Skip to main content

Have A Problem You Can't Solve? Reframe It


If you have a problem and you can't solve it, it's time to reframe it.

Reframing a problem is simple. You force yourself to look at it from another perspective.


Why would this help?

Because most of the time the problem is a result of how you are seeing or understanding the problem. You are using your own assumptions and experience to solve what's in front of you, however these are often the same things that created the environment where the problem is thriving.


People will often confuse problems, causes and effects. We take for granted our own default node network and the role it plays in everything we perceive. 

The best approach to reframing a problem has two elements. First you need to understand how something got to the way it is today. Second, you have to drop everything you already know about the situation and start with a beginner's mind.

Innovative solutions are a result of thinking about a problem differently than you (or other people) already have been. You have to challenge conventional thinking but to do this, you need to map out how you got to where you are now.


A few ways you can use to reframe a problem:

  1. If We Were Building This Again

    This is a strategy I used a lot with my teams over the years. It's common that barriers to solving a problem are linked to the past; constraints that people believe HAVE to be adhered to or some limiting factor from the business, technology, staff, market, etc.
    Often we forget about all of the progress we have made over the years. Challenging yourself on how you would design a solution for today if you were a new start-up for example is extremely powerful

  2. Ask Questions, A Lot More Questions

    This is the superpower you forgot you had at 5 years old. Being able to ask good questions immediately improves results, (re)learning to ask more questions and to stay curious longer is where exceptional results come from.

    There is a real disconnect between a novice and expert. Most people "with the knowledge" don't even realize how much they skip over, how many small details are so baked into their brain that they don't even think about them when being asked to describe a process. Take the role of novice and ask about each step, how each link is connected to the next.
    The second you get "I'm not sure, that's how it's always been done", you're onto something.

  3. Yes, the Answer is Yes

    Start at the end. Describe and frame out your ideal solution. How does it work? What does it look like? What exactly did you build without barriers?

    From there, start stepping backwards from that perfect Utopia, identifying all of the things that you need or would have built to make that happen. Keep walking it back to your current state. That's what you need to do to get to where you want to be.

    Only one rule. You stay focused on yes and don't deviate from the idea that it will happen. So, not "but" only "yes and".

 

 

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This 1 Thing Increases Your Career Capital More Than Anything Else

The Art of Better Decision Making Have you felt scared to make a decision? Maybe you get preoccupied with making the 'wrong' decision?  Did you know that 68% of people have admitted to not doing because they thought it would be harder than it actually is. Getting comfortable with making decisions is one of the biggest challenges new leaders face. You will be placed in situations where there isn't enough time to get all of the information. Or even harder, you will be placed in situations where you'll never get more information than what you have. The good news? Making better decisions is something that you can improve by being deliberate with your learning and how you choose to approach it. This is the approach I take to decision making. These have been test and is what I have used over my 15 year career to teach and develop teams. - Accept that you will make mistakes. There is rarely a perfect answer. Getting comfortable with ambiguity is a leadership muscle you need to
2 comments
Read more

Your Next Five Moves

 There are two streams of thought when you start reading a book and you don't feel like you are connecting with it. Some people will say to stop reading it and move onto something else, the theory is that there are so many things in the world that you will enjoy reading, that you shouldn't be wasting your time on things that you don't. Camp B will tell you to stick with it, get through it and see what happens. If I had to "pick a side" I probably fall more into team B than team A, even though I do feel that there will always be some books / material that you should just put down. What has me more B than A? Some of the books that have had the most impact on me were a STRUGGLE to get through. I challenge that this may because they are pushing your boundaries and putting something up against your current worldview / paradigms. True growth and learning comes from when you can challenge and dismantle your own ideas, and rebuilt them anew. My first real experience with
Post a Comment
Read more

Decisions, Positions and Frames

  Making decisions and getting consensus is the most common activity that every person goes through. Whether in your personal or professional life, we are all selling, all the time. Selling? I'm not selling anything! Actually, that's not really true. At the most fundamental level, selling is about the transfer of belief. You are trying to get a person or a group to see things the way you do. If they accept that, you make the "sale" (i.e. you have transferred your idea/belief) as another has chosen to accept it. Where things get hard is when people hold onto certain ideas, frames or positions around a circumstance. It's interesting how little people realize what they share related to their position without even knowing it. The information is there, as long as you are listening. Always be listening. When someone repeats a variable or constraint that is a difference, that has major impact. They themselves they may not realize that they are essentially confirming what
Post a Comment
Read more