Whether it’s in the classroom, workplace, or at home, having well-developed soft skills is very important. Soft skills cover a range of social and interpersonal interactions: communication, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking and more! One of the most important soft skills to master is problem solving. No matter how advanced our technology becomes, we still find ourselves facing a host of problems to overcome in our daily lives. From dealing with broken appliances to trying to sort out the most diplomatic solution to a personal problem at work, we all have problems that require our attention, ingenuity, and determination to solve.
Don’t despair if you’re bad at solving puzzles or defusing arguments: problem solving is a skill that can be improved over time. Follow these principles and soon your problem solving muscles will be bigger than a bodybuilder!
Understand What You’re Trying to Solve
You can’t solve a problem if you’re unable to define it. Understanding exactly what the problem you’re dealing with is an essential part of the process. This may seem self-explanatory but it’s very easy to get caught up trying to fix things that aren’t actually a real part of the problem. The first thing to do is focus on the facts at hand. Push opinions and subjectivity aside for now; don’t worry about WHAT is causing the problem or who is responsible for it yet. You just have to understand the situation that you need to fix.
When you understand what the problem is, you can enlarge your perspective on it (like expanding the aperture of a telescope to see more of the horizon). Look at how the problem could be impacting other things. Is there a process in place that is being disrupted that is causing this problem? Does your work or school offer policies and procedures that could address this issue? What need or critical function is this problem getting in the way of? How could this problem get worse over time? Talk to people who’ve been impacted by the problem to get their perspectives. Think like a detective: you’re gathering information, cataloging all the clues that will hopefully lead you to a solution.
Gather Information
The key to gathering good information is to identify what are the most relevant and reliable sources of information. Few things will lead you astray faster than basing your problem-solving research around inaccurate information. If you know people who have dealt with this specific problem before, pick their brains. Talking to a mentor with firsthand knowledge of your problem is a great way to learn how to fix it. It can also be helpful talk to other people who are experiencing the same problem but haven’t solved it yet. Their perspective and experience with it may be very different to your own, so getting that different POV can be quite useful.
An important thing to keep in mind when doing research online is to always double-check your sources. With the increasing use of AI in internet search engines, you may end up receiving summaries of false information, made-up “hallucinated” sources, and contradictory or outright unhelpful information. As Ice Cube once said; check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Reframe Problems as Questions
If you’re having trouble wrapping your mind around a problem, it can help to “reframe” it as a set of questions. Instead of saying “the problem is” think of it from the perspective of “How might I deal with this?” “What’s causing this?” “What can I do differently?” The main benefit to doing this is that it puts you in a proactive and creative mindset from the jump: you’re looking at the problem with a curious, questioning eye instead of looking at it as an intimidating knot to untangle.
“Problems often feel unsolvable not because they are—but because we’ve gotten locked into one way of seeing them. A fresh angle can reveal simple paths forward,” said Dr. Lily Davidov, Rio Salado Faculty Chair for Accounting and Small Business.
A helpful framework to use is the four principles of design thinking:
- Clarify: Narrow your focus, identify problems, gather the most essential tools for the task. Ideate: Plan, brainstorm, collaborate.
- Develop: test solutions, experiment, trial and error alternatives.
- Implement: put it all together, make it happen, reflect on final results.
Consider The Alternatives
Don’t get hung up on one surefire solution to your problem. Pinning all your hopes on one method can prove to be dispiriting if it doesn’t work out. Be open to alternative solutions. When considering the best solution you should use a SWOT analysis.
A SWOT analysis goes like this:
- Strength: Why is this the strongest solution to the problem at hand? In what ways is this a better solution, a more sure thing, than other options?
- Weaknesses: What are the weak points, the vulnerabilities, to this tactic? How might these weaknesses be neutralized or overcome?
- Opportunities: What opportunities does this solution open up? What additional benefits could be gleaned from this work?
- Threats: What are the risks? Could this solution backfire? Could you make things worse?
“This technique works in many situations—use it to stay self-aware, align with others, and make intentional, balanced decisions based on what you can control and what you must adapt to,” Davidov said.
Another option is to consider a simple “pros and cons” list.
“I always like to make a list of pros and cons when making decisions,” said Melanie Abts, Rio Salado Co-Faculty Chair for Counseling.
Study the Results
You’ve asked questions, you’ve carefully considered the problem, you’ve worked through all the solutions before settling on the right one, and you’ve solved the problem. There is one thing left to do: the postmortem. Look back at how you fixed this problem: what worked for you? What processes did you use that were most effective? What were the cul de sacs you ran into? Is there something you could’ve done differently to avoid those dead ends? Evaluating the results can give you insight into how you approach problem-solving, making it so the next time you need to flex your problem-solving muscles you’ll know how to do it more effectively.
Article by Austin Brietta
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