The first step of every problem-solving process I know is “Define the Problem” – easier to say than do.
A military unit I commanded was tasked with supporting the Special Olympics.[1] We were to have several hundred disabled athletes staying in military billets during the competition. I was concerned about being able to adequately respond to medical emergency and asked the officer-in-charge to ensure we had communication in each building. The captain returned the next day to say that he had contacted the Signal Brigade on post and they would schedule a special training exercise during the competition in the barracks area so we would have radio communications 24-hours a day. However, we would have to pay for the fuel to power their radios from our training funds.
I asked the captain to define the problem and he responded that he needed $5,000 to pay for the fuel. Each time he finished his explanation, I would again ask him to redefine the problem. He was becoming more and more frustrated with my inability to understand and finally blurted out, “Sir – you told me to get communications in those building.” At that point, he realized that the problem was getting communications and the $5,000 was one of the means to do so. It became apparent that he had not yet walked through the barracks and we agreed that would be a good next step. Two hours later he sheepishly reported that there were working telephones in each building.
This is an example of a well intentioned and highly motivated young person creating a solution before understanding the problem.
He had a hammer and was searching for a nail.
Once the problem is defined, it is not locked in concrete. New circumstances or an improved state of information should cause a manager to review and possibly revise the problem statement. I’m a disciple of The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson and have often used a white board to define the problem and then print the problem statement to give to the person tasked with the mission. A particularly talented young captain came back a month later to give me a status report and I realized that he was not solving the problem I gave him. He was equally convinced that he was correct so I asked him to produce the problem statement I originally gave him. He did so and he was in fact working on the original problem statement. I then realized that in my thought process, consciously or subconsciously, the problem statement had evolved but I had not shared this evolution with the person tasked with solving the problem.
The lesson to be learned is define the problem, share it with team, and keep everyone – including you – focused on the same goal.