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Seven ideas to make sure you solve the right problem

Thinking about the future and finding solutions to current concerns is like answering a math test: you have no chance of getting it right until you’ve understood all the terms of the problem. Analyzing a tricky issue means taking into account all the factors that may have contributed to its emergence, including previous events, external stakeholders and contextual information. And sometimes you need to do more than formulate a problem correctly to come up with the right answer. In fact, it’s just as important to look for inspiration elsewhere, in a situation where the problem did not occur, for example, or from others who have experienced a similar challenge.  

Frame the terms of your problem … 

“If there’s no solution, it’s because there is no problem” was a favorite saying of the Shadoks, bird-like creatures that starred in a popular animated French television series. But author Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg suggests something slightly different: if you don’t have a good solution, it may be because you don’t have the right problem.  

Before launching headlong into the search for the best possible idea for extracting yourself from a given situation, take the time to analyze it first. Start by summing up the issue in a short sentence, ideally starting with the words: “The problem is that …” At first, stick to the description of the difficulty as it was initially presented to you, without trying to interpret it. So, when faced with co-workers complaining about the time wasted waiting for the elevator in your office building, the best choice of words would be, “The problem is that people are complaining about waiting for the elevator,” rather than, “The problem is that our elevator is too slow.” Even if the second option seems more factual, it actually has a very different scope from the first. Tackling a slow elevator means trying to find a technical response; in the face of impatient colleagues, on the other hand, you’ll look for a psychological response (why not put a mirror up next to the elevator to divert the attention of visitors to something they find utterly fascinating?). 

…so you can step outside the framework  

Once you’ve completed this initial framing — and, ideally, once it has been validated by other people — step outside the framework and consider all its facets, setting aside your most deeply held beliefs and expert shortcuts. To do this, you need to review a range of issues: have you listed all the stakeholders involved? Do previous events help explain the problem? Or is it affected by factors beyond the immediate context? This broader overview may reveal that what you thought was the cause of the problem was ultimately just a simple correlation or even collateral damage.  

Take the American school system as an example. For decades, the school system worked to reinforce self-control among schoolchildren on the basis of a study that linked the ability of children to resist the temptation of candy and future academic success. But in the 2000s, a new study raised a serious challenge to the merits of this approach: the children who showed no self-restraint when presented with candy were mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds. Improved self-control was probably not what they most needed to succeed in their studies. 

Redefine your goals 

Your problem is that there are obstacles preventing you from achieving your goal. But are you even sure you’re pursuing the right goal? More precisely: do you really know the true nature of your quest? Once again, it’s about stepping outside the original framework of the problem to find potential solutions. For instance, imagine you’re heading up a team that’s in charge of centralizing all the changes made to a large database. You want reduce the approval time needed for each modification. What are you going to do? Hire new employees to absorb the extra workload? Put pressure on the existing team? What if, instead, you tried to understand the real goal hidden behind the initial request, which is to enable other teams in the company to have constantly updated data? This new vision of your objective would help you understand that the answer might not depend exclusively on your co-workers. If everyone in the company were given permission to enter a certain number of modifications in the database themselves, your team could focus on the most sensitive data and work faster in areas where they deliver real added value.  

In some cases, the initial objective may even defeat your real purpose. Wedell-Wedellsborg cites the example of companies that gamble on extremely long payment terms as a way of increasing their cash flow and saving money. These businesses may consequently find themselves trapped with providers that are robust enough to handle this constraint — and which, therefore, are potentially more expensive and less responsive than other firms. 

  

Look for positive exceptions … 

To mangle that Shadoks’ saying a second time, where there’s no problem, there may be a solution. Or, in plain English: if you’re looking for a way out of a situation, focus first on a context where everything is going well. So, let’s say a product isn’t getting the expected success except in a single region. Start by understanding what makes this region different from the others. Or let’s take two other examples: if you’re always stressed at work except just before you go on vacation, what characterizes your state of mind on those pre-vacation days, and how could you draw on it for the rest of the time? It was by looking at a positive exception that a law firm’s partners managed to put an end to their inability to achieve their strategic action plans. When they thought deeply about the only time that a project had reached its goal, the partners noticed that a junior associate had been invited to the meeting where the project had been initiated. The junior associate then focused on ensuring that everything progressed smoothly, probably as a way of proving himself to the senior colleagues who had singled him out by inviting him. Following this eureka moment, the firm made sure to pair talented associates with every big decision so that these associates could act as a goad to action. 

… and inspiration elsewhere 

Even if you can’t think of a positive exception within your own company, perhaps you may find inspiration elsewhere. Have other organizations found a solution to the problem that could be tailored to your company? This is exactly what two American managers at Pfizer did when faced with cultural barriers in their relations with their Indian co-workers. They drew on practices from the hotel industry by modifying their recruitment priorities: they prioritized profiles that were not necessarily technically perfect but were acculturated to American methods — and the situation quickly improved. 

Look in the mirror …  

Problems can result from many different actions, including your own. You might start by exploring your personal contribution to the situation. Let’s imagine you’re looking to boost participation in a peer-support platform. Making it easier to use may not be enough to reach your goal if you haven’t established a culture that promotes sharing and team spirit, or if your compensation system only rewards individual efforts. This exercise in introspection isn’t necessarily the simplest, and your best option may well be to seek the help of a trusted partner.  

… and through the eyes of others  

Another way of reframing a problem can be to look at it through the eyes of the people it most concerns, examining not just at their emotions but also their environment. The catch is that, as a general rule, human beings aren’t particularly good at understanding others’ points of view. First, you have to put aside your own perception of the problem. When dealing with co-workers who hand in their weekly report late, forget your own deadlines so you can concentrate more effectively on your colleagues’ and the actual bone of contention. Is reporting the umpteenth micro-task they have to wrap up during the week? Is it possible that the suggested format is too difficult? Or maybe the task does not seem useful in the eyes of your colleagues?  

Generally speaking, don’t be afraid to talk to as many stakeholders as possible — and actively listen to what you’re told. When a food manufacturer surveyed its customers to find out why its new ketchup was not selling, it was told, “I tried the sample you sent me, and I really love it. I still have it in my fridge.” Apart from the good news (customers liked the product), the feedback reflected the root of the problem: the sample had not been eaten because there was a hidden problem. Namely, the ketchup bottle was too small and squat, so it got lost in the inside door of the refrigerator and was condemned to oblivion.  

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