Recorded Live at International Business Growth Radio (www.IBGR.Network)

How do we create a problem-solving culture in our organizations? And why do we have problems in the first place?

The purpose of a problem is to call us forward so that we may go before the very conditions, circumstances, and thinking that created it.

 “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” – Albert Einstein

 Problems are opportunities for us to become the solution, rather than seek a solution.

Show Objectives - The Why

 As business leaders, we rely on people from vendors to suppliers, from clients to employees and we’d expect them to follow through on their promises. To keep their word.

 Even more importantly perhaps is that we have people who depend on us and in order to be dependable we have to be disciplined.

 Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

1.  People come to me for solutions
2. I need to solve the problems myself
3. It seems that the same problems come back again and again

 What You Need to Know - The What

What we’ll cover today is:

• What is a problem-solving culture
• Why delegating to your team helps them develop this mindset
• Problem-solving from the outside-in vs problem-solving from the inside-out
• A Five Steps Framework for Solution-Based Thinking

What You Need to Do - The How

A Five Steps to Solution-Based Thinking

1.      Write out the exact problem you have.

2.      Draw from your past experiences, resourcefulness and creativity.

3.      Identify the resources you have learned from or adopted as you have dealt with previous problems.

4.      Write down what the problem looks like solved.

5.      Trust and have faith in yourself.

 Before you make a decision, you must first enter into problem-solving at a higher level of solution-based thinking where you begin to separate, breakdown, and distill the thinking that has created the conditions conducive for the problem to exist.

 Then, after careful and thoughtful consideration, you make a decision, cutting and removing the parts of your past thinking that no longer serve you.

“Momentum is the leader’s best friend.” - John C. Maxwell