“The art of problem solving”

Since I can remember I’ve been trying to solve problems. One of my earliest recollection was trying to fix our TV after a fuse had blown. I must have been around 14 at the time. Like a good techie I found the culprit, a burned out fuse and replaced it only to blow something really expensive. You can imagine how well that went down! The moral of that story is replacing something that is broken without understand why it broke in the first place is not really solving the problem, and as in my case made it a lot worse. There is also a hidden lesson in that story too, making mistakes helps you make better decisions.

Fortunately for me, this experience didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for solving problems. Deeply routed in my passion for Mathematics was this innate desire to solve problems. Ultimately it led me to where I am today, a career in Consultancy. With both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Mathematics behind me I rarely delve into complex equations these days, yet I find myself leaning heavily on the principles that helped me solve problems, way back when. Here are some of my guiding principles that I still stick by today:

Understand the problem! A problem statement may not reveal what the problem is. Often I see symptoms being described as problems. So test that theory. Also the characteristics of a problem can change, particularly if the environment changes. This is often the case in IT when external factors can change the nature of a problem. So write down everything you know to be true or false! You’ll need to think about the problem and try and understand what the symptoms are telling you. If you can explain your problem to someone else, it might help you see whether you truly understand it or whether you’re missing the obvious.

Create a hypothesis and test it! This is where you need to start thinking logically. Based on what I know I, believe “The following” to be true! I see so many people running down rat holes pursuing the answer to a question, often losing sight of the problem all together. As you learn more about your problem check to see if your hypothesis is still valid. If not create a new one. This can often be an iterative process until you can reach a logical conclusion.

Share your problem! They say a problem shared is a problem halved. Not so sure about halving it, but getting the right team will certainly help you understand your problem and will probably lead to a faster resolution. To assemble the right team, you will need to understand more about the problem, which is why its so important to “Understand the problem” first.

Does the problem have a solution? Not all problems can be solved! You may not need to solve the problem to achieve the desired result. This may involve compromise, but if the alternative is spending an unlimited amount of time and money chasing the answer, you’d be better off looking for a satisfactory alternative.

One final thought, many of the problems we face in life are often the result of some human action, possible of our own doing. Sometimes better planning can lead to fewer problems.