Problem Solving Techniques – Look at Problem Not Its Symptoms

Problems are always there to be solved; all you need an attitude to crack them. Using symptoms to solve the problems is one of the management tactics I often use to clear confusion and bring sanity into the system. There are problem solving techniques but there are some whose approach is completely different. At times you need to take different approach to look at the problem in order to have its solution. And that approach is one of the simplest ways –to look at symptoms of the problem rather than jumping directly into solution of the problem.

Everybody has an opinion and they are too eager to make their contribution. This approach often leads to much confusion. Rather than looking at solution people start to talk about the problems and more problems that surround them. In short time the whole of discussion gyrates from one problem to another and in process the original point gets dropped. This happens too often till the time there is someone who looks at problem differently and comes out with solution that works best for most part of the problem.

Let’s talk it more with some examples and see how looking at the problem rather than symptom is one of the effective problem solving techniques.

In Office it seldom happens that

1) You give a problem to your junior or colleague

2) The person comes back and tells you 10 other problems because of which the work cannot be done

3) Finally you start working on the old and new problems leaving your work aside

Essentially, what has happened is that your time has gone into something which is not desired to be done by you.

What was the problem here? The problem was not the problem that you had given to the junior or colleague to be solved. The problem was

1) The junior could not solve that problem.

2) He told you more problems rather than suggesting possible solutions

3) He shifted the onus to solve the problem from himself to you

Basically, the person was not solution oriented. Your problem was not the original problem but the attitude of person.

This was a small symptom that told you to counsel your junior or colleague and to change his behavior to the problem solving mode.

Take another example-

You came out with a very good website to sell your product

1) It has the best web design

2) It has remarkable format

3) It was among one of the best

But No sale is happening. No matter how much you make changes to your website not even one product got sold through the website.

In normal situation people start to everything on earth to make sure their website looks good and that it ranks higher for specific products.

But No sale is just a symptom. The problem can be

1) There products offer little or no value

2) Their payment mechanism is not user friendly

3) There is no validation available for customers to feel confident about ordering.

It happens; sometime the problem is not what it seems to be. It can be the symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself.

One of the important problem solving techniques and skills is to look at real problem rather than working on its symptoms.

It is important to focus energy on areas that matter the most. Often enough of our energy gets wasted in areas that are either not related or are biased in certain direction. One of the important parts of the problem solving technique is to be mindful of all the symptoms and attack the problem only. Focus on problem and solution would come out flying.

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