Rafael chuckled. “Alright, so the first step is to identify the problem. When my team asks for help, instead of me, giving the answer, I should ask them to clearly describe the problem.”
I was trying to stay out of the way, trying not to lead the witness. “Yes?”
“And the second step,” Rafael continued. “The second step, but the problem is, sometimes you can’t go to the second step. Because sometimes, the problem isn’t the problem. I mean, sometimes, the problem is only a symptom. You have to figure out what is causing the problem. That’s the key, the cause of the problem.”
“Write that down. What is the cause of the problem?”
“Once you have the cause of the problem, then it gets easy. There are usually a half dozen ways to fix the cause of the problem, you just pick the best one.”
“Let me get this down,” I said.
- Identify the problem?
- Identify the cause of the problem?
- Identify alternative solutions?
- Pick the best solution?
Rafael now has a genuine and helpful response for his team. Using these four steps, he can influence the process the team uses to solve problems. This process is easy to remember and very teachable. And if consistently used, the team will, over time, solve their current problems and exchange them for more and more complex problems. This process is one of two powerful coaching methods we will use next week in Coaching – Bringing Value as a Manager in Working Leadership Online.
The second step should be to make a list of things related to that problem. That would make you the task easier of searching for alternatives and selecting the right solution.
Years ago I did a technical course run by Sun Microsystems that taught you a formal problem solving and troubleshooting process. I wish every company taught their staff this, internally or externally.
Floundering around, trying one random thing after another, is behavior I see at every single client. Just slowing down and following a clear process like this at least guarantees progress.
And usually you resolve the issue much faster.
Love this conversation snippets posting style, Tom! I’m really enjoying your blog.
Justin,
We can teach “root cause analysis,” but the willingness or the capability of the person to apply outside the classroom is tentative. These four powerful questions are easy to teach and easy to apply, without the technicalities of condition comparison.