Solving problems is big business. The big consulting firms such as Bain, BCG and McKinsey receive hundreds of dollars an hour to offer solutions. Sometimes, their clients need people with specific skills but believe their staff doesn’t have them. In reality, companies often just need extra hands and eyes.
In my last post, I addressed the problem-solving process and how to understand your current reality and desired destination. Now, I’ll drill down into these components further.
Here is my framework for understanding problems and related solutions. Let’s take a look at a non-business illustration.
Steve and Karen, a couple from Dallas, love to travel. Each year, they try to take a beach vacation, as well as a ski vacation.
In order to solve their problem, they need to understand where they are and where they want to go. This first step is to determine their current reality. The second step is to define the desired destination. I will apply the process shown in the diagram to Steve and Karen’s problem.
- What is their current reality? They live in Dallas and want to take a vacation.
- Where should they go? They have two ideas. The first is to travel to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. The second is to go to Whistler in British Columbia, Canada.
- Should they go? This is an important question. Karen has heard stories about increasing crime in Mexico, so this option will require some additional research. The couple will also need to research the time of year when snow is best for skiing in Whistler.
- How do they get there? What do they need to be prepared for? This is probably the biggest question to answer. The key problem to solve is the link between the current reality and the desired destination.
Considerations:
- Both trips require air travel.
- Mexico: Packing is easy, with flip flops, shorts and t-shirts.
- Canada: Packing is a bit more complex, with coats, ski-pants, sweaters, skis and boots.
You can use this same diagram and process to help you map out the components of your current reality and desired destination, even if your problem is business-related and more complex.
Yes, solving problems takes time! There is no silver bullet that solves all problems. After you have a clearly stated current reality and desired destination, you have to plan out the journey from A to Z. Stay tuned to the series. Next time, I’ll further break down the “problem” part of the diagram—or the journey toward the desired destination.