Success, I have learnt, is a journey one that sometimes presents us with the occassional bump in the road. Problems or obstacles on the path to success can sometimes be enough to stop us in our tracks and even cause us to retreat back to our comfort zone.
If you have a problem solving strategy in your success toolkit then obstacles can be easily overcome and you’ll be back on track for success in no time.
So what makes up a problem solving strategy:-
Keeping things simple - We live in such a fast paced complicated world it is as if we expect problems to be difficult to solve. We often only see the complicated solution this can sometimes be because we are to close to the problem. There is a story of a truck getting stuck in an underpass, engineers were called in to try and figure out a solution . They began making complex calculations, the way engineers do, only to have a young boy who was standing by suggest they let the air out of the tyres. Make a conscious effort to step back and look for a simpler approach, get someone who is not involved to take a fresh look or leave the problem alone for a while sometimes a simple solution will just come to you. You could save a lot of time by making an effort to keep things simple.
Approach the problem creatively – The more ways you look at the problem the better chance you have of finding a solution. There is always a lot more than one solution to any problem. Change your perception of the problem, put yourself on the other side of it. By writing down anything and everything that comes to mind no matter how crazy a solution will often surface, it sometimes helps to do this with a group in a brainstorming session.
Important or urgent, there’s a difference – When you are faced with a number of problems decide which are the important one’s and make them a priority. It is quite often that urgent matters are not necessarily important. If you are always dealing with the urgent you will always be busy but nothing of importance will be solved.
Recognise a Potential Crisis – There are usually some warning signs before a crisis has it’s full impact being proactive at this time by employing preventive maintenance will keep you on track to your goals.
Use your subconscious – Never underestimate the power of your subconscious, if you are unable to come up with a solution your best ally could be your subconscious. Stop trying so hard and let your subconscious take over, it can often see things more clearly than we can at a conscious level.
Have a Productive Day
Teresa and the Team at
