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The stages of problem solving

The problem solving process can be divided in different. ways and the stages have been given varidone to make it easier to understand but how it is divided and the labels that are used are not impo

problem solver you need to understand what the stages involve and follow them methodically wheproblem.

To be a successful problem solver youmust go through these stages:

recognising and defining theproblemfinding possible solutionschoosing the best solutionimplementing the solution.

These stages are examined in detail inlater articles, but here is a summary of what is involved at each stage.

1. Recognising and defining theproblem

Obviously, before any action can betaken to solve a problem, you need torecognise that a problem exists. A

surprising number of problems gounnoticed or are only recognised whenthe situation becomes serious.Opportunities are also missed. Thereare specific techniques you can use tohelp you recognise problems andopportunities.

Once you have recognised a problemyou need to give it a label..... atentative definition. This serves to

focus your search for relevantinformation, from which you can writean accurate description or definition of the problem.

The process of definition differs for closed and openended problems. Withclosed problems you need to define allthe circumstances surrounding thedeviation from the norm. Sometimesthis will provide strong clues as to thecause of the problem.



Defining open-ended problems involves identifying and defining your objectives and any obstaclesreaching them. The problem definition provides the basis for finding solutions.

2. Finding possible solutions

Closed problems generally have one or a limited number of possible solutions, while open-ended psolved in a large number of ways. The most effective solution to an open-ended problem is found bwide raJ.1ge of possibilities. Finding solutions involves analysing the problem to ensure that you fuconstructing courses of action which will achieve your objective.

Analysing the problem involves identifying and collecting the relevant information and representing Analysing closed problems helps you to identify all the possible causes and confirm the real cause,for a solution. With open-ended problems you are looking for information which will help to suggestsolve the problem. Analysis also helps you to decide what the ideal solution would be, which helpssolutions.

Constructing courses of action to solve the problem involves discovering what actions will deal withyour objective. Workable solutions are developed by combining and modifying ideas and a range oavailable to help in this process. The more ideas you have to work with, the better your chances of

3. Choosing the best solution

This is the stage at which you evaluate the possible solutions and select that which will be most eff problem. It's a process of. decision making based on a comparison of the potential outcome of alteinvolves

identifying all the features of an ideal solution, including the constraints it has to meeteliminating solutions which do not meet the constraintsevaluating the remaining solutions against the outcome requiredassessing the risks associated with the 'best' solutionmaking the decision to implement this solution

A problem is only solved when a solution has been implemented. In some situations, before this cato gain acceptance of the solution by other people, or get their authority to implement it. This may ipersuasion.

4. Implementing the solution

This involves three separate stages:

planning and preparing to implement the solutiontaking the appropriate action and monitoring its effectsreviewing the ultimate success of the action

Implementing your solution is the culmination of all your efforts and requires very careful planning.sequence of actions required to achieve the objective, the timescale and the resources required atminimising the risks involved and preventing mistakes have to be devised and built into the plan. D

if things go wrong are also included.



Once the plan has been put into effect, the situation has to be monitored to ensure that things are r problems or potential problems have to be dealt with quickly. When the action is completed it's necsuccess, both to estimate its usefulness for solving future problems of this type and to ensure that tsolved. If not, further action may be required.

These stages provide a very flexible framework which can be adapted to suit all problems. With clowhere there is likely to be only one or a few solutions, the emphasis will be on defining and analysipossible causes. Open-ended problems, on the other hand, require more work at the idea generatirange of possible solutions.

At any stage in solving a problem it may be necessary to go back and adapt work done at an earlietechniques and strategies are available to help you at each stage and these are described in later

The skills of problem solving

Problem solving requires two distinct types of mental skill, analytical and creative.

Analytical or logical thinking includes skills such as ordering, comparing, contrasting,evaluating and selecting. It provides a logical framework for problem solving andhelps to select the best alternative from those available by narrowing down the rangeof possibilities (a convergent process).. Analytical thinking often predominates insolving closed problems, where the many possible causes have to be identified andanalysed to find the real cause.

Creative thinking is a divergent process,using the imagination to create a largerange of ideas for solutions. It requiresus to look beyond the obvious, creatingideas which may, at first, seemunrealistic or have no logical connectionwith the problem. There is a largeelement of creative thinking in solvingopen problems.

The creative thinking skills can bedivided into several key elements:

fluency - producing many ideasflexibility - producing a broad rangeof ideas . originality - producinguncommon ideaselaboration - developing ideas.

Effective problem solving requires acontrolled mixture of analytical andcreative thinking.

