I Love Problems!

 

Really? How could anyone say something like that? I mean, if you think about it, the above statement is blatantly counter-intuitive and finding those exact combination words on the lips of an individual can make you start thinking that something is probably not too right with such a person’s faculties.
However, through the course of this piece, you’ll realize that you should probably be making the above guy one of your best friends and that you should even start thinking in the direction of loving and appreciation the presence of problems.

FIRST, A CHANGE OF NOMENCLATURE AND MIND-SET
Let’s start with clearing one or two general misconceptions. Firstly, Problems are bad right? Well, not quite. It depends on what you mean by your definition of the word ‘problem’. Your definition of life’s terms determines your reactions, your character and the manifestations you get when those terms present themselves.
 
I wish to give you a new definition of the word. I want you to see the word ‘problem’ not as the conventional term, but as something else. Substitute the word ‘challenge’ when the word ‘problem’ shows up. Let your new definition of the word ‘problem’ be ‘challenge’ (to be overcome, of course). See problems as opportunities to grow; to become stronger, smarter, better and more valuable.
 
‘Every problem contains within it, the seed of an equivalent advantage or benefit’, says Napoleon Hill.
 
The new mind-set you should have regarding problems is that you need them to grow. In fact, you need them to put food on your table and clothes on your body for whatever job you’re currently doing (or intend doing) is centered on solving problems for people; and you’ll agree with me that the more problems you solve, the richer and more successful you become.
 
So, change your mind-set regarding problems. Problems are not bad. On the contrary, problems are potentially good. They are opportunities, but it all depends on what you do when faced with one, but realize that whether or not you succeed in solving a problem depends entirely on you. And in either of the cases, whether you fail or succeed in solving it, you still learn the best way we were designed to learn; by trial and error.

WHAT TO DO WITH PROBLEMS. THE 7-STEP PROBLEM-SOLVING PATHWAY 
Fine. We’ve established that problems aren’t really your enemy. They simply have to potential of becoming your enemy- or your friend, depending on how well you handle them, and that’s what we’re about to learn shortly. How to handle problems- how to solve problems (or should we say ‘challenges’). Steps in problem solving.


STEP #1
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
For you to get a problem fixed, the first step to take is in knowing exactly what the problem is. A problem correctly identified is half solved. I suppose you’ve heard that before. You know, the thing is that in a lot of cases, we go about solving the wrong problems, or taking little or no steps in identifying what the real problem is.
 
In the Medical Laboratory Science profession, of which I’m part of, part of our job is to assist in the diagnosis of the cause of ailment in a patient. To do this, we run series of tests and analyses. Major treatment or therapy cannot commence without the correct identification of the cause of sickness. Drugs may be given to alleviate symptoms, but in any case, major treatment cannot be started based on symptoms alone. The correct condition has to be pin-pointed.
 
It’s a very basic situation here. What are you going to treat if you don’t know what’s wrong with your patient? But a lot of us blindly and foolishly go about our daily problems in this way. We chase after symptoms instead of taking the time and pains to correctly know what the problem is. The thing about symptoms is that they manifest only when the problem has taken root. Symptoms are the fruits and you can’t kill a plant or tree by plucking away its fruits. It’ll simply grow more new fruits. The only way to ensure the successful elimination is by pulling the plant off from the roots- by solving the root problem.
 
The first and unarguably, the most important step in the problem-solving pathway hence, is the correct identification of the problem.
 
So, step back a bit. Be objective. Spend as much time and resources as it would take. Try to identify exactly what the root problem is.
 
A symptom is of course, a problem on its own, but it should be rightly called a symptom. And the thing about symptoms is that if you don’t correctly identify the underlying problem, and you go ahead treating symptoms, the main problem remains and probably gets worse.
 
So, learn to differentiate symptoms of a problem from the problem. There can be several symptoms, but there is always one cause- one problem.
 
