Problem Solving Archives - Succeed Sooner

Problem Design – Look Before You Leap

August 17, 2017August 17, 2017 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

Probably the most common challenge I have come across throughout my career is the human tendency to jump to solutions. We are naturally inclined to solve problems. But sometimes we jump to solutions before we understand the problem we are solving. Problem Design is the structured approach I use to force understanding of a problem before starting to solve it. You can't solve a problem you don't understand. You need to look before you leap. If you can clearly define the dream or goal, start. -Simon Sinek While Simon refers to dreams and goals in his quote, problems are no different. Building clarity, understanding, and alignment around what you are trying to solve is the first critical step to delivering a working solution. (more…)...

Starting a Successful New Business – What’s the Headache?

November 28, 2016March 4, 2022 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

When you are thinking about starting a successful new business, one of the first questions you need to be able to answer is: "What is the headache that I'm solving for, and how bad is the headache?". You need to solve a problem for someone (your target customer) that they recognize (it is a headache) and that they care about (it is a BAD headache). For a really incredible business, you need to have a meaningful solution to their headache with creative ideas. Don't just find something that dulls the pain, find something that makes it go away. Finally, you need to be able to articulate how you will make the pain go away for good. Consider the following scenario (based on one of my favourite quotes from Theodore Levitt): People don't want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole. Theodore Levitt (more…)...

Good Enough to Great

October 7, 2012May 13, 2019 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

Perfect is the enemy of good is an old proverb from Voltaire which asserts that a drive for perfectionism can prevent you from accomplishing a task at all. Especially when a good enough result could be achieved with far less effort. Perfect results are limited by the law of diminishing returns. By setting the bar at perfection you will drive toward escalating costs and timelines in execution. (more…)...

What’s the Why?

October 3, 2012 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

Many of us who started our professional lives in a problem solving role have become experts at diving in and developing (and delivering) elegant solutions when we think we see a problem brewing. Unfortunately too often our tendency to "problem solve" prevents us from successfully defining the problem in the first place. Our comfort zone is in the solution, but as a leader our key value is in asking the questions necessary to understand the problem. “Good questions outrank easy answers.” -Paul Samuelson For many leaders the idea of stopping to ask questions before solving a problem is akin to watching your house burn down trying to figure out what started the fire rather than just using the fire hose that's lying in front of you. Unfortunately the reality is that very few problems are as urgent as a burning house. The primary problem with solution driven leaders is Abraham Maslow's Law of the Instrument: If all you have is a hammer, everything looks...

Leadership Health Care

September 21, 2012August 27, 2020 by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments

Does your organization behave like many individuals when it comes to problem resolution, or do you have a proper health care system in place to manage issues? Does your organization ignore safety measures and not provide you masks from accumed.com/kn95-mask-for-sale-respirator-safety-mask-k1.html? Many people (myself included) have a tendency to treat their symptoms with over the counter drugs or with non-medical remedies passed down through our families, even when the symptoms appear to be chronic. Even when we visit the doctor we often deny the cause of the issue and request treatment for the symptom as we see it. In the same way many organizations fail to or ignore deep seated diseases and instead spend considerable time and resources focusing on the treatment of the symptoms. Seem crazy? Maybe so, but unfortunately it is also far more common than we would like to admit. Let's use a common smoker as an example: Most (if not every) mornings our friendly smoker Joe wakes up with constrained...