Finding a solution to a problem involves constructing a course of action that will transform your current situation into one where your objective has been achieved.
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FINDING SOLUTIONS
The Explanation Isn’t the Solution:
When you are faced with a dilemma or a problem, how to you react? Before you answer, think back to a recent example or two. It doesn’t have to be your problem, it can be someone else’s.
Have you started sentences with things like “Perhaps it’s because she…”, “maybe he wanted…”, or “That must be because…”? When faced with a new situation, did you immediately reach for an explanation?
The trouble with this habit is that it misleads us
Have you started sentences with things like “Perhaps it’s because she…”, “maybe he wanted…”, or “That must be because…”? When faced with a new situation, did you immediately reach for an explanation?
The trouble with this habit is that it misleads us
Finding Solutions:
Finding a solution to a problem involves constructing a course of action that will transform your current situation into one where your objective has been achieved.
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The explanations that we offer ourselves are probably for our own comfort. They do little to provide answers, or ideas about how we can usefully respond to a dilemma. The problem with problems is that we generally need to fix or avoid them in future. Explanations are handy, and generating them is a good way of passing the time, but finding solutions needs a different approach.
The first step in avoiding the trap of speculation acting as explanation is to be aware of it and recognize it for what it is – guessing (even informed guessing is still guessing).
The first step in avoiding the trap of speculation acting as explanation is to be aware of it and recognize it for what it is – guessing (even informed guessing is still guessing).
Next step is to ask yourself how you want to respond to the Situation:
If it is important to you to understand the cause.
You need something to change and you are intent on finding solutions, then understanding the cause won’t help you very much. Put it this way, the difference is between “What happened?” and “What needs to happen now?” Finding solutions depends on the questions you ask.
Finding a solution to a problem involves constructing a course of action that will transform your current situation into one where your objective has been achieved.
Some problems require no further analysis once they have been defined effectively. If the definition confirms that it's a common or routine problem it can be solved by implementing the appropriate standard solution.
Less common and more complex problems require further analysis. Even though the definition may have given you clues to some possible solutions, you should explore all the possibilities. There is considerable overlap between the stages involved but the process of finding solutions can be represented as a cycle.
You must decide who else should be involved in solving the problem and in what way. This may be people involved with or affected by the problem with experience of, or an interest in, this type of situation; the relevant knowledge, or with good problem solving skills.
The 5 Stages are:
1. Identifying the relevant information
2. Collecting and recording the information
3. Pre presenting the information
4. Deciding criteria of effectiveness
5. Constructing courses of action
Search for information and ideas relevant to the problem.
Other useful sources of information are past experience of similar problems and people involved with or affected by the problem who may have relevant information.
It's vital to distinguish between facts, ideas, needs, opinions and prejudices.
Your information must be relevant to the problem, accurate and preferably quantified. Ultimately, you need to answer the following questions:
As you answer these questions you should draw up a list of the specific information you require, where you can find it, and how you can gather it most effectively.
It's often difficult to recall from memory all the important factors relating to a particular problem.
Information should be gathered and recorded systematically, starting with that which is going to take the longest time to collect, eg advice from an outside expert. The information should be recorded as it is gathered and not left to the memory. Any information you have not gathered yourself should be verified eg finding out the original source of the information and how it was collected. It's particularly important to verify quantified data.
Apart from any errors you may make in the collection and analysis of information, numerical and statistical data can be manipulated by others to serve their own interests. You must ensure that the way information is presented to you reflects the true situation and that any conclusions offered about its relevance are accurate and logical.
Information relevant to the problem now needs to be organized into a meaningful pattern. With complex problems it's impossible to hold all the information in your mind and to think about it dearly. Even with simple problems it's invaluable to have a tangible representation or model of the problem which gives structure to the information. Various types of model are described in later articles. These help to
At this stage you should have a detailed understanding of the problem. If you are dealing with a closed problem you should have a list of possible causes, together with all the information supporting or refuting each cause.
To identify the real cause of the problem you test each possible cause against the effects noted in your analysis. By a process of elimination the real cause is identified as the one which has precisely the same effects as those which have occurred. If none of them fits precisely it means that either your definition is inadequate or you need to look for other causes.
At this stage of problem solving these criteria only serve as a guide in finding solutions which fit the circumstances and are likely to succeed. You must not allow them to inhibit your search for solutions.
Constructing courses of action to solve the problem:
Finding possible solutions now involves constructing courses of action which meet your criteria of effectiveness as closely as possible.
There are basically five sources of ideas for solving a problem and you should use as many of them as possible:
Each action that you propose will be intended to achieve a particular effect. As you build up different plans of action you can use an appropriate model to represent how each action contributes to achieving your overall objective. Models also help you to predict the effects of various actions and to see how they interact. It's important that the actions form a coherent strategy for tackling the problem.
