Problem-Solving Techniques for Effective Decision Making

What are Problem-Solving Techniques?

You might associate problem-solving with the math exercises that a seven-year-old would do at school. But problem-solving isn’t just about math — it’s a crucial skill that helps everyone make better decisions in everyday life or work.

Problem-solving involves finding effective solutions to address complex challenges, in any context they may arise.

Unfortunately, structured and systematic problem-solving methods aren’t commonly taught. Instead, when solving a problem, we tend to rely heavily on intuition. While for simple issues this can work well, solving a complex problem with a straightforward solution is often ineffective and can even create more problems.

The 7 Steps Problem-Solving Technique

Here’s a commonly adopted problem solving framework that guides you through seven crucial steps: Define the problem, Break it down, Prioritise, Plan, Analyse, Synthesise, Communicate.

Let's explore each step of these steps.

1. Define the problem: Start by clearly defining the issue at hand. Your problem statement should be precise, specific, measurable (when applicable), outcome-focused, and time-bound. Don't overlook the importance of alignment—ensure that it meets the expectations of all key stakeholders and decision-makers involved. When you execute this step effectively, your efforts will be targeted at solving the core problem, rather than getting distracted by peripheral issues.

2. Break it down: Complex issues often require deeper analysis. Instead of tackling the entire problem at once, the next step is to break it down into smaller, more manageable components. Various types of logic trees (also known as issue trees or decision trees) can be used to break down the problem. At each stage where new branches are created, it’s important for them to be “MECE” – mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. This process of breaking down continues until manageable components are identified, allowing for individual examination.

3. Prioritise: The next step involves prioritization. Not all branches of the problem tree have the same impact, so it's important to understand the significance of each and focus attention on the most impactful areas. Prioritising helps streamline efforts and minimise the time required to solve the problem.

4. Plan the analysis: For prioritised components, we may need to conduct in-depth analysis. Before proceeding, a work plan is created for data gathering and analysis. If work is conducted within a team, having a plan provides guidance on what needs to be achieved, who is responsible for which tasks, and the timelines involved.

5. Analyse: Data gathering and analysis are central to the problem-solving process. It's a good practice to set time limits for this phase to prevent excessive time spent on perfecting details. You can employ heuristics and rule-of-thumb reasoning to improve efficiency and directs efforts towards the most impactful work.

6. Synthesis: After each individual branch component has been researched, the problem is not yet solved. The next step is synthesising the data logically to address the initial question. The synthesis process and the logical relationship between the individual branch results depend on the logic tree used.

7. Communicate: The last step is getting the word out. Share the story and the solution with stakeholders and decision-makers through a clear and engaging message. Only when people fully understand the solution and its importance will they feel comfortable basing their decisions on it. This step brings everyone onto the same page and reinforces the value of the solution you've crafted.

Problem-Solving in Various Contexts

While problem-solving has traditionally been associated with fields like engineering and science, today it has become a fundamental skill for individuals across all professions. In fact, problem-solving consistently ranks as one of the top skills required by employers, regardless of the employee's role.

Problem-solving techniques can be applied in diverse contexts:

Individuals: What career path should I choose? Where should I live? These are examples of simple and common personal challenges that require effective problem-solving skills.

Organisations: Businesses also face many decisions that are not trivial to answer. Should we expand into new markets this year? How can we enhance the quality of our product development? Will our office accommodate the upcoming year's growth in terms of capacity?

Societal Issues: The biggest world challenges are also complex problems that can be addressed with the same technique. How can we minimise the impact of the climate change? How do we fight cancer? These are just a few examples of societal issues.

Despite the variation in domains and contexts, the fundamental approach to solving these questions remains the same. It starts with gaining a clear understanding of the problem, followed by decomposition, conducting analysis of the decomposed branches, and synthesising it into a result that answers the initial problem.

Real-World Applications of Problem-Solving Techniques

Let’s now explore some examples and look into the key steps of the problem solving process.

Problem: In the production of electronic devices, we observe an increasing number of defects. How can we most effectively reduce the error rate and improve the quality?

To tackle this issue, we can build the tree considering the various reasons why defects might occur by using a logic tree:

Before delving into data analysis, we can deprioritise branches for which we already have information or branches that are of lower importance. For instance, while transportation delays may occur, the resulting material degradation is likely negligible.

For other branches, additional research and data gathering will be necessary. We could do the research by analysing any available data, conducting surveys or talking to employees.

Given that our goal is to find the most effective solution to decrease defects, we need a method to rank potential solutions. One approach could be to evaluate the impact and the effort required for each solution identified at the leaves of our logic tree.

Data analysis might reveal that outdated or malfunctioning equipment is a major contributor to defects. However, replacing all equipment at once will be costly and complex. Conversely, improving communication could be a simpler yet impactful method to enhance work quality and reduce defects.

By assessing both impact and effort, we can systematically prioritise areas for improvement, focusing on those that offer significant benefits yet require minimal effort. This strategy ensures that resources are efficiently allocated to generate the highest return on investment.

Problem: What should my next job role be?

When breaking down this problem, we need to consider various factors that contribute to our future happiness in the role. This could include aspects like company culture, our interest in the work itself, and the lifestyle that the role's salary will support.

However, not all factors carry the same weight for us. To organize our thoughts, we can assign a weight factor to each element. For instance, passion for the job role may have a weight factor of 1, while interest in the industry might only have a weight factor of 0.5, as it's less crucial to us.

With this framework, we can systematically compare different roles. To evaluate a specific role, we would rate each factor, multiply that by the weight of the factor, and sum all these values.

Ultimately, while choosing a role, our intuition plays a significant role. However, by documenting all factors, we can approach our decision more objectively, ensuring that we aren’t biased and that we don't overlook an important factor that we might later cause regret.

Improving Your Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving requires practice and a certain mindset. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. Here are some strategies to enhance your skills:

Practice structured thinking in your daily life. Break down problems or questions into manageable parts. You don’t need to go through the entire problem-solving process and conduct detailed analysis. When conveying a message, simplify the conversation by breaking the message into smaller, more understandable segments. When making a small decision, consider using a basic logical tree to explore different outcomes.

Regularly challenging yourself with games and puzzles can help you keep your cognitive skills sharp. Solving puzzles, riddles, or strategy games can boost your problem-solving skills and cognitive agility.

Engage with individuals from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints. Conversing with people who offer different perspectives provides fresh insights and alternative solutions to problems. This boosts creativity and helps in approaching challenges from new angles. This is important skills you’d need especially for the problem decomposition phase.

Final Thoughts

Problem-solving extends far beyond mathematics or scientific fields; it's a critical skill for making informed decisions in every area of life and work.

Now, try this out: what's one question currently on your mind? Grab a piece of paper and try to apply the problem-solving framework. You might uncover fresh insights you hadn't considered before.

🧩🧒 Training problem-solving skills can begin as early as possible in life. In the upcoming articles, I'll share fun games you can play with your young children to help them develop these crucial abilities from their youngest age. Subscribe now to get it delivered directly to your inbox!

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Originally published at https://blog.logrocket.com at 2nd April, 2024