{"id":3848,"date":"2022-06-09T13:04:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T03:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bprworld.com\/?p=3848"},"modified":"2022-06-09T13:04:38","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T03:04:38","slug":"problem-solving-the-first-step-is-the-most-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/news\/problem-solving-the-first-step-is-the-most-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Problem Solving \u2013 The First Step is the Most Important"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Kidd, BPR<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To effectively manage and operate any successful organization, leaders must guide their team members and develop problem-solving techniques.<\/p>\n

The best minds in business management all agree that problem solving should be structured. By following steps, we can more clearly understand what problem it is we\u2019re solving, what are the components of the problem that we\u2019re solving, which components are the most important ones for us to pay attention to, which analytical techniques we should apply to those and how we can synthesize what we\u2019ve learned back into a compelling story.<\/p>\n

There are different Problem-Solving Processes\u2026. some with four steps, others with six or seven.<\/p>\n

But the ONE step they all have in common is the FIRST step\u2026.and that is\u2026..<\/p>\n

What problem are we trying to solve?<\/em><\/p>\n

It is surprising how often people jump past this step and make a bunch of assumptions. The most powerful thing is to step back and ask the basic question\u2026. \u201cWhat are we trying to solve?\u201d<\/p>\n

You need to be sure that you’re dealing with the real problem\u2026. not its symptoms. For example, if performance in a department is substandard, one might think that the problem lies with the individuals themselves. However, the real issue might be a general lack of training or an unreasonable workload across the team.<\/p>\n

When you have been in as many strategy and planning meetings as I have over the years you realise that those in the meeting with you often have completely different views of the very problem they\u2019re there to solve.<\/p>\n

Our problem is the Morning Show-they\u2019re not that funny, the music is off track, lack of marketing, too much inventory, our competitors aren\u2019t that good but they\u2019re out rating us (??!!) \u2026\u2026yes we\u2019ve heard them all.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Morning Show may be lacking in entertainment value, but is that because of the talent or poor direction from the programming team? The music may be off track but is that the fault of the music director or the fact that the music vision hasn\u2019t be effectively explained to them\u2026 or is it because of flawed research?<\/p>\n

Too often people run off with half of the idea about what the problem is and start collecting data and start thinking about ways to solve that problem, only to discover that they\u2019ve gone off half-cocked.<\/p>\n

To define the problem you\u2019re trying to solve:<\/p>\n