Answers to these questions will help you to modify your solutions to minimize the chances of them failing and to optimise their benefits. When you have a number of solutions which you feel could achieve your objective effectively you have to evaluate them.
Remember:
You need something to change and you are intent on finding solutions, then understanding the cause won’t help you very much. Put it this way, the difference is between “What happened?” and “What needs to happen now?” Finding solutions depends on the questions you ask.
Finding a solution to a problem involves constructing a course of action that will transform your current situation into one where your objective has been achieved.
Some problems require no further analysis once they have been defined effectively. If the definition confirms that it's a common or routine problem it can be solved by implementing the appropriate standard solution.
Less common and more complex problems require further analysis. Even though the definition may have given you clues to some possible solutions, you should explore all the possibilities. There is considerable overlap between the stages involved but the process of finding solutions can be represented as a cycle.
You must decide who else should be involved in solving the problem and in what way. This may be people involved with or affected by the problem with experience of, or an interest in, this type of situation; the relevant knowledge, or with good problem solving skills.
The 5 Stages are:
1. Identifying the relevant information
2. Collecting and recording the information
3. Pre presenting the information
4. Deciding criteria of effectiveness
5. Constructing courses of action
Search for information and ideas relevant to the problem.
Other useful sources of information are past experience of similar problems and people involved with or affected by the problem who may have relevant information.
It's vital to distinguish between facts, ideas, needs, opinions and prejudices.
Your information must be relevant to the problem, accurate and preferably quantified. Ultimately, you need to answer the following questions:
- What type of information is required, eg financial, strategic, technical, policy, behavioural?
- What specific information is required, eg dates, times, amounts, names, actions?
- Why is this information required, eg to clarify the situation, to identify resources for solving the problem?
- What are the sources of this information, eg yourself, colleagues, eye-witnesses, records, specialists, other departments, books, researchers? ,
- What form will it take, eg numerical, statistical, verbal?
- How accurate or reliable are the sources, eg are they biased; is the information in the form of opinions?
- How can this information be obtained, eg memos, reports, meetings, informal discussions, observation, listening, testing?
As you answer these questions you should draw up a list of the specific information you require, where you can find it, and how you can gather it most effectively.
It's often difficult to recall from memory all the important factors relating to a particular problem.
Information should be gathered and recorded systematically, starting with that which is going to take the longest time to collect, eg advice from an outside expert. The information should be recorded as it is gathered and not left to the memory. Any information you have not gathered yourself should be verified eg finding out the original source of the information and how it was collected. It's particularly important to verify quantified data.
Apart from any errors you may make in the collection and analysis of information, numerical and statistical data can be manipulated by others to serve their own interests. You must ensure that the way information is presented to you reflects the true situation and that any conclusions offered about its relevance are accurate and logical.
Information relevant to the problem now needs to be organized into a meaningful pattern. With complex problems it's impossible to hold all the information in your mind and to think about it dearly. Even with simple problems it's invaluable to have a tangible representation or model of the problem which gives structure to the information. Various types of model are described in later articles. These help to
- reveal relationships between different aspects of the problem
- highlight gaps in your information and under standing
- stimulate your search for solutions
- communicate understanding to other people
- predict the likely consequences of actions you think may solve the problem.
At this stage you should have a detailed understanding of the problem. If you are dealing with a closed problem you should have a list of possible causes, together with all the information supporting or refuting each cause.
To identify the real cause of the problem you test each possible cause against the effects noted in your analysis. By a process of elimination the real cause is identified as the one which has precisely the same effects as those which have occurred. If none of them fits precisely it means that either your definition is inadequate or you need to look for other causes.
At this stage of problem solving these criteria only serve as a guide in finding solutions which fit the circumstances and are likely to succeed. You must not allow them to inhibit your search for solutions.
Constructing courses of action to solve the problem:
Finding possible solutions now involves constructing courses of action which meet your criteria of effectiveness as closely as possible.
There are basically five sources of ideas for solving a problem and you should use as many of them as possible:
- past experience of similar situations
- logical deduction from the facts
- other people
- published sources
- creative idea generation techniques
- Do I really need to achieve this objective?
- Could I substitute a different objective?
- Could I achieve this objective in a different way?
- Would there be any advantage in delaying trying to achieve this objective?
- Would someone else be more effective in achieving this objective?
- Is this really an obstacle?
- Would someone else be more effective in dealing with this obstacle?
- Can I deal with the causes of this obstacle?
- Can I side-step this obstacle?
- Can I use this obstacle to my advantage?
