Ways to solve complex problems at work (and not only). How to solve any problems
It is impossible to solve a problem at the same level of consciousness at which it arose. For some reason, this famous Einstein statement is always forgotten by clients at a psychotherapist’s appointment. Trying to understand his situation, the client makes all sorts of assumptions and hypotheses and tries to involve the psychotherapist in this.
Two heads are better - and the second one is generally competent - now we will find an explanation, insight will happen, and the problem will be solved. This is how the client thinks, and, as a rule, falls into a stupor when, instead of clarity, he receives a strange feeling of fog in his head.
I appreciate this condition and am always happy when it happens in therapy. This suggests that something important is happening. This means that there is an opportunity to go beyond the boundaries of your life paradigm, a little further beyond the zone of awareness.
All previous ideas have failed, so is it worth “looking for answers inside” - they are not there. Just as a therapist does not have them, because he has his own view of life and his own ways of coping with its challenges. And God forbid he should advise him on anything about his situation.
The truth, the way out is born somewhere in the middle, in territory unknown to anyone. Another person nearby helps to get there - where, he himself does not know. Moreover, the picture of the world, the paradigm of the psychotherapist, can also change. We reach a new level of perception of reality when we accept a different view of things from ours. This is the nature of the human psyche.
Levels of resolution of a psychological problem.
1. There is “no” problem, despite the fact that it constantly reminds itself of itself with vague anxiety, strange discomfort, and a feeling of dissatisfaction. All this is attributed to non-psychological factors, so efforts are aimed at relieving symptoms.
2. The problem is perceived as psychological, but is explained, for the most part, by the influence of circumstances: the family is not the same, the country is not suitable, the mental organization is too delicate, bad luck. An insatiable curiosity about causes and a tireless search for recipes to “do something about it.” Answers to “how” questions are most valued.
3.
The reasons have been studied in detail, and new touches are periodically added to the picture. The problem is lived differently, but still relevant. The state of “I know everything, nothing changes.” There comes an understanding that answers to the question “how” are not only useless, but sometimes harmful.
4.
Spontaneous insights (insights) in situations related to the problem, which cover the sphere of emotions and feelings (“aha experiences” according to Perls). It is not yet possible to change reactions and behavior, but it is a matter of time (from this level). Along with the pain of admitting your responsibility for what is happening, comes a feeling of power over your life, and this is inspiring.
5. The ability to track habitual reactions and patterns in field situations related to a problem on time, or with a slight delay. “Eyes are opened” to opportunities that were previously blocked or forbidden. The freedom to choose to do things differently returns.
Method 1. Clearly formulate the essence of the task.
Just as a correctly posed question can be considered half the answer, so a clearly formulated problem can be considered half solved. And when you strain your brains to look differently at the situation that worries you, to rethink it, and try to clearly define it all, a new understanding arises within you. And in life, new opportunities open up for you.
Method 2. Step back and look from the outside.
Very often, people react vividly and emotionally to any difficulties, experiencing fear, anger, resentment and other strong negative feelings. All this does not allow us to correctly see the situation, consider the opening prospects and evaluate them. Imagine yourself as a spectator in a circus, in the arena of which a performance based on your situation is being performed. So, from the outside, you will be able to see more opportunities.
Method 3. Simplify the problem.
People tend to complicate things and situations, to look for complex paths and complex solutions. The easy path is considered unworthy of a strong person: “I’d rather go up a mountain than go around it.” In fact, life is simple. And the simpler something happens, the more correct and better it is. The simplest solution is often the best.
Method 4. Focus on the solution.
What you focus on will attract into your life. Focusing on difficulties will only make the situation worse and increase your anxiety. And everything will seem much more complicated to you than it really is. If you believe that a solution exists and focus all your attention on finding ways to solve it, then your problem will always be solved. Our Subconscious can find a solution itself and give a ready answer.
Method 5. Find the information you need.
