WINNERS IN LIFE reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do. Let the first quarter the first 90 days be the first milestone to measure your success and get the year to a flying start.

 SEVEN THINGS TO DO DIFFERENTLY

 TO BE A WINNER IN 2017

Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals in 2016, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on personal growth achievement suggests that  WINNERS IN LIFE reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.

1.BEGIN AFRESH- BE FULLY ALIVE IN THE NOW

WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY IF YOU WERE TO LIVE THE BYGONE YEAR 2016 ALL OVER AGAIN??? Good question but how much will you retrospect  and many days of 2017 will you look in the rear view mirror? Give up the past.  It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present.

Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

Focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do. Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., “Don’t think about black cats!”) has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behavior — by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.

If you want to change your ways, ask yourself, WHAT WILL I DO INSTEAD? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like “If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down.” By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely

2.WORK ON THE INSIDE FIRST

Give up your self-defeating self-talk. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly! A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind

Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that. The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that most of the time are not even real.

3.KEEP YOU EYE ON THE BALL AND ALWAYS  ACT ON YOUR GOALS. 

Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Do first things first (only saying) and second things never. Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers...and deciding to avoid some of dubious value which don’t really add to your overall success. To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., “If it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I’ll clear my desk  for 30 minutes before work.”) Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.

4.BE A REALISTIC OPTIMIST. REPROGRAM THE MIND

When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.

·         Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

·         Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, many things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

·         Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place. Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

5.ACCEPT THE V.U.C.A. WORLD

VUCA  is a buzz word and rightly so for today. it stands for four forces ruling us today. Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity And Ambiguity Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be open to a new idea?” . What difference will that make to your mental horizon?

An Uncertain World means you need to give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.”  Said Lao Tzu the ancient Chinese sage. A Complex and Ambiguous World means you need to give up any resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move to the next level of sucess. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it. Follow your conscience on what’s right for you  and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls

6.BUILD YOUR WILLPOWER MUSCLE

Perseverance  is a willingness to - commit to long term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher . The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack persistence and constancy of purpose;  more often than not believe that they just don’t have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking …. well, there’s no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good tacts  are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.

 Your self-control “muscle” is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn’t get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals. To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother — don’t. It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that’s the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.

No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it’s important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don’t try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don’t put yourself in harm’s way — many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.

7.GIVE UP LIVING YOUR LIFE TO OTHER PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS. 

Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and worse still what the media thinks is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves.  You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

THE WAY AHEAD IN 2017

It is my hope that, after reading about the seven things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember, you don’t need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It’s never what you are, but what you do.

Focus on getting better, rather than being perfect you will set realistic and achievable goals. Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won’t improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.

Know exactly how far you have left to go. Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don’t know how well you are doing, you can’t adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal. Let the first quarter the first 90 days be the first milestone to measure your success and get the year to a flying start.

Happy New Year 2017

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

THE CARDINAL QUALITY OF A GREAT LEADER : HUMILITY WHICH SEEKS FEEDBACK

BUILD UPON YOUR STRENGTHS : focus attention on competencies that really affect competitive advantage.

DESIGN YOU BUSINESS POLICY 

AROUND YOUR  CORE COMPETENCY

Core competencies are those capabilities that are critical to a business achieving competitive advantage. The starting point for analysing core competencies is recognising that competition between businesses is as much a race for competence mastery as it is for market position and market power. Senior management cannot focus on all activities of a business and the competencies required to undertake them. So the goal is for management to focus attention on competencies that really affect competitive advantage.

THEORY & PRACTICE OF CORE COMPETENCY:

The main ideas about Core Competencies where developed by C K Prahalad and G Hamel through a series of articles in the Harvard Business Review followed by a best-selling book - Competing for the Future. Their central idea is that over time companies may develop key areas of expertise which are distinctive to that company and critical to the company's long term growth.

'In the 1990s managers will be judged on their ability to identify, cultivate, and exploit the core competencies that make growth possible - indeed, they'll have to rethink the concept of the corporation it self.' C K Prahalad and G Hamel 1990

These areas of expertise may be in any area but are most likely to develop in the critical, central areas of the company where the most value is added to its products.

For example, for a manufacturer of electronic equipment, key areas of expertise could be in the design of the electronic components and circuits. For a ceramics manufacturer, they could be the routines and processes at the heart of the production process. For a software company the key skills may be in the overall simplicity and utility of the program for users or alternatively in the high quality of software code writing they have achieved.

Core Competencies are not seen as being fixed. Core Competencies should change in response to changes in the company's environment. They are flexible and evolve over time. As a business evolves and adapts to new circumstances and opportunities, so its Core Competencies will have to adapt and change.

