Got a problem? Here is the most important question to ask

Posted: November 25, 2015 | Categories: Management, Team Building

Have you ever worked in a culture where there was constant whining, finger-pointing, and excuse making?  If you have, you know how such behavior affects team performance.

A few years ago I had someone in my management class who was struggling with a negative team environment.  People would continually come up to him and complain about other people not doing their job.  They often had a complaint, but seldom proposed a solution.

As we discussed this challenge, I introduced him to the 4 problem solving questions I have spoken of before.  These were developed by Leon Shimkin nearly 100 years ago, and have stood the test of time:

1. What is the problem?
2. What are the causes of the problem?
3. What are the possible solutions?
4. What is the best possible solution?

The manager decided that he needed to implement this process, and the most important question was the first one.  Define the problem in pure form.  That means there is no blame, and your definition is truly the problem, not just a symptom of the problem.

It took some time to teach his team the approach.  He talked about a turning point.  Someone came up to him upset about a problem.  When Bob asked him “What is the problem?”, the complainer replied, “Carl isn’t doing his job right”.  Bob replied boldly, “That’s not the problem!”  The whiner re-grouped and said, “The problem is we were late on a delivery!”  OK!  Now we are in a problem solving mode rather than playing a game of “Pin the tail on the donkey”.

This worked for Bob, and from that point on, Bob insisted that his team properly define the problem before any discussion occurred.  Remember the old saying, “A problem well-defined is a problem half solved”.   Before we jump in with a solution, let’s define the problem.