Often a problem seems overwhelming only because a person does not have any specific knowledge. Then you need to look around carefully and understand what else you need to know or what else you need to learn in order to solve this difficulty. If you can't clearly articulate your problem, this solution is often the best thing you can do.
Method 6. Find an expert.
If it is not possible to obtain the necessary knowledge or you are pressed for time, then the best option would be to find an expert on this issue. It is very rare that a person faces difficulties that no one else has encountered before. Most likely, your situation has already been resolved by someone. And not just once. Just find these people.
Method 7. Use brainstorming.
Brainstorming is the best way to find solutions. It’s good to involve your friends or the same experts for this. The more new ideas are generated, the greater the chance of finding the right solution. Don't discard anything right away. Collect everything and analyze it well.
— How to quickly find a solution to a problem.
1) Decision tree.
Decision support tool. It is most often used in data analysis and statistics, but can also be used in everyday life. A decision tree has a "trunk", "branches" and "leaves". The trunk represents the problem, the branches display its attributes, and the leaves represent its meaning. Among the advantages of the method, one should highlight the ease of its understanding and interpretation, the absence of the need for data preparation, the ability to work with intervals and categories, the ability to evaluate using static tests, reliability and the ability to process large flows of information without preparatory procedures.
2) "Wheel" method.
Allows you to relatively quickly find a solution to a problem and evaluate it. It consists of eight steps: first, the problem situation is described in all details, then specific facts are searched for and missing information is established, after which the problem is formulated in a positive way. Next, a brainstorming session is carried out to create a field of ideas for solving the problem, the found options are assessed for realism, a scenario for practical implementation is thought through, and a detailed action plan is drawn up. At the last stage, actions are performed, after which their effectiveness is assessed.
3) "Three chests" method.
Designed to help you find solutions to problems even faster. In the process, you need to fill three “chests” with information. The first contains answers to the question: “What negative consequences await us if we follow this path?” To fill the second one, the real threat of the risks contained in the first chest is assessed. The third chest is filled with possible “antidotes” to the threats of the second chest, which are found by brainstorming. As a result, solutions are found, implemented in practice and evaluated.
4)Method of successive approximations.
It's essentially trial and error. It is preferable to use it when there is little information on the problem. The point is that solutions are consistently put forward and considered. Unsuccessful ideas are discarded, and new ones are proposed in their place and tested again. There are no special rules for searching and evaluating here - everything is decided subjectively, and the effectiveness of the method depends on how knowledgeable the people (or person) solving the problem are about the issue. When using the method, it is important to take into account the element of chance.
5) Bush's Matrix of Ideas.
This is a method of analyzing problem situations and determining the field for finding solutions. To implement it, you need to build a matrix of bilateral relations, for which you need to answer the questions: “What?”, “Who?”, “Where?”, “How?”, “Why?”, “With what?” and when?". By answering them, a person receives all the information about the problem. If you combine questions, you can get a great heuristic hint for a solution.
6)
The most popular solution search tool used by ordinary people and specialists around the world. The meaning of the matrix is to teach a person to optimally distribute the load, distinguish between the important and the urgent, and reduce time for meaningless activities. The matrix consists of four quadrants with two axes - importance and urgency. Cases and tasks are entered into each of them, and as a result, a person receives an objective picture of priority tasks.
7) Descartes square.
A very simple decision-making technique that takes very little time to apply. The technique helps to identify the main selection criteria and assess the consequences of decisions made. To use the technique, you need to draw a square and divide it into four parts. In each part the question is written: “What will happen if this happens?”, “What will happen if this does not happen?”, “What will not happen if this happens?” and “What won’t happen if this doesn’t happen?” These questions are observation points for the problem. It is from these positions that it needs to be considered. Having answered all the questions, a person receives an objective picture of the state of affairs and the opportunity to assess the prospects.
- Everything will work out if...
1) Collect enough information about the essence of the problem;
2) Analyze the information;
3) Develop as many options for solving the problem as possible;
4) Properly weigh your options regarding cost, availability and time;
5) Weigh all the pros and cons;
6) Consider all the possibilities and likelihood of success;
7) Be sure that this is the solution to the problem.