Each action that you propose will be intended to achieve a particular effect. As you build up different plans of action you can use an appropriate model to represent how each action contributes to achieving your overall objective. Models also help you to predict the effects of various actions and to see how they interact. It's important that the actions form a coherent strategy for tackling the problem.
Answers to these questions will help you to modify your solutions to minimize the chances of them failing and to optimise their benefits. When you have a number of solutions which you feel could achieve your objective effectively you have to evaluate them.
Remember:
- All information relevant to the problem must be identified, collected and recorded in a meaningful way.
- Identifying what constitutes an effective solution helps to guide yow search for solutions.
- Finding solutions involves constructing courses of action which will transform the current situation into one where your objective is achieved.
International Solutions: the Secret to solving Global Issues
Global issues require global solutions. These issues include hunger and climate change.
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Global Issues require Global Solutions:
These issues include hunger and climate change.
the key problems with the world today addressed by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Implementing solutions at scale, however, can seem like a nearly insurmountable challenge. Open innovation and collaboration across borders are both key.
Roadblocks to face, solutions to embrace:
When it comes to solving major societal issues through innovation, new business models or global agreements, many experts agree the problem is not technical;
it’s political and cultural.
Just look at the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The main hurdles to the agreement, as well as the main challenges and victories in the years since, are primarily political and cultural. After all, solutions such as renewable energy and other environmentally friendly innovations are already available and continue to advance rapidly. Still, the world is not on track to limit the temperature rise to 2°C. Those countries and regions with global leaders who have decided to act quickly, share ideas and seek counsel across borders – not to mention business opportunities – are the ones who have managed to reduce or slow rates of greenhouse gas emissions. The Carbon Pricing in the Americas initiative, struck between governments from Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico and the US states of California and Washington, is also a promising sign. Clearly, cross-cultural collaboration is key when it comes to progress. Equally clear is that we need more of it to solve the major issues of our time.
Research published in the Harvard Business Review suggests the roadblocks that prevent cross-cultural collaboration and open innovation among various parties around the world are having multiple gatekeepers, skepticism regarding anything “not invented here” and turf wars. Getting around these obstacles requires us to cultivate and sustain an atmosphere of flexibility and trust as well, as layered networks that reduce silos.
From science to full-scale solution:
Working across borders can lead to better innovation and business outcomes that benefit society.
We don’t have to accept problems – we can work together to solve them:
The complexity of the global issues is far too big for any party to tackle alone. These large-scale problems require new kinds of partnership, cross-border collaboration and open innovation among the public and private sectors, NGOs, academia and other stakeholders. Yes, there are roadblocks. It can be a bumpy ride and may not be for the faint of heart; but it is absolutely necessary if we want to scale up solutions with real impact. In fact, it’s easier than ever to share ideas and work together with people around the world.
These issues include hunger and climate change.
the key problems with the world today addressed by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Implementing solutions at scale, however, can seem like a nearly insurmountable challenge. Open innovation and collaboration across borders are both key.
Roadblocks to face, solutions to embrace:
When it comes to solving major societal issues through innovation, new business models or global agreements, many experts agree the problem is not technical;
it’s political and cultural.
Just look at the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The main hurdles to the agreement, as well as the main challenges and victories in the years since, are primarily political and cultural. After all, solutions such as renewable energy and other environmentally friendly innovations are already available and continue to advance rapidly. Still, the world is not on track to limit the temperature rise to 2°C. Those countries and regions with global leaders who have decided to act quickly, share ideas and seek counsel across borders – not to mention business opportunities – are the ones who have managed to reduce or slow rates of greenhouse gas emissions. The Carbon Pricing in the Americas initiative, struck between governments from Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico and the US states of California and Washington, is also a promising sign. Clearly, cross-cultural collaboration is key when it comes to progress. Equally clear is that we need more of it to solve the major issues of our time.
Research published in the Harvard Business Review suggests the roadblocks that prevent cross-cultural collaboration and open innovation among various parties around the world are having multiple gatekeepers, skepticism regarding anything “not invented here” and turf wars. Getting around these obstacles requires us to cultivate and sustain an atmosphere of flexibility and trust as well, as layered networks that reduce silos.
From science to full-scale solution:
Working across borders can lead to better innovation and business outcomes that benefit society.
We don’t have to accept problems – we can work together to solve them:
The complexity of the global issues is far too big for any party to tackle alone. These large-scale problems require new kinds of partnership, cross-border collaboration and open innovation among the public and private sectors, NGOs, academia and other stakeholders. Yes, there are roadblocks. It can be a bumpy ride and may not be for the faint of heart; but it is absolutely necessary if we want to scale up solutions with real impact. In fact, it’s easier than ever to share ideas and work together with people around the world.
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