The Problem Journey

Today it seems that everyone is thinking about solving problems. The problem-solution thinking was popularised by designers and startups. Entire libraries were written about how to solve problems. Ironically, that is the problem.

People grew so accustomed in thinking in solutions that it feels like you cannot have any conversation anymore without being offered a solution. Sometimes it is straightforward blunt solution offering: “You need to try X. Will solve that problem!” Other times it is more subtle, solutions disguised as good advice. In any case, often those solutions aren’t the solutions. Even after applying. This is so frustrating that a lot of people start resisting suggested solutions.

That is because you can only start thinking in solutions after you have the right problem or framed the problem correctly. It is very tempting to jump into solutions after hearing someone talk about something and the reptilian brain identified that as a problem to be solved.

I found that is more worth to dive deeper into the problem. By doing that, you often find that what would be initially perceived as the problem, is in fact not the problem. It can be a symptom, a proxy or masking the real problem. Sometimes problems are more complex and consist of sub-problems. The only way to be sure about that, is diving deeper into the problem and thus it is an important part, if not the most important part, of solving that problem.

To ensure I am working on the right problem(s), I use a process called The Problem Journey. It’s still new and I am still adjusting it but goal of The Problem Journey is that you take the initial perceived problem and subject it to a series of steps. These steps are designed to see if the problem is actually the problem and if not, what the real problem might be, what is underlying and what is causing the potential problem(s). It’s not until after I feel the problem is framed accurately, I can start thinking about solutions sensibly.

I’m still finetuning the process and will post this later on, but underlying are

• Listening better (and refrain from talking because that makes you prone to offer solutions),
• Ask more questions (to keep an open mindset) and
• Think more deeply before we start offering advice or solutions (so you know you have looked at it from all the different angles).

It will more likely bring us to a better solution that actually looking for a solution!