A lot of people don’t realise that there are many different ways to solve a problem. The picture above is what we have come to recognise as the traditional linear problem solving process. I discussed this is my first two podcasts. This traditional method works under the assumption that we have limited amounts of information and life is fairly linear. Think about it. We look at the problem, we study it’s causes and find solutions to implement. Very simple. Life isn’t so simple. What about problems where the immediate causes are not known. What if the wrong problems have been identified? What if they are a subset of a bigger more messy problem? You get the picture.

Is there more than one way to solve any problem?

Of course! We can think about this from several different points of view. Everybody knows we can think differently and that has results right. So it stands to reason that thinking differently about a problem will also reveal layers of the problem from different vantage points like this diagram below shows us:

This basic overview shows the basic argument I am putting forward here. Problems are tied to perspectives. Okay let’s complicate this a little further and add in even more viewpoints from the main ones I have isolated here. See below:

You can see by just expanding this diagram a little bit I have increased the amount of incoming perceptions of the problem. There are many ways to think about a problem and (at the very very least 10) that I know off. So here are 10 ways to solve a problem:

Resolve it

Most common approach this is where you reach a given conclusion with known information. It’s based on the Newell and Simon model shown above. Generally when we speak of working things out we are talking of accommodation and comprise. This is common in universities when power players bash heads. This is what I think of a lose-lose situation because in general you have to give something up in order to move forward with the problem.

Absolve it

This means you do nothing. Just wait and see what happens. Personally this is only one step better than turning a blind eye. Yes, I think this is a cop-out.

Dissolve it

This is following the art of problem solving by Russell Ackoff and changing the conditions (or the higher order concepts) to make the situation different so the problem can’t occur. I discussed this a while ago.

Solve Another Problem

Sometimes when we solve problems we forget that there are perceptions that tie these things together. We can actually think, ‘what else is this related to in our mind,’ and trace back to that issue and solve it. It’s shorthand form of problem dissolving

Shift the boundary

This has to do with problem identification. Change the boundary you have set around the problem and new perspectives will open up that show you faults in your thinking.

Change your mind

When you solve problems by changing your mind, you are doing various combinations of the things I have already spoken of above. In this way of solving the problem you decide to identify a different problem. Most helpful in political situations because it can help you see things that you would have missed otherwise.

Mediation

Mediation is where you involve a third party to help resolve a conflict. Using someone else to help is a great way of expanding available perspectives, concepts and ideas. Try it, it works great. In situations where negotiation is required or a mediator may be called for. In Australia if you want to bail out of a marriage it is now compulsory that you do it through a mediator.

Use mathematics

Polya was a great example of this. He had a formula for every possibility modern day statistics (i.e. regression) and operations research (i.e optimisation analysis) are examples of this approach

Use a decision support tool

A decision support tool is an electronic decision making aid that cycles through various scenarios to help you reach a conclusion. The link above has a comprehensive list of tools you can use.

Flip a coin

The easiest way to solve a problem, provided you are after a yes/no answer. Flip a coin heads you do X tails you do Y. Simple.

Use the ‘decision maker’

Early on in my marriage my wife had a problem making decisions (who am I kidding she still does) so someone bought her a decision maker. It was a piece of wood with a yes on one side and a no on the other. Absolutely brilliant.

Phone a friend

Every watched who wants to be a millionaire? They have this segment where you can phone a friend for advice. Gaining some perspective from others is an excellent way to understand how to shift through problems to a conclusion. As you do this you open up new channels of thought that make your way clearer. Gaining a perspective on these things is important because your thinking may be what’s wrong with the problem.

Remember that a problem is a mismatched expectation. You can change your expectation and your problem won’t exist but doing so is a lot harder than it seems. We have a saying in problem solving/strategic thinking research… ‘change your perspective change your problem’. Yes but how? Ahh, it would be nice to live in such a world wouldn’t it?

Solving problems is a really nice ideal isn’t it? But, how often in life do you find yourself in a position where your problem cannot be solved? What do you do then? In previous articles I have spoken about ‘perspective shifting‘ and the art of solving problems by changing your mind. What I want to share with you today is how to solve problems by building a bridge and getting over it.