Make the analysis. It’s a simple one. Get a piece of paper and a pen and then try to troubleshoot. Of course, the first things that will come to your mind are the symptoms, for those are what you can readily see and come to terms with. Put them down and keep asking yourself open-ended questions like ‘why’. Questions like this will help lead you to the exact problem.
 
The good thing about symptoms is that the more of them you get, the more likely you are to link them up or narrow them down to a particular cause or problem. So, symptoms are useful, not necessarily as part of the targeted solution, but as part of the process of identification of the problem.
 
There’s something else you should know, however. In some cases, there could be several root problems. This can occur especially if you’re dealing with different areas or facets of an organization or system. What you should do in each case is to analyze each department independently. In fact, you should do a thorough analysis if you can’t speculate from which direction the problem is coming from.
 
In troubleshooting, there’s something very important you must have in mind. You have to be sure that you’re getting the facts and nothing but the facts. You don’t get your opinions or feelings about the problem and call them facts or symptoms. The way to know is that your facts or symptoms have to be quantifiable. For example, that your son your son scored a D in a math test is not necessarily the same thing as your son not doing well in school. It may be, but you have to be sure and the only way to be sure is to do the troubleshooting. To identify what exactly the problem is *It could be that your son had a fever the day he took the test, or that he had a new teacher who he didn’t understand*
So, the first step to take in the problem solving pathway is….Problem Identification.

STEP #2
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
Now, you have correctly identified what the root problem is. Next, you need to analyze it. Get the facts and then analyze the facts. It’s a simple equation. Just like raw data, an unanalyzed problem doesn’t prove very helpful.
Here are two quick steps to take in analysis of a problem:

a.    PROBLEM CAUSE(S)
An old African proverb says that if a young man does not find out what caused his father’s death, that same thing could possibly cause his own death. If you do not find out what caused the problem, then you’ll find it difficult in solving it, and you’ll also not be able to prevent a recurrence.
 
So, ask yourself this simple question: ‘What is the cause of this problem?’ ‘Where is it coming from?’ ‘Is it due to failure of individuals or failure of systems?’ Sometimes it could be one person- one wrong person occupying a position. One leadership of management flaw can lead to a problem. If it’s a system, it could be one step in the process that’s causing the problem. It could also be more than one step or more than one individual. Analyze everything and everyone, including yourself. Find the cause.

b.    PROBLEM QUANTIFICATION
What sectors have been affected? What areas are at risk? How potentially dangerous is this problem? (That’s if you’ve not already found out). How big is this problem?
This and more are the questions you ask yourself when quantifying a problem. You need to know the capacities of the problem and what sectors are being affected or stands the risk of being affected. This will help you in determining the magnitude and direction of the proposed solution.

HEY!!! WAIT A MINUTE!
I consider this pause necessary to some who may think that we’ve not actually been answering the question on how to solve your problems. Yes we have. A problem correctly diagnosed is, in fact, more than half solved. Just realize that for you to correctly identify what the real problem is, alone; a significant step in the problem-solving pathway has been crossed.
 

STEP #3
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF PAST SOLUTIONS
Chances are high that your problems aren’t unique. I can bet that there’s up to a 99% chance that someone, somewhere, somehow, sometime must have experienced the exact same problem that you’re experiencing now.
 
Come on, think about it. The modern man has existed for about 50 to 200 thousand years (yeah, that’s 200,000 years). That’s a lot of time if you ask me. And that’s time enough for man to experience all imaginable problems.
 
So, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Don’t attempt to solve your problems all alone when there could be some perfect solution out there that fits your case. There’s really nothing new under the sun.
 
Put on your research shoes, and get to work. It’s a great thing that we now have search engines like google that isn’t tired of answering your questions, no matter how many times you ask or how foolish your questions sound.
 
Visit places or sites where a review of your problems have been done. Visit big companies or establishments similar to yours. For them to be successful, chances are they’ve passed through what you’re currently passing through and succeeded. Visit old couples if you’re having a marriage problem. Visit counsellors. Visit financial experts. Visit experience.
 