Identifying Core Competencies

Prahalad and Hamel suggest three factors to help identify core competencies in any business:

What does the Core Competence Achieve?	Comments / Examples
Provides potential access to a wide variety of markets	The key core competencies here are those that enable the creation of new products and services. Example: Why has XXX  established such a strong leadership in supplying financial services (e.g. insurance) and holidays to the older generation? Core Competencies that enable XXX to enter apparently different markets: - Clear distinctive brand proposition that focuses solely on a closely-defined customer group - Leading direct marketing skills - database management; direct-mailing campaigns; call centre sales conversion - Skills in customer relationship management
Makes a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end product	Core competencies are the skills that enable a business to deliver a fundamental customer benefit - in other words: what is it that causes customers to choose one product over another? To identify core competencies in a particular market, ask questions such as "why is the customer willing to pay more or less for one product or service than another?" "What is a customer actually paying for? Example: Why have XXX been so successful in capturing leadership of the market for online grocery shopping? Core competencies that mean customers value the XXX experience so highly: - Designing and implementing supply systems that effectively link existing shops with the XXX web site - Ability to design and deliver a "customer interface" that personalises online shopping and makes it more efficient - Reliable and efficient delivery infrastructure (product picking, distribution, customer satisfaction handling)
Difficult for competitors to imitate	A core competence should be "competitively unique": In many industries, most skills can be considered a prerequisite for participation and do not provide any significant competitor differentiation. To qualify as "core", a competence should be something that other competitors wish they had within their own business. Example:Why does XXX have such a strong position in the personal computer market? Core competencies that are difficult for the competition to imitate: - Online customer "bespoking" of each computer built - Minimisation of working capital in the production process - High manufacturing and distribution quality - reliable products at competitive prices

A competence which is central to the business's operations but which is not exceptional in some way should not be considered as a core competence, as it will not differentiate the business from any other similar businesses. For example, a process which uses common computer components and is staffed by people with only basic training cannot be regarded as a core competence. Such a process is highly unlikely to generate a differentiated advantage over rival businesses. However it is possible to develop such a process into a core competence with suitable investment in equipment and training.

It follows from the concept of Core Competencies that resources that are standardised or easily available will not enable a business to achieve a competitive advantage over rivals.

If the CEO or the executive team is not able to answer all of the above questions, then the leadership team suffers from management blind spots.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND A CEO 

The proper evaluation of the CEO and the executive team is critical to the company’s performance. The evaluation framework of the CEO can be summarized into two major areas; business strategy formulation and execution.

According to a best practices study conducted, the CEO’s key challenge in formulating and executing the business strategy is not in finding answers to the tough questions, the challenge is in asking the right questions. 

Asking the wrong questions will result in skewed operational or strategic plans.

The top 10 questions every board must ask its CEO:

1.    Are we in the right business and markets? What are the growth areas to invest in and declining areas to divest?

2.    What are the economic and market research data that support our strategy?

3.    What are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOTs)?

4.    What are we doing to address each one of the SWOTs?

5.    What are our core competencies? How we can leverage them?

6.    What are the key strategic and operational risks? How do we manage them?

7.    What are our key performance targets?

8.    How do we plan to achieve those targets?

9.    How can we build a sustainable competitive advantage?

10.                    How can we improve governance, control and reporting functions?

The top 10 questions every CEO must ask his executive team:

1.    Do we have a big growth idea?

2.    Do we have the right growth engine (business model, infrastructure, resources and network)?

3.    Does our operations management efficiently and effectively support our performance targets? How do we know?

4.    Which vendors, partners, clients and employees are delivering the real value? How do we get more out of the rest?

5.    What are the key SWOTs in each function, and how do you manage them?

6.    How can we build a sustainable competitive advantage in each function (Marketing, R&D, SCM, IT, etc)?

7.    What initiatives/programs/projects are needed to execute our strategy? How do we ensure that they are aligned and executed with the right quality, on time and within budget?

8.    What are the key performance targets and incentives for each executive (CMO, CFO, COO, CIO, and CHO)?

9.    Do we have the appropriate organization in place to meet those targets? (IIM’s 5D strategy framework: budget, tools, products, processes and people)?

10.                    How can we communicate our plans better to our stakeholders in order to win their support and achieve our goals?

If the CEO or the executive team is not able to answer all of the above questions, then the leadership team suffers from management blind spots. Every CEO/CXO must be able to provide the answers to the preceding questions, readily, clearly, and precisely. The executive team members must be able to provide qualitative and quantitative answers.

A BOUQUET OF PRIME THOUGHTS FOR MY ALUMNI IN ACADEMIA AND CORPORATE WORLD

the CEO must be effective in performing seven versatile roles To produce exceptional results, the CEO must understand how to perform all roles well and must recognize that near to success is not good enough.