Taking the first step: Coming to terms with reality

Let’s just push aside the how you got there for a minute and work on solutions. Does it matter? You there now how to we navigate a way around it? You don’t. You build a bridge and get over it. The thing is we get hung up on looking for the causes so much so that we forget to think about what really matters… the solution. You don’t actually solve most problems. You rebuild the environment in your life as such so that the problem can’t occur any more. If you are up against the wall it’s because you are trying to solve a problem that probably doesn’t want to be solved. The first step is therefore looking at the problem and asking yourself, ‘what would it be like if the problem didn’t exist?’ NOT, ‘How can I solve this thing.’ For really messy problems you will not get free until you accept the fact that you need something to swallow it.

The second step: Finding a bigger picture view that removes the need for the problem to exist

I have already talked about this in my perspective shifting article. What I want to talk about here is that problems that are a mess require a new way of seeing. Finding that may be impossible and it may require hope and/or a miracle. It is however, the ideal we need to aspire to. If your problem is, ‘I don’t have any money’ then the most obvious answer is to go get some more. I would disagree. Why? Well, whatever you have been doing up to this point clearly hasn’t worked has it? If it has worked then why don’t you have enough money? A better way of expressing the problem would be to say, ‘I am not in a position to receive more money.’ You then begin to ask yourself, ‘what can I do to get into a position to earn more money.’ If you are desperate enough the answer will become apparent as you think through your options.

The second step involves you looking at your situation and finding a bigger picture or creative solution that dissolves the problem. It is only your own beliefs that tell you things can’t change. Start saying, ‘things are getting better.’ You will be surprised how the solutions will suddenly appear when you change your attitude. It’s just as easy to say ‘things are getting better’ as it is to say, ‘nothing is ever going to change’. When I was earning less than $6000 a year I began saying, ‘I am prosperous’ and quoted bible references on prosperity. This began to change my life. Over the last five years I am in a position where I am earning more than ten times what I did just five years ago. Who can tell where I will be in five years? In a much MUCH better position!

In this second step you need to stretch yourself and I think begin to use your imagination. See the problem gone and ask yourself, ‘what do I need to be in order for this thing to be gone?’ Don’t get stuck in the rut of solving the problem. That will not get you anywhere. Look for options to dissolve the problem.

The third step: acting on it by taking one step at a time

As you come to see the bigger picture view of what is going on around you, it won’t be long before you realise that there will be something small you can do to build the panel on your bridge. The first step will be there. Sure, it may be taking a new job or doing something completely controversial to your family members. The important thing to remember is that it’s one step after the other. As you take the first step, the second will become apparent. After you take the second, the third will become apparent and so on. After a while you will put yourself in a position so that that next ten steps are easy to see. This could take a few years or even decades so be patient!

The final step: Stick with it

Imagine that as you navigate your way over the problem you are laying one part of the bridge down after the other.   If you throw down the towel now you will never make it.  You will more than likely have to go back and build it again and again until you get it right.  Sometimes, it might take you years to get it right.  Still I think that’s better than living with the mess don’t you?

If you notice the picture I have included with this post it’s a bridge over a river.  If that river was your mess then you don’t build a bridge under the water do you?  You build the bridge over the water in order to bypass the trouble.  You don’t go through it either because that doesn’t make sense.  The only way to be truly rid of a mess is to gradually build a bridge over the river of the problem so it can’t bother you anymore.  That however, is a another post for another day.

Today my mother in law backed down the driveway and ripped the bumper of the front of her car. It was a brand new Ford Fiesta by the way. It was my daughters birthday today and we still managed to take her to Australia Zoo (a worthwhile trip - great place/great people) as we had promised. We sat back and thought about it and I realised… things are never as bad as they seem. So here are three things you can do when it all goes to sh**:

Don’t Panic

If you panic you won’t solve the problem you will only make things worse. Take a deep breath, step back and think about it. What you need to do is consider your position.