Experience remains the best teacher. But the thing is, you can’t live long enough to have all the experiences and learn from them all, and as a reminder, experience is costly- very costly, so, do the next best thing. Learn from the experiences of countless others who have been in your shoes. Learn from experienced counsellors and guides.
 
However, don’t just visit one source for your review of past solutions. Situations, skills, temperaments, experiences and interpretation of events differ among different sources and moreover, no matter how similar to your case those situations are, they may not fit 100% (if not for anything else, you make the difference).
 
So, get at least a dozen sources of help. Be sure though that while getting this help, you state specifically what your exact problem is. 

The clearer and the more exact you are, the better your chances of 
getting a befitting solution, and the more practicable those solutions will be.
 
Don’t judge any source at first. Just see the process as a collection of useful and analyzable data. Get all your sources and carefully review each one for similarities and peculiarities to your case.
No one case is independent of the other. The more the number of reviews, the better.



STEP #4
SELECTION AND IMPROVEMENT/MODIFICATION OF THE MOST APPLICABLE SOLUTION
 
OK. The experienced guys have all offered you solutions and you’ve reviewed them all. Now is the time to select the one that applies to your situation the most.
 
You need to realize that you’re in charge here. Irrespective of the fact that there are more experienced people out there, no one knows, or have experienced your specific problem or situation like you have, so the person in a good position to determine which solution applies or not is probably you.
 
That’s why you must modify or improve on the solution you select to suit your preferences. Not preferences based on what you like or do not like, but on what is likely to work for your case. You should be able to do this. Make some adjustments to your proposed solution based on your unique situation and finalize your choice.
 
Before you proceed to do anything else, however, try to mentally apply your new solution to the problem. Try to imagine what the outcome would look like with your solution in place. You may not know exactly, but try to create the outcome of the scenario in your mind’s eye first. If it doesn’t make sense, review your solution further until it does. Then…



STEP #5
TESTING OF PROPOSED SOLUTION
Your proposed solution is ready to be applied. But you have to take the cautious path here. If it be possible in your own case, try to test-run the solution first before complete or full implementation.
 
You wouldn’t want to worsen an already bad situation, would you? I suppose not. It’s a new thing you’re about to do and the thing about new things is that outcomes may not correspond to plans and expectations. Outcomes could be completely different. To avoid this mistake, in addition to a waste of time, effort and resources, try to test your proposed solution first and assess the results.
 
There are several ways in which this can be done. If your proposed solution doesn’t depend on time to work, you could apply if for a given limited amount of time- time enough to evaluate its efficacy without causing any harm.
 
Another way to do this is to select a particular part or section of the problem region and implement your proposed solution there. Observe carefully the resultant outcome. If it is favorable or not. Then move on to the next step which is:




STEP #6
HOLISTIC APPLICATION OF THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
If your tests come out positive, (positive means good here, mind you), then apply your proposed solution to all the facets of the problem. If tests come out negative, try to see what modifications you can make, or perhaps you didn’t actually find out what the exact problem was.
 
In any case, sit down and plan. Find all the lop holes and fix them. Then you can repeat the test process again. Do this until you get it right.
With your working solution on ground, effect therapy with aggressiveness to all affected areas. Then finally,

 
STEP #7
QUALITY ASSURANCE
I guess that’s a good term to describe what happens next. Hopefully, with time and consistent application of your solution, loopholes will be fixed and things will return back to normal, and in fact get better.
 
But such a state of betterment and improvement has to be maintained. You need to provide adequate measures and steps to prevent a recurrence of the problem.
 
You have to give careful attention to all the departments, steps and stages in your organization and ensure optimal performance at all times.
 
The best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place. After all, prevention is better than cure, isn’t it? So, try to implement your solution continually to ensure a problem-free state.
 
That’s it. You have just received a comprehensive (award-winning) problem-solving process. The ball is in your court. What you do from now on completely depends on you.