THE CEO : A VISIONARY & STRATEGY GAMES MAN

CREATING THE VISION

Too many CEOs allow themselves to get drawn in to the maze of day-to-day firefighting – we call this working in the business.  On the other hand, outstanding CEOs make the time to rise above the firefighting and focus on the big picture – we call this working on the business.  From personal experience and in working with others, we have found that there are six core roles that the most effective CEOs perform on a consistent basis..

And CEOs don’t have a choice when it comes to their responsibilities – they must see that all are done and done well.  There is no one to pick up the slack if the CEO does not tend to them. We can help ensure that these responsibilites are effectively executed. 

To lead, a CEO must first define a unifying direction for the company.  Choosing the right vision and expressing it with clarity is the first challenge of true leadership.  A well crafted vision statement forces the CEO and management team to come to grips with a number of subtle, but very important considerations: the vision statement should identify what is unique about your company; it should guide the activities of all employees; it should inspire them to choose to work for your company and give their all; and it should be stated in such a way that you can measure progress and know when you have achieved your vision.


There are fundamental rules of markets and competition, and there are inherent capabilities and limitations of any organization -- together these make some visions attainable while others are not.  The CEO needs to be able to articulate a strategy for achieving that vision in light of the overall market, the company’s position, the competition, as well as other potentially significant factors, such as macro-economic conditions, politics, and regulatory constraints.  At the core of your strategy should be a path that creates a position of true competitive advantage.

While the CEO must ensure that there is a logically tight strategy, it is also important to make certain that the basic precepts of strategic thought permeate the whole organization from top to bottom.  Strategic thought is not just a top level concept, but it should be present at every level in the organization.

BUIDLING THE TOP-DECK PLAYERS:

Without the team to implement them, a well developed vision and a logically sound strategy are merely concepts, and every experienced CEO understands that success depends on the strength of the team.  While high performance teams begin with strong talent, they must be shaped through the creation of an environment that values the contribution of individuals, sets expectations for performance, operates based on sound decision making processes, and motivates team members to give their all for the objectives of the company.

DRAWING THE ROADMAP:

For the strategy to be effective it must guide all the decisions and actions of the company, and it is the translation of the strategy into a more detailed operating plan that ensures that result.  The operating plan consists of a set of specific actions with quantifiable results, including milestones and timelines, and identifies key risks and contingency plans for the higher risk items.  It is most important that the set of actions prescribed by the operating plan, when achieved, ensures the achievement of the strategy.  The operating plan is also the basis for resource allocation, and as such, budgets should follow the development of the operating plan.  The real value of the operating plan is to focus your team selectively on those activities which are the most valuable — and which together add up to a position of true competitive advantage for the company.

GETTING THE BUY-IN AND COMMITTMENT

Companies employ what we call a strategic principle, a memorable and actionable phrase that distills a company’s corporate strategy into its unique essence and communicates it throughout the organization. The distillation of a company’s strategy into a pithy, memorable, and prescriptive phrase is important because a brilliant business strategy, like an insightful approach to warfare, is of little use unless people understand it well enough to apply it—both to anticipated decisions and unforeseen opportunities. In our work, we often see evidence of what we call the 80-100 rule: you’re better off with a strategy that is 80% right and 100% implemented than one that is 100% right but doesn’t drive consistent action throughout the company. A strategic principle can help a company balance that ratio.

The beauty of having a corporate strategic principle—a company should have only one—is that everyone in an organization, the executives in the front office as well as people in the operating units, can knowingly work toward the same strategic objective without being rigid about how they do so. Decisions don’t always have to make the slow trip to and from the executive suite. When a strategic principle is well crafted and effectively communicated, managers at all levels can be trusted to make decisions that advance rather than undermine company strategy.

REINVENTING SUCCESS 

Strategy evaluation involves examining how the strategy has been implemented as well as the outcomes of the strategy. This includes determining whether deadlines have been met, whether the implementation steps and processes are working correctly, and whether the expected results have been achieved. If it is determined that deadlines are not being met, processes are not working, or results are not in line with the actual goal, then the strategy can and should be modified or reformulated.
Both management and employees are involved in strategy evaluation, because each is able to view the implemented strategy from different perspectives. An employee may recognize a problem in a specific implementation step that management would not be able to identify.
The strategy evaluation should include challenging metrics and timetables that are achievable. If it is impossible to achieve the metrics and timetables, then the expectations are unrealistic and the strategy is certain to fail.

CONCLUSION
The strategic management process is a continuous process. As performance results or outcomes are realized - at any level of the organization - organizational members assess the implications and adjust the strategies as needed. In addition, as the company grows and changes, so will the various strategies. Existing strategies will change and new strategies will be developed. This is all part of the continuous process of improving the business in an effort to succeed

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.