Look for solutions rather than blame each other

When you blame each other you will not have any help making the situation any better. Sure, it will feel good to vent your frustration but it won’t be worth the need to apologise to set it right afterward.  Instead of playing the ‘blame’ game point your finger at yourself and begin brainstorming answers.

Build bridges and act fast

As you begin to brainstorm a problem you will appreciate different solutions.  Different solutions provide a way to build a bridge out of the mess so you can get over it.  Act on these thoughts quickly to stablise the mess.  If you don’t you may get sucked into it and reach a point where building a bridge will be a lot harder.  Small easy taken steps here as you navigate a way forward one step at a time.

Things are never as bad as they seem.  There is always a way forward even if it takes a while to see it.  Sure, my mother in law will be staying with us for a while *gulp* but the situation was made better by cool heads, smart decision making and taking steps forward instead of blaming each other from the outset.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend.  I’m Luke Houghton!

As I am nearing completion of my research work I am going to spend more time faffing about with this site.  Some of these things include:

1. More ‘anchor’ content like ebooks, workbooks, seminars etc.  This will not be like most of the stuff you see out there.  It will be interactive, developmental and insert another big word here.

2. Narrowing down of my focus to problem solving for life matters.  These posts always rate well with people and I get good positive feedback from people.

3. Name change of the blog to focus on the narrowing down of content

4. More downloadable content

5. Other cool things

Remember you can register to get my feed to keep up with what I am doing on this site.   It’s what all the cool people are doing.

Thanks for reading,

Luke

A problem can be defined as a mismatch between what we expect and what actually happens in our lives. As we come to identify problems we find that our problems are often linked to an expectation we have imposed on our surroundings. To take this definition further a problem is better thought of as being an expectation that we have that does not match what we presently experience. This means our present experience is defined by our expectations. Reality, is often not what we would like it to be.

Expectations: What are they?

An often easy out for us to say something like: just don’t have any expectations. Unfortunately this is not possible. An expectation is a desire for something you want to come to pass in your own life. That desire, is as much you, as you are you. Most of the time you don’t even realise that expectation is there until the heat of the day (circumstances) reveals it. Expectations are deep down desires that I think need to be cultivated, not ignored. In some circumstances, your expectations need to shift or be changed because some of them are poisonous. Ultimately, the problem you perceive is tied to some kind of expectation you have in your life. Now, we can take our definition of what a problem is even further. A problem is an expectation or desire that has does not match what we expect reality to be. The problem does not lie in reality as such, it lies in causal structures we have mapped over reality. Here’s an example.

The man and the flat tyre parable

There was as man who was driving home from work on a rainy afternoon when suddenly his tyre blew out. Angry at the situation the man slowly edges over to the curb and gets out to assess his problem. He studies his problem and doesn’t see the 18 wheeler approaching from behind. He is hit and killed. Now his problem no longer exists. Why? Because he is dead. Problems are perspectives on events that are tied to deep rooted expectations of what we take things to be. Here is another one.

The stock market problem

The CEO of SuperCompany Inc. (sorry burned out at the moment couldn’t think of a snazzier name), walks into his office one morning to a frantic Chief Financial Officer. He says to the lady, ‘My God Chloe, wants the matter, you look like crap?’ The CFO hands the CEO a piece of paper with a media report that the company is going bankrupt due to bad investments in Australian wheat. The CEO takes one look at the piece of paper and throws it in the bin. The CFO is amazed. ‘Why did you do that,’ she asks. He looks back at her and says, ‘That’s not my problem,’ he says, ‘my problem is that we are going bankrupt and you had to tell me via a media report!’

In this example we can see that neither the CEO or CFO were aware of the problem until it was created for them to believe. These are boundary judgments. Those ideas which we create that form rules and expectations of what we think is the case. In this case the company didn’t think it was going bankrupt. How much of what you hear is ‘actually’ the case? There is a reality and you can be sure it will impact on you but it’s a reality of intersecting ideas and thoughts some of which cause great problems (like the internet bubble burst) and some of which cause smaller ones.

