We are intrigued when we see good things happening in the lives of individuals, families and organisations based on solid principles. We admire such personal strength and maturity, such family unity and teamwork, such adaption in synergistic organisations and culture. And our immediate request is very revealing of their basic paradigm. We ask,” how do you do it”? “Can you teach me the techniques”?
The art of problem solving is a part of modern psychology. Psychologists have come up with ideas to spark fresh thinking in yourself and others.
Very rarely you allocate some time to think of your problems. Instead of brooding over problems you have to think of them in a positive way. Google -one of the model employers – give its engineers one day a week to work on personal projects the company might benefit from. Although this is a welcome change, most business organizstions will not be in a position to emulate the Google example. Even Joey Reiman, an innovation consultant for firms such as Coca-Cola, rewards his employees with five annual ‘Your Days’ to get out of the office and do some blue-sky thinking. Reiman says the last bastions of creative thinking are “the car, the john, the shower, the church or synagogue, and the gym”.
Solutions
In a typical problem solving exercise you have to know what the problem is. When you find the answer, probe its real goal. This will drive you to find alternative solutions. Then rank them in order. First tackle the extremely easy solutions you can implement. Then move onto difficult solutions.
Most of you have to do routine work. Sometimes, you get bored. Think of a cashier in a supermarket who keeps on collecting money from customers and issuing bills. With a little bit of imagination you can turn work into play. Aaron Dignan, author of Game Frame: Using Games as a Strategy for Success says, “A game scoring system for supermarket cashiers will encourage them to work faster. An online video company, Netflix, offered a $1 million prize to the first team to improve the company’s software. These companies improve their business with games.
You do not succeed in all your ventures, and you have to face catastrophes from time to time. You have to remember that success is inspirational but disaster is educational. That means in times of failure you can learn much. Not only in business but also in private life you can learn from the mistakes of the past.
For this you need loads of patience and a great desire to learn from your mistakes. When you do so, everything becomes plain sailing.
White space management
In any organisation you have to follow a set of rules. If you do not do so, you will run into unexpected problems. However, while following the rules, you should be able to think out of the box. In your own way you can suggest to the management how to improve the products and how to market themusing novel strategies.
When you do so, you will naturally become the focus of attention. Any employer will like to keep such people in their organisation. Adam Hartung calls it ‘White space management.’It means no rules, no plans and no forecasting markets.
Young adults should try to think like kids. The kid has an uncluttered mind, but the mind of an adult is full of wonderful and not-so-wonderful ideas. If you wish to free your mind, write something in longhand every morning. Write whatever that comes to your mind.
Let the words flow onto the paper without worrying about grammar and usage. Do not try to edit what you write. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘Mental dust-buster’. When the dust is swept away, you will have a clean mind to think.
Sometimes routine can kill your enthusiasm. If you have to travel in the same vehicle, follow the same route, meet the same people and do the same type of work throughout the day, life becomes boring. Although I had a railway season ticket, sometimes I used to travel by bus to break the monotony of travel. I went to my workplace through a different route and had my breakfast and lunch at different restaurants. By doing so I met different types of people.
Responsibilities
You should be ready to shoulder heavy responsibilities in any workplace. Once I was asked to compile a book containing the information of all the Members of Parliament. I had to write a brief sketch of their biography. In addition, I had to mention how they fared in General Elections. When you are asked to handle such a major project, you should find a way to break down the project into a lot of small pieces. Then you will be able to finish the job easily. That is how I managed to compile the Tenth Parliament. Andersen in Spark: How Creativity works says he found it particularly helpful to isolate one small piece to work on and forget about the rest of the picture.
When you do a good job of work, you are bound to get some feedback from the management or members of the public. Managers appreciate creative risk-taking in most employees. If you are not getting it, you can ask for it. Rewards for your efforts come in different forms. Sometimes, you will be offered a scholarship in a foreign country. In the alternative, the management will send you for advanced training.
Young adults should concentrate on three kinds of assets: physical, financial and human. If you own a car or a motorcycle, it is a physical asset, but you have to maintain it properly. Our most important financial asset is our own capacity to earn. If you do not invest in improving it, you will have to depend on others. You have some control over physical and financial assets. However, to maintain human assets, you need to develop good human qualities.
Social mirror
If you try to find fault with your partner, the love, the richness, the softness and spontaneity will begin to deteriorate. Henry David Thoreau’s words ring in my ears: “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of manto elevate his life by conscious endeavour.” Whatever you do is reflected in the social mirror. If your manager says, “You’re never on time,” you should make an effort to come on time.
Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln remind us that we should take the time to complete the first steps of problem solving. Spending the time to solve problems is an investment we cannot afford to miss. Apart from business problems, we have to solve many personal or human problems. In order to do it properly, we have to adopt a scientific approach. In a busy world our experiences of happiness are fleeting and short-lived and our inner peace eludes us completely. On the other hand, our negative states of mind such as uncontrollable desire and anger will create endless problems for us and others.
If you are unable to solve your problems, you feel that life has no meaning. Remember that you were not born with a meaning for life. In fact, meaning comes from learning who we are and growing up as persons. The meaning for your life when you were 19 will change when you are 71. Therefore, never try to search for the meaning of your life. Such a search will only add to your problems.