Research has shown that, in general

terms, each side or hemisphere of thebrain is specialised to serve one of these



groups of skills. The degree of specialisation of each hemisphere variesfrom person to person, but it has givenrise to the terms right-brain thinking andleft-brain thinking. Left-brain thinking is

more logical and analytical, and ispredominantly verbal. Right-brainthinking is more holistic and isconcerned with feelings andimpressionistic relationships.

To be a good problem solver you needto be able to switch from one group of skills to the other and back again,although this is not always easy.Traditional education gives far greater encouragement to the development anduse of left-brain thinking. This isreinforced in the way we are required towork, where emphasis is placed onrational, logical analysis of data indrawing conclusions.

Some other terms which are often used in discussions of creativity include:

Intuition - the ability to draw conclusions based on impressions and feelings rather

than hard facts. It is a characteristic of right-brain thinking and some people rely on itmore than others.

Incubation - the period between stopping conscious work on a problem and the timewhen we become aware of a solution or part solution. People struggling withproblems often suddenly become aware of a solution after a period of incubation,during which the mind is occupied by other things.

Invention - the creation of new, meaningful ideas or concepts.

Innovation - putting new ideas or concepts to a practical use, as in the development

of a new product or service.

Overcoming the Blocks to Problem Solving

Perceptual block s

These are relatively easy to overcome, simply by using the step-by-step approach,e.g.:

having systems to warn of the occurrence of problems defining and analysing problems adequately collecting all the relevant information



questioning whether you have used inaccurate information or made assumptionsabout what is and isn't relevant

asking for other people's points of view using models to. represent the relationships between different aspects of the

problem.

Emot iona l b locks

These can be difficult to overcome because theyrequire a change in attitude, which may take sometime to learn. The following methods help to achievethis change:

· accept that if you are looking for new, better ways of doing something, some mistakes are almostinevitable

· remember that many great thinkers have been, ridiculed for what turned out to be great inventionseg the heavier-than-air flying machine

if you still' fear looking foolish, try to developyour ideas into a practical form before youshow them to anyone, or develop a logicalargument to prove that they will work

following a strictly methodical approach will

automatically curb impatience

to avoid anxiety tackle problems in small,easily manageable steps; if necessary, putthe problem aside and come back to it later

if you don't want to take risks, identify theworst possible consequences, and how likelythey are to occur, and then try to find ways of preventing them

Inte l lectual block s

To overcome the intellectual blocksdescribed in this chapter you need to:

learn to be methodicalpractice using different types of 'language' totackle problemspractice using the various analytical andcreative techniques.



Express ive b locks

Overcoming these blocks involves learning to identify which 'language' is most likely to help you solve a particular problem use languages in different ways, eg diagrams to represent problems normally

described verbally ensure that when you explain ideas you have all the relevant information, it is

accurate, and that you convey it all clearly develop a style of working with others which is not too forceful (so that people

are more willing to listen to you) and not too passive (so that you learn how toinfluence people); showing enthusiasm for your ideas can help by infectingothers with enthusiasm.

Environmenta l blocks

Overcoming these blocks can be done by using some of these methods:

if there is a climate of ,criticism, develop the strengths of your ideas and ways toovercome their weaknesses before you propose the being carefulhow youdescribe it to others " also help to avoid premature criticism

conduct your problem solving in an environment which suits you, ie comfortableand free of distractions likely to hinder you; this may make setting aside sometime when you can move away from your normal working environment

if you feel people may not provide the help need, try to identify the benefits tothen solving the problem before you ask for their help

if pressure of work hinders you, set aside s time when you are free from other wor tackle the problem

if your work is monotonous, introduce ~ variety by looking for different ways of ,the job; alternatively, look for varied tasks that could be delegatedto you. '

Cul tural b locks

The following methods can be used to help overcome various cultural blocks:

critically question existing ideas and me looking for areas for improvement identify constraints and question their validity

if you dislike change, do some 'wishful thinking’ to see what benefits changewould bring; ask yourself what would be the consequences of taking a newapproach.

if you think fantasy and humour have no place in problem solving, practice usingyour day dreams to develop your ideas; next time someone cracks a joke abouta situation, think about what new perspectives it creates

if you think intuition is unreliable, think back over recent problems you havesolved; did that first 'hunch' turn out to be dose to your final solution?

if you are in a very competitive environment, be careful how you explain your ideas to people competing with you; emphasise the likely benefits to them

if there is a strong climate of cooperation, ask members of your group for their

ideas and comments; share the problem with them.



