hour’. Explain to them what you’re trying to do. Set the context for the discussion.
- Agree on the concern. This can take a surprisingly long time because there will always be a range of perceptions on the same issue – people will have different views based on how the problem affects them and you need to take this into account. Watch for those that immediately describe the problem and how to fix it – they’ll say something like, ‘this is the issue and we just need to do this to fix it’. Challenge them and get them to support you in following the process. You’ve finished this step once you have clearly defined the concern on a whiteboard and everyone is in agreement. This might take the whole hour but stick with it – you’re moving in the right direction.
- Get everyone to write down the 4-5 root causes that are causing this ‘concern’. Get them to do this in silence on a piece of paper. You don’t want the extroverts in the room speaking up and guiding the view of everyone else. Then, get everyone to read out the causes whilst you write them on the board. Some people will reiterate the same cause in different language but you will start to get some common themes
- Discuss what actions will solve those root causes. Write the actions on the board – give them an owner and a due date
- One month after the last actions have been complete – review the problem and ask the question ‘has this been solved permanently?’ If it hasn’t, go back to the concern and follow the process again. This is about continuous improvement – steadily moving up the hill – keep trying new things until they work.
This might take a few turns to get it right. My suggestion is that you spend a couple of hours a week solving your problems. Block some time out together to work on the issues that are causing you the most pain.
If challenged on allocating a couple of hours per week to do this – ‘ask how and when are we going to solve our problems? How are we improving if we don’t solve our problems?’
Leaders improve the current situation.
They take ownership and create action which solves problems.
How do you want to be perceived – as someone that complains about problems or as someone that takes ownership and helps to fix them?
I know what sort of person I want in my organisation.
Please feel free to download the problem solving sheet below and give it a go yourself. If you need some support – please feel free to connect and drop me a line via LinkedIn – I’d be happy to give you a hand.
Download the Leadership Forces Problem Solving Approach
Also – if you want me to explain more of theory behind this approach, just let me know using the comments section below and I will explain it in a future article.