5 strategies to effectively solve problems
- Sometimes it’s a conflict between people.
- Some other times it’s a puzzle or mystery.
- Other times you may need to find ways to persuade people of a point you are trying to make.
In this article you’ll see how you can solve problems through the use of five strategies that will allow you to effectively break down problems into their various parts and thus make them more manageable.
It is imperative we have a very clear definition and understanding of the problem we need to solve.
1
Identifying the Problem
This may sound obvious, but many times you lack clarity on what the problem is you are trying to solve. This leads to wild goose chases in which you get distracted by things that are irrelevant to the problem in question. Thus, it is imperative you have a very clear definition and understanding of the problem you need to solve. Once the problem is identified, one thing that will be helpful is to determine which are the obstacles that are preventing you from performing the task and which will need to be removed.
| ISSUE | OBSTACLE |
|---|---|
| I need to buy a new car. | I am not sure which model to get and how much I should spend on it. |
| I want to get married. | We are of different religions. |
| My friends got into a fight and are no longer talking to each other. | Identify what caused the conflict. Get them to talk again. |
By breaking a problem down into its parts we may find that it was not as big or as complicated as we initially thought. Conversely, we may discover that it was indeed more complex than we initially anticipated.
2
Breaking the Problem into its Parts
Often what you discover by analyzing the problem is that it is comprised of one or more sub-problems. Indeed, this is the main reason why we need to break down a problem into its constituent parts once the problem is identified. This way, you can:
- Get a better sense of the scope of the problem.
- Get a good idea of how big it is.
- Learn how many issues there are.
- Understand what those issues are.
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3
Prioritizing Issues
Once you have identified the issues you need to address you have to prioritize them. After all, the more likely scenario is that not all issues are equally as important. Also, sometimes sub-problems need to be dealt with in a particular order. You may also be able to tell the order in which the tasks need to be taken care of from a list like the one in the example. To pursue the same house building example a little further, clearly you cannot put the roof on until you have the walls up, and you cannot build those unless the floor and the foundation are laid down, and so on. Therefore by making this list you can rank the sub-problems in the order in which you need to tackle them, thus having a clear course of action to what needs to be done first, second, and so on. If the breakdown is fine-grained enough you will also likely see what is more important and thus needs to be given a higher priority. For instance, in your house-building project you might have the task of choosing the appliances you’ll install, but clearly that task can be performed later in the project and is ultimately less important than the task of laying the foundation.
Example
If the problem you must solve is to build a house, you will break down the problem into the various steps you must take to do it, such as designing it, securing funding for its construction, buying a lot, laying the foundation, building the walls, putting the roof, and so one and so forth. By looking at this list you can clearly see the various tasks you must perform, and you can also evaluate the complexity and importance of each individually. You may discover that some of these tasks can be pretty involved and may require you in turn break them down into even smaller tasks.
4
Relevance of Issues
When you break down a problem into its basic elements you must be careful that all the issues are relevant to the issue in question. For example, if in your house-building project you listed helping junior with his homework, then you have clearly added a task that is irrelevant to the problem at hand, irrespective of how important it may be. Thus it’s critical every issue you list is relevant to the issue you are trying to solve.
5
Checking Assumptions
Another important thing you must do after you have broken a problem down to its constituent parts is to validate assumptions and check facts. This is very important as often you think or assume something is a problem, when in fact it isn’t. You must always question your assumptions as otherwise you might end up fighting windmills.
| PROBLEM | CHECKING FACTS OR ASSUMPTIONS |
|---|---|
| I cannot afford to buy a house. |
|
Breaking down the problem into its parts helps us to prioritize the issues that need to be solved.
Solve problems
I n conclusion, a problem is any situation or issue you must resolve and that may require you to make difficult decisions. You cannot really be effective at solving a problem unless you have a clear understanding of what the problem is. Breaking down the problem into its parts is helpful to understand the scope of the problem and to make it more manageable to solve. It also helps you to prioritize the issues that need to be solved which will result in a ranked list. The same process will help you identify issues that may not be relevant to the problem at hand, thus allowing you to focus on only the things that really matter.
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Practice breaking down those problems!
Enter your information to get our FREE practice exercises so you can get better at breaking down problems.
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