Problem solving is an invaluable skill to develop. Problem solving is a necessary skill inside of commitment and perseverance. Whether it’s in marriage, work, turning an idea into a reality, purpose, vision, your a/c isn’t working, your car won’t start, you don’t have enough disposable income, you don’t have enough income to pay your bills. Whatever the problem, problem solving helps you get through the roadblock.
Without problem solving you can find yourself living in problems, finding work arounds that don’t solve the main problem but maybe seems to fix the symptoms. For instance if a husband and a wife are having a hard time communicating, the work around for that problem would be not to talk to each other. That is not a solution that will create a strong marriage, that is a work around that will create division.
Or let’s say we are short on cash. A temporary solution would be to cut back on the things you can so you can pay your bills. But that won’t solve the main problem. The main problem is, there is not enough income to support living. Therefore we need to figure out how we can generate more income.
Let’s look at a few fundamental steps in problem solving:
1: Find/discover the source of the problem.
There is a difference between a symptom and the cause of the symptom. The cause of the problem is the source of the problem. If you put your key in the ignition of your car and it won’t start, turning your key on and off repeatedly most likely won’t fix your problem. There are a few things that cause the car to turn on when you turn the key on. There is the battery, the starter or the spark plugs. These would be the first things you would look at to find out if one of them is the culprit.
2: Research.
If you know what the problem is but don’t know how to fix it or where to start, research is the answer. Yesterday we tried to turn on our air conditioning in the house and we noticed it never turned on. I don’t know much about central air, so I went to the computer and typed in, “The a/c in my house won’t turn on.” One of the search result titles was, “Common reasons why your a/c isn’t working that you can check yourself before calling a repairman.” Boom, I clicked on that and proceeded to read and grow in knowledge about some of the basic things a repairman would look at.
3: Trial and Error.
When you are trying to discover the source of the problem, you take what you have researched and investigate. Through trial and error you rule out possible sources of the problem, or you find the source, fix it and bam you are done.
4: Rinse and Repeat.
If you worked through the items you discovered in your research and haven’t found the source of the problem get back into steps 2-3 and see if you can find other possible reason for your problem.
5: Keep the right attitude.
This is one of the most important parts of problem solving, because it is easy to get frustrated, and/or mad while seeking out the solution. This process requires patience, trial and error, effort, learning, trying new things, failing, all those things can create frustration. On the flip side these are the very things that produce growth and maturity. If I go into the project knowing that I don’t know what I’m doing, knowing I’m going to have to work it out and that it will take time, then I have a lot more patience with the process. On the flip side, if I don’t want to spend the time, nor want to work it out, then I’m going to get frustrated. Part of the maturing process is when you become aware that you don’t want to get into a project right this minute and choose to work it out at a later time.
6: Seek out a professional.
Sometimes you need help from someone who has more experience and training in a particular area. The whole point of problem solving is to solve the problem. For instance I employed all of these steps in trying to get my a/c to work but step 6 is probably the step I take tomorrow.
We are people who are to create and live in solutions not problems. You are a problem solver. Go solve you some problems.