In 2024, adjust your mindset and focus on problem solving
The holidays, vacations and Carnival have come and gone. 2024 began a while ago, but it is likely to heat up from here on in the business world. So, if you have not yet defined priorities and paths, the time is now.
For those who are still, let's say, somewhat lost about what the year's theme will be, at the company or in their professional life, here is a suggestion: how about focusing efforts on improving the ability to solve problems?
It is an extremely valuable skill for individuals, companies and nations. Problems beset us all the time, everywhere. Inside and outside companies, things do not necessarily happen as expected or planned. Depending on how we react to the “deviation” (problem), we can “correct the course” (solve the problem) or “roll the vehicle over” (amplify effects or even create new problems).
In general, in the world of organizations, quite superficial practices are observed regarding the way problems are exposed, interpreted and solved. What truly solving problems means is very far from what could (or should) happen.
The first thing we need to improve in the practice of problem solving is our ability to see problems, narrow them down and define them. What problem are we trying to solve? This question demands clear answers. Otherwise, confusion, noise and waste will always be present.
Problems cannot be seen as “bad things.” Quite the opposite. The lean way of thinking and acting suggests that the essence of management is precisely to reveal and solve problems. Management gains strength when we adopt this premise to guide daily practice, involving all levels of the organization. Problems are unequivocal evidence that we are facing the opportunity to improve processes, eliminate waste, innovate and deliver more value.
Thus, maintaining a merely “negative” view is the first step on the path to solving nothing. It is that traditional temptation to “sweep the dirt under the rug.” Hiding, dressing up, distorting... or even pretending that problems do not exist, also a very classic resort.
So the first challenge for any organization (or individual) that truly wants to transform the way it manages is to radically question the mental premise that associates problems with eminently negative emotional charges, often even associated with punishment.
It is not easy to transform these practices and behaviors. They are ways of thinking, acting and deciding that are sometimes crystallized in people's minds. They come with them, from their family, school and social upbringing, broadly speaking. It is at the core of the culture of many organizations, whose governance and management models even reward and reinforce such behaviors.
So we need to confront, every day, the mindset that associates problems with negative things, which is still dominant today in the workplaces of most organizations. In practical terms, for example, by making it clear to people, through every possible means and at all times, that revealing problems will never be a problem. On the contrary, the new way of acting can be the start of a virtuous cycle of evolution and growth for everyone.
For this to become a reality, the behavior of leaders will be decisive. If we keep sending daily signals that problems are “bad things,” asking “who?” instead of “why?”, we will never be able to concretely improve the way we address our challenges.
This can be a first step, the fundamental foundation for sustaining the evolution of methods and techniques. Armed with clarity about the real object of our challenge, we can focus on the most effective ways to overcome it. It is said that a well-defined problem is half the solution. Popular wisdom is full of gems.
We live in an increasingly digital world, with unprecedented availability of data and information, artificial intelligence to support us and a series of other gifts of modernity. However, we still need to considerably develop our ability to solve problems, individually and collectively. It is human technology, social intelligence, ultimately, that can take us to new levels of progress, inside and outside companies.
