in the course of the day any business professional has several occasion when he needs a pen and paper in hand to analyze careful and attack simple or even complex problems

THINKING A FORGOTTEN SKILL:

 IN THE HURRIED  WORLD OF BUSINESS

In the largest sense, the business professionals ares breaking into two classes: The first class are people who know how to think. These people realize that most problems are open to examination and creative solution. If a problem appears in the lives of these people, their intellectual training will quickly lead them to a solution or an alternative statement of the problem. These people are the source of the most important product in today's economy — ideas.

The second class, the vast majority of professionals, are people who cannot think for themselves. I call these people "idea consumers" — metaphorically speaking, they wander around in a gigantic open-air mall of facts and ideas. The content of their experience is provided by television, the Internet and other shallow data pools. These people believe collecting images and facts makes them educated and competent, and all their experiences reinforce this belief. The central, organizing principle of this class is that ideas come from somewhere else, from magical persons, geniuses, "them."

Yet in the course of the day any business professional has several occasion when he need a pen and paper in hand to analyze careful and attack simple or even complex problems. this article is an introduction to the subject of systematic thinking for problem solving

SIX  SIMPLE STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING

1. WRITE A CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS PROBLEM STATEMENT

This is often where people struggle. They react to what they think the problem is. Instead, seek to understand more about why you think there's a problem.

Defining the problem: (with input from yourself and others)
Ask yourself and others, the following questions: 
a. What can you see that causes you to think there's a problem? . Where is it happening?. How is it happening?. When is it happening?. With whom is it happening? Why is it happening?

Write down a five-sentence description of the problem in terms of "The following should be happening, but isn't ..." or "The following is happening and should be: ..." As much as possible, be specific in your description, including what is happening, where, how, with whom and why. (It may be helpful at this point to use a variety of research methods. Also see .. If the problem still seems overwhelming, break it down by repeating steps a-f until you have descriptions of several related problems.. It helps a great deal to verify your problem analysis for conferring with a peer or someone else.

Prioritize the problems: If you discover that you are looking at several related problems, then prioritize which ones you should address first.  Note the difference between "important" and "urgent" problems. Often, what we consider to be important problems to consider are really just urgent problems. Important problems deserve more attention. For example, if you're continually answering "urgent" phone calls, then you've probably got a more "important" problem and that's to design a system that screens and prioritizes your phone calls.

2. LOOK AT POTENTIAL CAUSES FOR THE PROBLEM

a. It's amazing how much you don't know about what you don't know. Therefore, in this phase, it's critical to get input from other people who notice the problem and who are effected by it. 
b. It's often useful to collect input from other individuals one at a time (at least at first). Otherwise, people tend to be inhibited about offering their impressions of the real causes of problems.
c. Write down what your opinions and what you've heard from others.
d. Regarding what you think might be performance problems associated with an employee, it's often useful to seek advice from a peer or your supervisor in order to verify your impression of the problem.
e.Write down a description of the cause of the problem and in terms of what is happening, where, when, how, with whom and why.

3. IDENTIFY ALTERNATIVES FOR PROBLEM RESOLUTION

a. At this point, it's useful to keep others involved (unless you're facing a personal and/or employee performance problem). Brainstorm for solutions to the problem. Very simply put, brainstorming is collecting as many ideas as possible, then screening them to find the best idea. It's critical when collecting the ideas to not pass any judgment on the ideas -- just write them down as you hear them.

4. SELECT AN THE BEST VIABLE APPROACH

When selecting the best approach, consider:
a. Which approach is the most likely to solve the problem for the long term?
b. Which approach is the most realistic to accomplish for now? Do you have the resources? Are they affordable? Do you have enough time to implement the approach?
c. What is the extent of risk associated with each alternative? 
(The nature of this step, in particular, in the problem solving process is why problem solving and decision making are highly integrated.)

5. SELCT THE BEST ALTERNATIVE & YOUR ACTION PLAN

a. Carefully consider "What will the situation look like when the problem is solved?"
b. What steps should be taken to implement the best alternative to solving the problem? What systems or processes should be changed in your organization, for example, a new policy or procedure? Don't resort to solutions where someone is "just going to try harder". 
c. How will you know if the steps are being followed or not? (these are your indicators of the success of your plan)
d. What resources will you need in terms of people, money and facilities? 
e. How much time will you need to implement the solution? Write a schedule that includes the start and stop times, and when you expect to see certain indicators of success. 
f. Who will primarily be responsible for ensuring implementation of the plan?
g. Write down the answers to the above questions and consider this as your action plan.
h. Communicate the plan to those who will involved in implementing it and, at least, to your immediate supervisor.
(An important aspect of this step in the problem-solving process is continually observation and feedback.)

6. WORK YOUR  PLAN

Monitor the indicators of success: 
a. Are you seeing what you would expect from the indicators?
b. Will the plan be done according to schedule? 
c. If the plan is not being followed as expected, then consider: Was the plan realistic? Are there sufficient resources to accomplish the plan on schedule? Should more priority be placed on various aspects of the plan? Should the plan be changed?

THE WAY AHEAD...

One of the best ways to verify if a problem has been solved or not is to resume normal operations in the organization. Still, you should consider:

a. What changes should be made to avoid this type of problem in the future? Consider changes to policies and procedures, training, etc. 
b. Lastly, consider "What did you learn from this problem solving?" Consider new knowledge, understanding and/or skills. 
c. Consider writing a brief memo that highlights the success of the problem solving effort, and what you learned as a result. Share it with your supervisor, peers and subordinates.