The bigger view
The bigger view
Few people have never solved a problem before – no matter at what level.
This experience, whether positive or negative can lead a person to click into gear straightaway and begin solving the issue as it arises.
Ideas start to run through your mind based upon those previous experiences.
In other words, it is easy to begin to tackle the problem in exactly the same way as you approached all the other problems.
You can start to solve problems from a narrow viewpoint.
Expand the problem
One technique is to open up the problem by widening its boundaries and then consider it from a slightly different angle.
By doing this you begin to examine a larger issue which may resolve the original problem or make it irrelevant.
So, how can you tackle this?
Firstly, clearly identify the original problem and couch it in terms of a question.
For example, let’s say a you have a parts failure in an engine, you might ask the question ‘what caused this part to fail?’
This will lead to expanded thinking.
Check that the thinking is indeed expanding and not just the original issue viewed from a slightly different angle.
Is the design where the part is used poor? Is the part quality low?
By keeping on asking ‘why?’ the issue becomes broadened.
If the design is changed then this may have considerable knock on effects.
For instance:
Maybe the part is no longer needed.
Maybe the redesign leads to a product advantage etc.
What if you have a dissatisfied customer that is unhappy about a particular aspect of your service?
This may be very easy to solve. However, if you could ask a wider question, this might be ‘how do you satisfy and keep customers?’
By thinking about this the original problem might well evaporate and lead to overall better customer relations.
As with many problems its impact may be wide and involve a lot of people.
So, by thinking bigger and identifying advantages it may lead to wider benefits for all.