Three ways of exploring a problem by changing your mind

There are three ways I know of problem solving by changing your mind. Here we go:

Doing nothing

When we absolve a problem we actually do nothing. There are times when a ‘wait and see’ approach is called for. Say you are building an adwords campaign to boost traffic to your website. You select a bunch of keywords and wait. They come back with a little bit more traffic everyday than the amount you had before. A bit more, a bit more and a bit more. Imagine if you grew impatient? You then start to muck about with keywords and ruin the campaign. In this case you should do nothing, observe and then take action if required.

Invoke dialectical processes

When you begin to examine life from many angles you begin to see just how limiting your point of view is. If you are facing a problem you can’t solve. Begin to play the devil’s advocate. Take the heart of the contradiction and expose it for what it really is. I recommend using at least four contradictory ideas to analyse the situation. Let’s go back to our stockbroker example above. What if he said the CFO, ‘I don’t believe the report because I trust your judgement… are we going bankrupt?’ He could have also taken the dreamers approach, ‘Now that I have read this report, I believe it will turn out for our good.’ In turn he could have taken a mathematical approach, ‘Show the numbers is this true?’ Then again he could have taken the view of a seasoned old veteran, ‘Listen to me, there is no crisis, people invent nonsense like this all the time. Put out a statement saying we are not going bankrupt and quote some numbers. People will believe that over some half-cocked media report.’ In short, take what you think the problem is and look at it’s enemy. By teasing out the enemy you will be able to see the faults in your own thinking.

Creative problem solving

Creative problem solving is the hardest and least likely to succeed in a problem solving intervention. This is when you take a brand new idea that hasn’t been tried which removes the old one completely. In this version you solve the problem by changing the expectation on which it’s framed. What? I mean you take the initial expectation of the problem, the idea that the problem is a problem and you begin to move into a new way of thinking that gets rid of the problem. In essence you change the rules of the expectation by shifting the ideas it’s built upon to a new solution that removes the need for the old one to exist. For example, our friend with the tyre problem had a death problem which is a nasty creative solution to his tyre problem. The tyre is the least of his worries.

When people create a problem it’s built on expectations and perceptions. Problems often revolve around what we think is the case. I know managers who will not make decisions because of fear. Fear stops creativity because it blocks the flow of anything opposed to it. You need to begin to create rather than do what you think you should. A creative solution is a new idea that moves the old out of the way. If a market problem emerges it’s because of perceptions. If there is a climate crisis, we have found that through our man-made data, analysis and conversations. If we find there isn’t… it’s exactly the same process.

When we change our mind about something new solutions begin to emerge.  As we learn to shift the perspectives that hold us back we will change our mind and new more creative solutions will spring up.

Many years ago I found out about Chuck Norris humour on the web and thought… there’s a fire and forget project. Man was I wrong. I got the email today as imagine most people have at least some time in their existence. So here we go the Chuck Norris School of problem solving:

