How can you reach your goal & improve your problem solving abilities?
PROBLEMS?
Recently I commented on a post from one of my favorite Steemians I follow. The subject is about “Problem Solving”. It got me thinking a bit more about that. There is no doubt about problem solving is one of those skills that is in high demand. It’s obvious that problem solving involves learning as much as you can about as many topics as you possibly can.
Make connections
These things can be achieved at any time and with today’s information and technology we can achieve almost anything.
Whenever I try solving a problem, I always come up with a solution. Yet the solution might happen to be bad. Usually there's a solution that's better, more complicated,... Usually my solution may not be the best one or straightforward and I could spend hours figuring it out and yet there exists a very simpler obvious solution that can be problem solver in minutes. Are there any ways where I can improve on problem solving, where quality solutions can be produced in a timely manner?
YES!!!
Understand
the problem as well as you can. This is the most important step towards problem solving. I have been always wondering, CEO’s, vice presidents... entering conference rooms, taking their seats and asking the first question: What is the problem statement? Never ever be shy asking that first question no matter who you are, where you come from, and what your contribution towards the problem statement could be.
I think it’s really important to understand the specific problem. In other words, if you can describe it to someone on the back of an envelop, you have understood it clearly!
The next step you really want to look at is ”if there is an already existing solution.”
If there is, usually you should be able to go through all the other steps easily enough, but if there is none, you are in game for either a learning, or an innovation!
Source
It’s also really important to find out and understand why the problem occurred in the first place. If it is first time occurrence, then you might actually want to re-create the problem. This is the core of any problem. If you do not understand the root cause, then the problem will simply re-appear. And you are right where you were at the beginning.
Perhaps you should write down all possibilities of solving the problem. Multiple solutions can look obvious and good, but it is best to spend some time thinking, discussing, and deciding which solution makes sense in terms to actually solve the specific problem.
Execution!
Once you have actual plan to solve the problem, you move to execution phase. This step is where actual work happens. You should not have to think about what/why/how/when and so on too much. The goal and the solution should be right in front of your eyes. It should only be a matter of time to reach the goal.
Source
At the end the way I usually solve my problems is I don’t panic, because panic will always destroy you. It’s never shame by asking more questions about what it is I'm solving, until the answer is already clear.
IDEAS?
Too many people have great ideas, but most of the time it ends at the ideas only. My life experience thought me to never quit anything, you have to push yourself when you think you can’t. When you do that, that’s the breaking point, that’s the point when you find out you actually can. You can’t panic at these breaking point moments. I’ve learned sooo much here and there and undoubtedly will learn much more.
I agree with you @milano1113. To solve any problem, look at the history or find the best, not the easiest solution. Many times people having problems thinking it’s the end of the world, they panic. I do believe about every single problem being solvable. Most of the time people actually create the problem themself. Even I did many times before. However, I eventually and fortunately solved it. It’s great feeling when there are moments without any problems. But believe me, it’s only matter of time when another appears.