If you fail to solve a problem effectively, look back over your thoughts and actions tosee if a block hindered you. If it did, next time you can prepare to avoid it. By beingconstantly aware of the blocks that can occur and using the techniques describedabove to overcome them when they hinder your problem solving, you will find thatgradually fewer and fewer blocks occur.

Remember

There is a range of factors known as blocks which can prevent you finding themost effective solutions to our problems.

You can recognise blocks by their specific effects on your thinking and problemsolving.

When you recognise that a block exists you can overcome it by using theappropriate technique.

Why people fail to solve problems effectivelySolving problems is. a complex process and each of us is better at the skills requiredat some stages than others.

The following is a list of some of the reasons why people fail to find effectivesolutions include

not being methodicallack of commitment to solving theproblemmisinterpreting the problemlack of. knowledge of the techniquesand processes involved in problelI1solvinginability to use the techniqueseffectivelyusing a method inappropriate to theparticular probleminsufficient or inaccurate informationinability to combine analytical and

creative thinkingfailure to ensure effectiveimplementation.

Remember:

A problem exists when an obstacleprevents you reaching an objective.Problem solving can be divided .intostages, which you. must follow

methodically. if you want to be sure of finding an effective solution.



Solving problems effectively requires acontrolled mixture of analytical andcreative thinking skills.

Problem-solving is a mental process that involves discovering, analyzing and solving problems. The

ultimate goal of problem-solving is to overcome obstacles and find a solution that best resolves the

issue.

The best strategy for solving a problem depends largely on the unique situation. In some cases,

people are better off learning everything they can about the issue and then using factual

knowledge to come up with a solution. In other instances, creativity and insight are the best

options.

Why MOST smart people are better at

solving other people’s problems… By Rajesh Setty | Published on: August 10th, 2010

inShare30

And, not their own problems.

I am sure you have seen them and may be you are one of them. Smart people who can

solve other people’s problems very easily but they can’t solve their own problems. As

my friend Stuart Scott would say, most people have brilliant “outsight” and all they

lack is some “insight.”

What is it that makes it hard to solve one’s own problems. It is one thing if they don’t

have capacity to solve those problems – we are not talking about that category of

people. We are talking about people who have demonstrated that they can solve those

problems when they are presented by other people. The mystery is what happens when

these problems show up in their own lives.

The dilemma above was the quest of my ongoing mini-research. Finally I think I havesome findings that might shed some light on the topic.

First some background information:

Problems are part of life. In fact, in some way, they are life. It is how you look at

those problems that makes a difference. Sometimes not getting that first sale is a

problem. The same problem can be looked at as a challenge or even an opportunity to

grow and learn. Whatever way you look at it, to overcome what you are faced with,

you need a few things. To start with you need the skillsets to handle it, you need to

resources like time to handle it and sometimes you need a lot of people who are

willing to help you overcome it.

http://www.rajeshsetty.com/2010/08/10/why-most-smart-people-are-better-at-solving-other-peoples-problems%E2%80%A6/







What is also common is that every problem comes with constraints that put some

boundaries on how you can handle the problem.

Now, let us look at the two scenarios:

1. Smart person solving other’s problems

When a problem gets presented, not all the constraints associated with that problemget presented. May be the person having the problem has a confidence or a self-

esteem problem. May be he has a family member that’s not doing that well. May be he

has a knee pain. But when he presents the problem at hand, he may not list out all the

constraints that surround him or the problem. So the smart person listening to this

problem has a larger canvas to paint a solution. The smart person operates sees less

number of constraints than the person who is facing the problem – makes the problem

look a bit easier.

2. Smart person solving his or her own problem

When a problem shows up in the life of a smart person, he does not see just that problem but a problem and himself/herself surrounded by all the constraints that he or

she is operating with. The problem looks way more complicated when presented with

all the constraints than as a standalone problem. The smart person has the same canvas

to paint a solution but the canvas is torn in places ( constraints ) and is dirty in a few

other places (more constraints) – suddenly making the problem way more complicated

to handle.

So, now comes to some solutions for this dilemma.

If you are a smart person who is facing this problem, what can you do?

Here are some places to start:

1. Stop over-analyzing your constraints: Most constraints grow bigger than natural

in your mind. Your confidence problem may not be as big as you think and your

public speaking skills may not be as bad as you think.

2. Get help: Yes, you know that if you think long and hard, you can solve the problem

yourself but if you can be humble and go to someone that you trust, they will see the

problems without all the baggage that you are carrying. Even if it means paying that

expert, it is well worth it to get that solved.

3. Change your relationship with failure: Smart people rarely want to fail. If you

have a chronic fear of failure, you may end up not taking ANY action. Excellence

sometimes requires you to be on the edge and edges are not very safe.

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