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Fragment from the book by Richard Newton. From words to action! 9 steps to making your dreams come true. - M.: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2014.
With this book, you will draw up an action plan, create a visual diagram of achieving your goal, breaking the difficult path into clear, short and achievable stages, and begin to systematically move towards your dream, be it your own business, a new profession or professional skills in playing a musical instrument.
Problem solving is part of everyday life. And you have to be prepared for them, especially when you're working towards achieving a big dream. The more ambitious and complex it is, the more often you will encounter difficulties, and serious ones at that. As your ambitions grow, you will become increasingly dependent on your ability to confront circumstances and learn from your mistakes.
Fortunately, insurmountable problems are extremely rare. And many of them can be considered far-fetched, since we create them ourselves when we start to panic and lose control of ourselves. When faced with a problem, we sometimes don't give ourselves enough time to think about why it's happening and how we can change the situation. And most importantly, we don’t draw conclusions and don’t learn.
Not giving up and working hard to achieve your dreams requires both courage and a willingness to put in serious effort. In this chapter we will try to help you understand that problems are nothing special, they can be solved in one way or another. We'd like you to treat them as normal, so we'll show you how to draw conclusions and learn. By following our advice, you will significantly increase your chances of success and learn to take into account your own experience.
Sources of problems
Challenges are obstacles and difficulties that must be overcome in order to achieve a goal. As a rule, they arise for various reasons and are often the result of our own mistakes and failures. There are several factors that usually lead to problems. To identify them as early as possible, we advise you to regularly ask yourself the questions listed below.
- Am I really doing what I need to do and getting results? There is no point in deceiving yourself by evaluating your work unreasonably positively. Do you see real, measurable results from the work you undertake? Very often we do not achieve our goals and encounter problems because we are not fully immersed in our work. But if you allow yourself to be lazy and indulge your weaknesses, you are unlikely to make serious progress towards your dream, and problems cannot be avoided either.
- Do I understand what resources will be needed to take the next step?
When we start working on our dreams, we don’t have a complete idea of what exactly we will need along the way. Therefore, you should constantly ask yourself what resources will be needed in the next step. Most often we miss some details at the very beginning - and it is important that everything you need is at hand at the right time, and not sometime later.
- Do the people who help me and work with me understand well what needs to be done, what we have already achieved and how the situation has changed? Almost always, the weakest link in a project is communication between participants. For some reason, we think that those around us fully understand us, although often we do not even give them complete information about what we expect from them. In our opinion, they know the same thing as we do, therefore, in general, everything is known and understandable. We believe that colleagues and partners know how the situation is changing and what needs to be done in the new conditions. It is very, very important to check and double-check that everyone knows and understands everything, especially if you feel that communication between participants is poor. This way you can avoid at least some problems. The fewer assumptions you make, the better the information will be conveyed about what is truly important and relevant.
- Am I developing paranoia? Some people think too much about what might happen. Sometimes we want to avoid failure or mistakes so badly that the thought of it completely paralyzes us. And in general, if you think a lot about potential troubles, you can provoke problems that would not have arisen with a more calm attitude to what is happening. Fear of failure often prevents you from giving your best to your dreams. So don’t allow yourself to worry too much and think about possible difficulties, better work harder!
How to avoid problems
One simple and effective problem-solving technique can help you avoid many of them. From time to time, be sure to ask yourself two questions that we have already discussed earlier in this book.
- What is most likely to go wrong, and what can you do to avoid it?
- What can improve your chances of success?
Whenever you achieve significant results and add new data to the map, ask yourself these questions, remembering to take into account the real situation, changes that have occurred in your project since work on it began, as well as potential changes. The further you move along the path to your dream, the more detailed you will be able to answer these questions, because you will begin to better understand what else is needed in order to make your dream come true, what techniques work more effectively and where failure may lie in wait.
In addition, the experience you gain will help you spot new opportunities and increase your chances of success. Use them to avoid some problems. You will become more confident as you gain new experiences.
