Problem Solving 101 by Ken Watanabe

• Rather than feeling as though your life is out of your control, you can take charge and shape the world around you. Instead of being overwhelmed by the challenges you face every day, you can learn to enjoy them and overcome them.
• Problem solving isn’t a talent limited to the lucky few. It’s actually a skill and a habit that you can learn.
• The value of problem-solving-oriented thinking obviously extends far beyond the classroom into every facet of our lives. It enables us to take control of the challenges we encounter and to change the world in a positive way.
• As you probably know, being a critic is easy; getting stuff done is the real challenge. Even if you know how things should be done, it’s useless if you aren’t willing to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
• Problem solving isn’t a talent that some people have and others don’t. It’s a habit. By developing the right skills and adopting the right attitude, anyone can become a problem-solving kid.
• If you never take action, you’ll never get any feedback on your attempts, and without feedback, you’ll never grow as a problem-solving kid. That great idea in your head will remain just that--only an idea.
• When you do take action, every result is an opportunity to reflect and learn valuable lessons. Even if what you take away from your assessment seems to be of small consequence, all of these small improvements taken together make a huge difference in the long term.
• Through both your successful and unsuccessful experiences, your problem-solving skills can develop beyond solving your own problems to actually shaping your environment.
• Problem solving is a process that can be broken down into four steps:
• (1) understand the current situation
• (2) identify the root cause of the problem
• (3) develop an effective action plan
• (4) execute until the problem is solved, making modifications as necessary
• Before you can solve anything, you first need to realize that there’s a problem. Once you do, identifying the root causes of the problem isn’t enough. You have to think through how you could fix the problem, and then actually take the actions required to fix it.
• Problem solving is a combination of thinking and acting. Just doing one or the other won’t get you anywhere.
• You might think this sounds really simple. The catch is that we often don’t do what seems simple and obvious.
• As you can see, problem solving is not complicated. All you have to do is understand the situation, identify the root cause, develop an effective plan, and execute. Even if the problem you face is big and complicated, if you learn how to break it down into smaller, mangeable problems, you will be able to solve it.
• A logic tree is a great tool to use when you problem solve. It’s a visual tool that helps when you are trying to identify all the potential root causes of a problem and generate a wide variety of solutions.
• Here’s the approach:
• Step 1: Diagnose the situation and identify the root cause of the problem.
• List all the potential root causes of the problem.
• Develop a hypothesis for the likely root cause.
• Determine the analyses and information required to test the hypothesis.
• Analyze and identify the root cause.
• Step 2: Develop the solution.
• Develop a wide variety of solutions to solve the problem.
• Prioritize actions.
• Develop an implementation plan.
• A logic tree can also be transformed into a yes/no tree. A yes/no tree groups things into buckets based on the answers to yes/no questions. By assigning everything involved to a bucket, you can more clearly see what the core issue is.
• You can use a yes/no tree to help you figure out a problem’s root cause or decide how to solve a problem.
• A hypothesis is a hunch. It’s what you think is the most likely explanation for your problem, but haven’t yet confirmed it.
• By determining your hypothesis and thinking through the reasoning that underlies it, you will be able to check whether it’s right.
• People often fall into the trap of collecting information and conducting analyses just for the sake of doing them. Don’t forget that the point of all this research is to help you make informed decisions. Try to collect and analyze information efficiently and effectively. This will help you make better use of your limited time and resources.
• If you start collecting and analyzing data without first clarifying the question you are trying to answer, you’re probably going yourself more harm than good. You’ll end up drowning in a flood of information and realize only later that most of that research was a waste of time.
• List as many ideas as you can and have thinking about their feasibility and impact for later. Even if some ideas sound kind of crazy, they may actually lead to interesting and creative solutions. The key rule here is to list as much as possible and then prioritize later.
• To create the [priority] matrix, rate the impact, from high to low, on the vertical axis. On the horizontal axis, plot the ease of implementation, from hard to easy. The best solutions fall in the top right box, with high impact and easy implementation. The least effective solutions fall in the lower left box, with low impact and hard implementation.
• People have different strengths. You can accomplish more by collaborating with others who have strengths you may lack.
• Remember to prioritize your actions and then develop your implementation plan.
• Problem-solving kids don’t just have big dreams; they go after their larger goals by breaking them down into smaller milestones and asking themselves, “What should I do this year, or in the next three months, or today?” These milestones guide problem-solving kids toward their dreams and help to keep them motivated. Once they lay out a plan for achieving a dream, they then figure out the most effective way to achieve each smaller goals and to take the actions needed.
• There’s a proven problem-solving kids’ process for figuring out how to achieve such a goal:
• Step 1: Set a clear goal.
• Step 2: Determine the gap between the goals and the current situation.
• Step 3: Form a hypothesis about how to close the gap and achieve the goal.
• List as many options and ideas as possible.
• Select the best ideas as the hypothesis.
• Step 4: Check the hypothesis. Go back to step 3 if the hypothesis is disproved.
• Determine the analyses and information required to test the hypothesis.
• Analyze and develop action plan.
• If you have specific conditions for achieving your goal, you should include them in the goal statement.
• The more specific the goal is, the more specific the action plan will be.
• Whenever you set a goal, get into the habit of asking yourself, “What specifically do I want to achieve? When do I want to achieve it? What specific conditions do I have?
• Once you set a clear goal, you need to identify the gap between your goal and your current situation. If the gap is small, the solution may be very obvious. But if the gap is large, you may have to really think through how to achieve the goal.
• But when you set a clear hypothesis and rationale, you are more able to collect information and conduct analysis efficiently, and discover if your hypothesis is true.
• The hypothesis pyramid is a great tool for structuring your argument. Using it to clarify your conclusion and rationale before diving into data collection and analysis will improve your productivity dramatically. It’s also useful for communicating your hypothesis to others.
• The impact of your actions is determine by the following equation:
• Impact = plan effectiveness * quality of execution
• To achieve the most impact, you need to have an effective plan and great execution. If you have one but not the other, you won’t be able to reach your goal. You need both.
• Once you have a concrete plan of action to achieve your goal, don’t forget to create a concrete schedule. Write down everything you are going to do, and when you plan to do it.
• Remember to monitor your progress and revise your plan as necessary. Very few things in life ever go as perfectly as planned.
• Problem-solving kids are great decision makers. They rarely regret their choices, because they take the time beforehand to consider all their options and figure out the best decision for them personally.
• There are two tools that are very helpful when you need to evaluate multiple options and select the best one.
• The first tool is called pros and cons. This tool helps you broaden your options and ensures that you consider both the good aspects (pros) and bad aspects (cons) before making a final decision.
• The pros-and-cons tool can help you sort out the difference between your choices.
• The next tool is criteria and evaluation. You can use this tool to clarify which criteria, or qualifications, you should use to evaluate your options, decide the importance of each set of criteria, and effectively evaluate your options.
• Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
• Spend less time worrying about things and more time thinking about actions you can take to get closer to your goals, then actually take action.
• Ask for advice. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own. Look for information to help you make the best decision in the given time.
• Challenge your own thinking processes and your conclusions.
• Problem solving is easy when you know how to set a clear goal, figure out how to reach it, and follow through while reviewing your progress and making changes to your plan as necessary.
• If you make problem solving a habit, you’ll be able to make the most of your talents and take control of your life. You can solve not only your own problems, but the problems of your school, your business, and your community--and maybe even the world.