Stop jumping to solutions – the secret to impactful problem-solving

BETTER QUESTIONS, MORE EFFECTIVE ANSWERS

Humans love solving problems. Those eureka moments trigger flashes of dopamine, and we’re also rewarded for them from birth.

This instinct can be helpful – it spurs us to action, which generally works out just fine. But when tackling more complex or high-stakes problems, our fix-it mentality can lead to lacklustre or even damaging outcomes. We’re much more likely to miss ideal solutions and let assumptions, biases and preconceptions influence our paths.

We call this phenomenon ‘jumping to solutions’, and you can best avoid it with a deliberate, dispassionate system for problem-solving.

BIAS GETTING IN THE WAY OF DECISIONS

Humans are biased – it’s inherent to how we process information and not necessarily a negative trait. But it can get in the way of finding an ideal solution – or, in fact, identifying the underlying problem.

For example, the law of the instrument is when people become too reliant on a familiar tool. If, in the past, you’ve used an email campaign to tackle floundering revenue, you may be tempted to think an email campaign could also solve your diminishing staff satisfaction.

Functional fixedness and the Einstellung effect are two more cognitive biases. These keep you from noticing an obvious solution because of past experiences. With functional fixedness, you can’t see how you could apply a tool, approach or resource in new ways. For example, you developed a dataset to track financial efficiency and haven’t noticed it could also answer questions about customer behaviour. The Einstellung effect is similar in that you’re so used to doing something in one way that you can’t see the more straightforward solution. An example is the apocryphal tale of NASA engineers painstakingly designing a space-functional pen when the Russians just used a pencil.

Confirmation bias can also hamper effective problem-solving. This happens when we unconsciously notice, remember and act on data that confirms our worldview while ignoring conflicting ideas or information.

Well-tested systems and principles can help you step back from your solutions-focused instincts.

GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM

The ‘5 Whys’ technique was developed by Sakichi Toyoda, the Japanese industrialist, inventor and founder of Toyota Industries. Toyota still uses it to solve problems today. Here are the steps.

Start with the ‘Go and see’ philosophy – you need to understand what’s happening in your business, not just how it looks from your office. Go and talk to your people and see how things work on the frontlines. Then, when exploring your problems, make sure you have the people in the room who bring diverse knowledge, perspectives and priorities.

Define your most obvious problem – say your NPS scores have suddenly dropped. Rather than throwing money at customer marketing or incentives, ask, ‘Why?’

Ask why five times – pull in people from across the business to ask, ‘Why?’ five times. That process may look like this:

This method uncovers the root cause of any issues and a countermeasure that returns the outcomes your organisation needs.

Consider the specifics

While the ‘5 Whys’ technique is an excellent way to arrive at a good theoretical solution, it may not always be appropriate for your business.

In the above example, the obvious countermeasure is to upgrade your business management system. It may not deliver an acceptable cost-benefit ratio if you’re doing this just to solve slumping NPS scores, especially when facing multiple other problems. To decide on your best approach, ask these questions:

• What has happened in the past? When did your business face similar problems in the past? What solutions were implemented, and what were the outcomes?

• What is your ideal future state? What would success look like to you in one, two and ten years?

• What do you value? Weigh solutions against what you value most as a company. If customer experience is more important to you than pure financial efficiency, the best solution may be to add more call centre staff.

Get outside perspectives

Bringing in a fresh perspective is often the fastest and most effective way to circumvent the bias of your leaders and organisation. Without the weight of company culture, history and experiences, their take can be far more objective. That’s why any Datamine solution always begins with practical, outcomes-focused workshops.

Envisaging workshop

If you’re starting a project or transition, or re-aligning teams, this workshop is a great first step. Typically spanning half a day, it helps you get everyone on the same page with your long-term vision, opportunities and goals. You’ll walk out with a list of prioritised opportunities for making money or improving the business.

Solution Development workshop

The Solution Development workshop moves from big-picture ideas to detailing your specific problems and solutions along with considerations like costings, responsibilities and timelines. It drills down into the priorities you set in the Envisaging workshop, so you leave with a clear problem statement, the cost of the problem, and a strong alignment on a proposed solution.

Fix it right

Being solutions-focused sounds great, but only if you know what you need to solve. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself jumping to solutions – ones that may not actually deliver the outcomes you want.

Instead, take a more strategic approach that involves the right people and perspectives. This can help sidestep biases and limited thinking, illuminate the root causes of issues, and find more impactful solutions.

Ultimately, it’s not just about finding the answers but first asking the right questions. Contact us to book your free Envisaging workshop now.

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