How to solve a problem
The main thing in solving a problem is to understand what it is and not give in to fears and anxiety. There's nothing worse than panicking and trying to change something you don't fully understand. This way you can ruin everything without finding any solution. We offer you some tips that will help you overcome many difficulties that arise during your work.
- If you feel like you are overreacting to an incident, try to calm down. What can help here? Go somewhere where you can relax, treat yourself to something nice, take a walk or something similar.
- Try to explain to someone you trust what happened. After discussing the problem, you will not only calm down, but you will also immediately discover some mistakes that you would not notice if you began to dialogue with yourself. Describe the chronology of events as accurately as possible. Do not miss any details, even minor ones, and most importantly, listen to the questions and comments of your interlocutor.
- If you are working on a team, be sure to discuss what happened with everyone on the team. Listen carefully to their point of view in order to compare with your considerations, pay attention to discrepancies in assessments. During such conversations, the cause of the problem is easily identified.
- When starting work, you probably made various assumptions and assumptions. Be sure to check that they are correct, especially for those parts of the plan where you experienced failure. We all tend to make assumptions without checking their truth. Troubles most often arise because we start from the wrong premises at the very beginning of our work.
- Having dealt with what is happening, do not rush to blame yourself or someone else for the failure. Finding someone to blame is unlikely to help find a constructive way out of a difficult situation. Direct all your efforts to get the most positive result possible in the current situation. Think about the best way to move forward and solve the problem quickly.
- Take the time to discuss everything with your team, internalize the lessons learned, and draw conclusions from them. What can I do to avoid this in the future? Don't assume that everyone, including you, will come to the right conclusion if you don't at least discuss what happened. The more concerned you are about a problem, the more important it is to draw conclusions and discuss them with your team.
Give up everything that doesn't work
Successful people know how to quickly figure out what doesn’t work and give up on an unsuccessful idea in time. Teachers and parents probably warned you how important it is to be able to quit a hopeless business - as long as you don't give up on your dream. Change the wrong tactics, give up the wrong path, but don’t give up on your dreams. Every day we make mistakes, as a result of which we understand what is effective and what is not. Mistakes, to a much greater extent than successes, help humanity develop.
As you work to achieve your dreams, prepare for the fact that everyone involved in the project will make mistakes. If you learn quickly, adjust your tactics, and begin to move forward more successfully, mistakes will turn out to be positive for you. To be defeated once does not mean to fail completely. But the inability to take into account negative experiences and change behavior certainly leads to failure.
It is also important to pay attention to what problems you usually encounter. Suppose that from time to time you use the wrong tactics, but have not yet realized this and, accordingly, have not drawn any conclusions. If you feel like the same problem is happening over and over again, or if you see a pattern in a series of troubles, then you haven't noticed or recognized the repeating mistakes. If so, try to apply the problem-solving techniques we recommend and reflect on how you approach things in general. Talk to other people and, as soon as you understand what you are doing wrong, stop doing it. As Albert Einstein said, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a new result is insanity.”
Don't be afraid to change your approach to work and see what happens. Most often, no radical changes are required: small improvements lead to great results and increase the chances of success.
Don't give up on your dream
Don't give up on your dream just because you're faced with a problem and don't know what to do now. Be patient, both with yourself and with others. Give yourself time to understand what is happening. Jonas Salk* said: “There is no such thing as failure, only a lack of perseverance.”
*Jonas Salk (1914–1995) - American researcher, virologist; known as the developer of the first polio vaccine. Note ed.
As you work towards your dream and learn more, you will begin to have a better idea of the outcome and a clearer vision of how to achieve your goal. We strongly advise you to adjust your map whenever you learn something new and important. Improving your map and defining your dream more clearly is great practice. But giving up a dream halfway is no good. By doing this, you will only increase your own fears, undermine your self-confidence, and then it will become more difficult to develop. The more often you give up on your goals, the less likely it is that you will be able to achieve any of what you dream of.
How do I know if I'm doing everything right?