THE MAGIC OF THE ‘WHY’ QUESTION
I figured out something else though. For a lot of us, our day to day problems may not require elaborate application of all seven steps. Some of our problems might be quite petty, you know, and we need quick solutions there and then to fix them.
 
If you’re like that, this strategy might help. I call it the magic of the ‘Why’ question. It goes like this. Whenever there is an imminent problem requiring solution, get one quantifiable symptom and ask the question ‘Why’.
 
When you come up with another factual and logical reason, ask another why. Keep doing this until you come to the root problem. 
You’ll know it’s the root problem because you can no longer ask the ‘why’ question without sounding stupid. The main question to ask is the ‘why’ question, but in some cases, ‘how’ and ‘what’ will prove useful. Remember not to be emotional as this will alter your pattern and prevent you from finding the root problem. Try to get the facts- facts are what you need to pin point the problem. Facts, not opinions.


THE OTHER GUY’S FAULT
What if it’s the other guy’s fault? What if the blame is on others and not you? Sure, it’s possible. There are two possible sources of a problem; others or you (in some cases, there can be a combination of the two). Problems can be from another party, but the good thing here is that you always have a role to play. You are responsible for your life, businesses, family and everything else pertaining to you, therefore, you always have a role to play, even if the fault is from others.
 
Think about this for a moment though. Perhaps it’s not absolutely true that the total blame is from the other guy. Where were you all the while when they were doing what they were doing? What did you do to prevent the problem?
 
I want you to adopt the mind-set of responsibility. I want you to realize that whatever happens or fails to happen to you is in your hands. In the long run, whatever gains or pains that results will affect you, so, you are responsible. You can always do something about it. Just find out what it is and take steps to fix it. Take initiative. Be responsible.
 
OK. I don’t want to be all idealistic here. There are actually situations in which it appears that you are handicapped. That there’s very little you can do to permanently resolve the problem directly. Sure, cases like this, even though they are rare, they actually exist.
There are two things you can do here. But you have to be really sure that your case actually fits one in which your intervention is not directly possible.

    You can alter your way of thinking and not allow such a problem to affect you negatively. Your state of mind is very important. Being all sad, gloomy and always feeling short-changed and victimized, is not the best type of mind-set to adopt. That kind of mind-set will rub off on anything else you do and worsen the state of whatever you have left in your life. Be positive. Pessimism, sadness and guilt will only make matters worse. Be positive; be encouraged; be happy.
 
Your situation may not be as bad as it appears. If only you adopt a good and positive mind-set, you can maintain a lively spirit, and things will not be as bad as they appear. If you can think about the Bible story of Jonah. In the real sense, there was little he could do about all the predicaments that had befallen him, but he chose to maintain a healthy mind-set. I’m sure your situation is not as bad as Job’s, so you still have a lot to be happy about. Count your blessings and take steps to increase them while you can.

    Take steps to alleviate the effects of such a problem. In medicine, there are cases that are considered incurable at the current time. What physicians do if such a case presents is to administer drugs and other treatments to handle the symptoms or effects that such a disease presents. In a lot of cases, the effects or manifestations of the disease ae so suppressed that it appears as if the underlying ailment has been cured. An example is the HIV infection. A HIV positive individual can live a perfectly healthy and normal life for years as long as the person is on anti-retroviral drugs and is on a healthy diet and lifestyle.
 
If a problem appears unsalvageable, instead of lamenting your fate, you can take steps to manage the situation. You can take steps to treat the symptoms of the problem. I suppose this is the only case where taking on the symptoms of the root problem is not only acceptable, but the only logical step to take and probably the only step to produce relief.

MADE BETTER BY PRACTICE
Everything is made better by practice. No one expects you to be a veteran in problem solving after studying this article. You’ll get better with time and commitment. Practice makes perfect.
Practice these principles over and over against any problem you encounter no matter how minor. Over time, it now becomes a part of you and you’ll hopefully come up with quick, easy and efficacious solutions to your problems, and then maybe, you’ll learn to love problems.

Wishing you a problem-rich life…
Cheers