Problem Solving's ONLY Golden Rule?

As a busy Root Cause Analysis professional working across multiple disciplines, industries and countries no two challenges are ever the same.  However, when running training courses there is a question that comes up with more frequency than any other. That question is “What is the single most important thing we should do to become better problem solvers?”  For a long time I thought that there is no simple answer to this question, any more than there is ever a single root cause to any complex problem. 
 
However, having spent several years pondering this question I think I’m closer to answering it than I ever have been.  And I did it by turning the question on its head. By this I mean that I asked myself “What is the one crucial step in structured problem solving, that if you skipped it, you’d be most likely to fail, and fail badly.”  Framed like that, the answer leapt out at me.  The answer is a single word and that word is ‘Team’.
 
From my experience, at the heart of all great problem solving is a well assembled team.  In fact, if you lift the lid on complex problem solving in any of the world’s great organisations, you’ll see that problem solving is NEVER, EVER a solo activity.
 
In my estimation there are 5 Key Reasons as to why this is the case. When combined they clearly reveal why solo problem solving is almost always a catastrophic failure, burning through time, money, trust, staff and just about any other valuable resource you can think of.
 
Reason 1: You can’t solve a problem without understanding it. 
…And you can’t understand a problem without a 360-degree perspective. In practice this only happens through the creation of a great team.  A balanced team that can see the wider impact of a problem and knows precisely where to gather data and evidence.  Most major events (positive and negative) are created by the combination of people undertaking an action, the tools and equipment they are using, the procedures, instructions and formalities they are following and the environment (both physical and cultural) they are operating in. This panorama is just too vast for any single individual to observe adequately. A good team of 5 or 6 employees might easily have 150 years’ worth of knowledge and experience, reaching across every function of an organisation.  The perspective of a team like this is incredibly valuable when it comes to solving difficult problems.  
 
Reason 2:  It’s not your problem!
Charles Kettering, famed inventor and head of research for General Motors in the mid 20^th Century made it clear that ‘A problem Well-stated is a problem Half-solved’   Here he’s talking about the importance of defining a problem correctly. Individually most of us see and express the same problem very differently, depending upon how it affected us and our area of the business.  If you don’t believe this, pick a broad area of failure in your business and ask individuals from across the firm to define the issue. I guarantee you that you’ll be shocked by the divergence in their answers. Defining a problem clearly, as Prof. Kettering states, is critical. A good team, if they take the time to do this adequately, will get the analytical process moving in the right direction and maximise the resources at their disposal.  
 
Reason 3: Impact equals Action.
Canvas your FD today for a £100,000 budget for a problem that has no discernible impact on business goals. Alternately request a modest war chest for a problem that has an impact of £100,000 once a quarter.  What scenario is most likely to yield more resources?  Put another way, teams are always in a better position to understand the true, deeper and often hidden impacts of an event (particularly those knock-on costs that are not obviously attributable to the problem) if they understand it fully. Even more opaque is frequency.  Some events are obviously a carbon-copy repeat of a previous, well-documented issue. In reality though, repeat frequency is far less obvious.  Just like the human body, repeat weakness in an organisation can manifest itself in a manner that isn’t obviously a repetition of a previous issue – even though the root causes are shared.
 
Reason 4: Nothing Happens Without a Cause.
As John F. Kennedy said, “Things don’t just happen, they are made to happen.”  If you want to genuinely analyse cause and effect in an event and resist the temptation of relying on opinion and storytelling you need a good team. In recent years the lines between narrative (stories) and analysis (logic) have become increasingly blurred. Much of what we once considered narrative and opinion has now been repackaged as ‘analysis’.   If you’re uncertain about this, just turn on your TV or radio and select a show on politics, the economy or sports. Listen long enough and you’ll hear an exchange that goes a little something like this;
 
Host: “This is an interesting development, now over to Leigh for some analysis.”
 
Guest/Commentator: “Thanks Jill. In my opinion it’s pretty clear that this means [insert compelling speculative statement and some further opinion and thoughts].”
 
The workplace is no different. When opinion and storytelling dominate, they have a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of our decision making. Storytelling encourages us to ignore cause and effect, papers over the gaps in our knowledge, accept faulty timelines and jump to lazy conclusions.  In very simple terms, narrative is a hothouse for cultivating the illusion of certainty.
 
Reason 5: There is NO ‘Right Answer’.
I often say, Root Cause Analysis should be called Root Causes Analysis, but it just doesn’t roll of the tongue so easily. As any problem has an infinite number of causes there are infinite numbers of solutions.  What we have to do is find the best solutions, those that reduce or halt recurrence. They need to be within our control and meet our goals and objectives.  In order to achieve this, we have to be able to critically assess our possible solutions. We might suggest using 4 ‘golden’ criteria: How effective will this solution be? Can we actually implement it? Can we afford it? And, if we do this, what will the knock-on effects be?  Superficially simple, these are four enormous questions with colossal ramifications.  In practice, individuals rarely come close to the effectiveness of teams when it comes to uncovering possible solutions, nor do they ever assess them as comprehensively as a team.  The risk inherent in allowing this to happen is substantial, yet it remains a common and established business practice throughout the world.  
 
So, in conclusion, although it would be very difficult for me to measure exactly how much more effective a well-chosen team of problem solvers is in comparison to a lone-ranger, the difference is substantial. And aggregated over time, the difference is vast.  Great organisations know this, and dedicated problem-solving teams become a core resource in all critical aspects of their operations.
 
So next time you have complex problems to solve, make sure you assemble a great team, allocate enough time and stick to Sologic’s proven and trusted RCA Process.  The results will be astounding and will change the fundamental manner in which you tackle not just problems, but all significant business decisions.