You can understand that everything is going as it should, that you are persistent enough and are successfully coping with problems:
- You talk calmly about the problems you face. When you are calm, you work through a problem from a rational rather than an emotional point of view and are more likely to find the optimal solution.
- You don't lose your sense of humor. If you are still able to laugh at your own mistakes, this means that you have accepted them, drawn conclusions and moved on.
- You understand well what you need to do differently now to avoid problems like the one you just encountered. You can't wait to continue working on making your dreams come true.
- As problems arise, you feel more and more confident and you no longer doubt that you will cope with them.
- The same problem does not occur over and over again. Even if difficulties appear, they can be considered new.
© Published with permission from the publisher
When it comes to creating a stunning report, increasing company profits, or finding your passion, cookie-cutter solutions don't work. Creative thinking required. But where can I get it? Molecular biologist and author of The Flexible Mind, Estanislao Bachrach, claims that creativity can be pumped up like biceps. Here are five exercises that will help you “build muscles” and solve any non-standard problem.
Exercise 1: Five Whys
To solve a problem, you need to clearly formulate it and get to the very essence. 5 “whys” will help with this.
For example: our task is to increase sales of French fries.
1. Why do people prefer our competitors' fries over ours? Because it tastes better.
2. Why does it taste better? Because their seasonings are better than ours.
3. Why are their seasonings better than ours? Because their chef is better.
4. Why is our chef worse? Because we considered changing the chef unimportant, and for twenty years now we have had an incompetent employee working for us.
5. Why haven't we hired a new chef yet? Because no one dared to offer it to the owner.
Ask your “whys” and look for answers. Sometimes they themselves are the solution to a problem.
Exercise 2. Stupid questions
When the mind compares a task to something unusual, it tries to make the connection meaningful. This is how new connections are formed that lead to a futuristic, non-standard, creative idea.
To stimulate your imagination, ask yourself some “wacky” questions.
Which animal is similar to my problem? How is my problem similar to a flashlight without batteries? If the problem was the lawn in the garden, what would become the weed? How can you use a can of soda that has been sitting in the sun for two hours to solve a problem?
Use your imagination to come up with the most original answer. Don't try to come up with something clever, just have fun. Write down your answers. Re-read them and think about how they can help solve your problem.
Exercise 3. Three stories
Stories work wonders. -
1. Imagine: you are in a distant country. Write a short story about this place. How would you handle the creative challenge there?
2. Imagine that you live in a different historical era. Write down how you would solve a creative problem then.
3. Write a science fiction story based on a creative challenge.
Re-read each story looking for associations and clues to solve your problem.
Exercise 4. Turn on your feelings
The more emotionally connected you are to a problem, the more likely you are to come up with a creative idea.
Use your senses to visualize the final solution to the problem.
For example, you need to figure out how to present a report to the CEO. Close your eyes and think about what a perfect report looks like. How do you feel when you touch it? What does it sound like? What smells? What does it taste like? Explore each sensation and think about how to achieve it in life.
Exercise 5. The Road of Ideas
Insights are like a cell phone ringing at a party: you can’t hear it against the background noise. To recognize the voice of the subconscious, you need to relax.
Right now, close your eyes, lie down on the floor and let go of your imagination. Focus on your breathing. You will feel your mind being overwhelmed by all sorts of thoughts. Don't fight them, let them roam freely. Then imagine the path your thoughts take.
What to do if you don't know how to solve the problem. Hopeless situations.
When difficult life circumstances arise in our lives, we, as a rule, plunge headlong into our experiences, asking questions: “Why do I need this?”, “Why did this happen to me?”, which do not help us at all, but on the contrary , worsen our psycho-emotional state.
We concentrate even more on the problem that bothers us, become immersed in negative emotions, most We devote time to searching for solutions and still cannot find it. We get upset and lose faith in ourselves. Most people, not seeing a way out of the situation, gradually come to terms with negative changes and continue to go with the flow of life, hoping that over time everything will be resolved and the current will take them to a more favorable shore.