• In Pamplona, Spain, the people may be running from the bulls, but the bulls are running from Chuck Norris. (New!)
• Chuck Norris uses pepper spray to spice up his steaks. (New!)
• Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.
• Crop circles are Chuck Norris’ way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie down.
• Chuck Norris is ten feet tall, weighs two-tons, breathes fire, and could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing.
• The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.
• Contrary to popular belief, Chuck Norris, not the box jellyfish of northern Australia, is the most venomous creature on earth. Within 3 minutes of being bitten, a human being experiences the following symptoms: fever, blurred vision, beard rash, tightness of the jeans, and the feeling of being repeatedly kicked through a car windshield.
• Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chuck Norris has 72… and they’re all poisonous.
• If you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, “Two seconds ’til.” After you ask, “Two seconds ’til what?” he roundhouse kicks you in the face.
• Chuck Norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.
• When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes, ever.
• The quickest way to a man’s heart is with Chuck Norris’ fist.
• Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken’s famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear.
• CNN was originally created as the “Chuck Norris Network” to update Americans with on-the-spot ass kicking in real-time.
• Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
• There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.
• Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.
• What was going through the minds of all of Chuck Norris’ victims before they died? His shoe.
• Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.
• Police label anyone attacking Chuck Norris as a Code 45-11…. a suicide.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t churn butter. He roundhouse kicks the cows and the butter comes straight out.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t wash his clothes, he disembowels them.
• A Handicapped parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.
• Chuck Norris will attain statehood in 2009. His state flower will be the Magnolia.
• Someone once videotaped Chuck Norris getting pissed off. It was called Walker: Texas Chain Saw Masacre.
• If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.
• Chuck Norris originally appeared in the “Street Fighter II” video game, but was removed by Beta Testers because every button caused him to do a roundhouse kick. When asked bout this “glitch,” Norris replied, “That’s no glitch.”
• Fool me once, shame on you. Fool Chuck Norris once and he will roundhouse you in the face.
• The opening scene of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” is loosely based on games of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade.
• Chuck Norris once shot down a German fighter plane with his finger, by yelling, “Bang!”
• Chuck Norris once bet NASA he could survive re-entry without a spacesuit. On July 19th, 1999, a naked Chuck Norris re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, streaking over 14 states and reaching a temperature of 3000 degrees. An embarrassed NASA publically claimed it was a meteor, and still owes him a beer.
• Chuck Norris has two speeds: Walk and Kill.
• Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren’t the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.
• Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on a true story: Chuck Norris once swallowed a turtle whole, and when he crapped it out, the turtle was six feet tall and had learned karate.
• Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse… horses are hung like Chuck Norris.
• Faster than a speeding bullet … more powerful than a locomotive … able to leap tall buildings in a single bound… yes, these are some of Chuck Norris’s warm-up exercises.
• Chuck Norris is the only human being to display the Heisenberg uncertainty principle — you can never know both exactly where and how quickly he will roundhouse-kick you in the face.
• In the Bible, Jesus turned water into wine. But then Chuck Norris turned that wine into beer.
• Chuck Norris can hit you so hard that he can actually alter your DNA. Decades from now your descendants will occasionally clutch their heads and yell “What The Hell was That?”
• Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris.
• Chuck Norris discovered a new theory of relativity involving multiple universes in which Chuck Norris is even more badass than in this one. When it was discovered by Albert Einstein and made public, Chuck Norris roundhouse-kicked him in the face. We know Albert Einstein today as Stephen Hawking.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t shower, he only takes blood baths.
• The Chuck Norris military unit was not used in the game Civilization 4, because a single Chuck Norris could defeat the entire combined nations of the world in one turn.
• In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Chuck Norris could use to kill you, including the room itself.
• According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Native American “Trail of Tears” has been redefined as anywhere that Chuck Norris walks.
• Chuck Norris does not teabag the ladies. He potato-sacks them.
• Pluto is actually an orbiting group of British soldiers from the American Revolution who entered space after the Chuck gave them a roundhouse kick to the face.
• When Chuck Norris goes to donate blood, he declines the syringe, and instead requests a hand gun and a bucket.
• There are no steroids in baseball. Just players Chuck Norris has breathed on.
• Chuck Norris once challenged Lance Armstrong in a “Who has more testicles?” contest. Chuck Norris won by 5.
• Chuck Norris was the fourth wise man, who gave baby Jesus the gift of beard, which he carried with him until he died. The other three wise men were enraged by the preference that Jesus showed to Chuck’s gift, and arranged to have him written out of the bible. All three died soon after of mysterious roundhouse-kick related injuries.
• Chuck Norris sheds his skin twice a year.

I went to the Mr Toys Toyworld yesterday to buy a Vmigo for my daughter.  She had some money she wanted to spend but she didn’t want to spend it because she really wants a DS lite. She got worked up to the point of tears about having to compromise one over the other.  Then as we talked about it she realised she could have both if she was prepared to wait for what she wanted.  If she simply waiting a few more months or perhaps up to a year she could get the Vmigo.  As I sit here typing this she looks very happy playing with the Vmigo.

The problem was: choose one or the other.  When in reality she could have chosen both and not had to compromise one or the other.  In academic circles we call this ‘dissolving the problem.’ This is where you take the higher order constraints of the problem and change the conditions that cause the issue to exist.  So instead of my daughter having to choose one or the other she came to a higher order conclusion where both were possible.  Try this way of thinking in your own life and why not let me know in the forum how it works out.

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