Problem Solving: What Is Working?

This is a lesson I picked up in a terrific magazine article I read a few years ago. As I’m not a research/footnote type, I didn’t make a note of the magazine it was in, the name of the article, or the author of the piece. If you are that person, please let me know so you can get the credit you deserve.

What I do remember is that the thrust of the piece was how to solve problems more efficiently and effectively. The author recalled for readers the scene from Apollo 13 where the scientists have gathered to figure out how they are going to get Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton back from space alive—and notes that the first question they asked about the equipment on the ship was, “What’s working?”

Her point—now my point to you—is that when we have a situation that’s tricky our first instinct is often to focus on what’s not working as opposed to what is, and that this doesn’t do a lot to facilitate problem solving.

“But,” you might be thinking, “if we don’t talk about what’s wrong how can we take steps to change it?” This is a valid question.

In reply, however, please note that, what’s working, was just the first question they asked; it was not the only question they asked.

Unfortunately, however, beginning with the problem, the missteps, the drama, seems to be the norm. It takes a cool head to step back and realize that not only does this waste time, but it also tend to lower morale. That from here it’s generally just a few short steps to people feeling overwhelmed and consequently becoming belligerent, defensive, self-righteous, defeated, victimized—take your pick from a medley of distracting emotions.

So the next time you find yourself gathered around a conference room table preparing to triage the latest equipment breakdown/drop in the market/wardrobe malfunction, see if you can take a moment before you focus on what’s not working to articulate what is. It might not make an enormous difference to the solution you discover, but it’s more than likely it will help you arrive at that solution more quickly.