Remember, when we are fixated on a problem, we look at the world and perceive it through the prism of this problem, and do not notice the rest, and this may be the key to overcoming this difficulty.
You need to realize one truth: there is always a solution, and we know about it.
Eat 2 important points
, to which I would like to draw your attention:
– there are no hopeless situations, there are solutions that we don’t like
– due to the fact that solving a problem may require leaving your comfort zone, overcoming your fears, working on yourself, we often block the awareness of such a solution, and can walk in circles for a long time in search of a way out.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN'T SEE A WAY OUT?
1. Answer questions honestly:
– How do you perceive your role in organizing your own life?
– Do you think that you can have a decisive influence on your future?
Listed below are some possible reactions to difficult life circumstances. Your task is to determine to what extent they are inherent in you:
“life is cruel/unfair to me”;
“I can’t do anything about it, it’s not in my power”;
“I want changes, but they are impossible under such circumstances”;
“no matter what I do, it’s all in vain, tomorrow something will go wrong again”;
“This is a punishment from above, apparently I was guilty of something.”
If you recognize your reactions in any of the statements listed, ask yourself how often do you resort to them? Answering these three questions will give you a deeper understanding of how much control you really have in your own life and how much responsibility you take for what happens.
2. It is necessary to distance yourself from the problem..
When difficult circumstances arise in our lives or, as it seems to us, hopeless situations, we become completely involved in them emotionally and our attention is narrowed so much that we notice almost nothing other than the immediate problem. When we step out of the role of the actor, that is, the subject to whom something happened and take the position of an observer, we can learn a lot of new things about this problem. Our vision of what happened changes, emotions subside and we are now able to notice those nuances that we did not pay attention to before.
3. The “advice to a friend” technique works great.
Ask yourself:
– What would I advise a friend who found himself in a similar situation?
This is another way to distance ourselves from the problem, reduce emotional involvement and partially relieve responsibility for the solutions we propose. It is the unwillingness to bear responsibility for the consequences of our choice that prevents us from realizing how often there is an obvious way out of the situation and causes delay in making a decision. I recommend you watch my video on how to learn to make decisions.
4. Fear of making the wrong choice – another reason why the situation may seem hopeless. As I said, there is always a way out, but we are afraid to make the wrong decision, and therefore we often begin to ignore the problem, try to find ways to escape from it, some escape from reality, immersing themselves in entertainment, computer games, watching TV series, and others finds comfort in alcohol, drugs, and so on.
It is important to realize that the right and wrong decision is a myth; we cannot know in advance how our choice will turn out until we set foot on the chosen path. I talk more about this in my video “Why is it so difficult to make a decision?”
5. Another recommendation for finding the best solution is give freedom to your creativity . Take a piece of paper or a voice recorder, whichever is more convenient for you, describe your problem situation and then you need to do the following. Time yourself, say 5 minutes, set an alarm, and start writing down all possible solutions. The main condition is not to criticize yourself and the options that will flash in your head. Your goal is to capture as many ideas as possible, and in this case, limited time will force you to focus as much as possible on finding solutions. The next step is to choose the best of all options for solving your problem.
6. If none of the methods I suggested help you find a way out of the situation, then just give yourself time. State your question and let your unconscious find the most suitable solution. At first glance, such a recommendation seems somehow magical and smacks of esoteric teachings. However, if you understand the process from a psychological point of view, everything falls into place and the picture becomes clearer. Our behavior, daily choices and actions are determined largely by our unconscious. In addition, often some ideas and desires are rejected at the level of consciousness as unrealistic, delusional, difficult to achieve, inappropriate, and so on. And the amount of information that we are aware of is very, very limited.
I like the analogy of an iceberg, where the tip is our consciousness, and everything that is hidden under the water, that is, the main part of the iceberg, is the unconscious. The technique I offer works great if you begin to trust yourself more, are open to new information coming from the external and your internal world, and are attentive to what is happening around you in order to notice prompts in time and take advantage of them.
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