How can problems be solved

It was an established industrial technology that had not been applied to water storage: a plastic bag within a plastic bag with a tube at the top. The two-bag approach allowed the inner bag to be thinner, reducing the price of the product, while the outer bag was strong enough to contain a ton and a half of water. The structure folded into a packet the size of a briefcase and weighed about eight pounds.

In short, the solution was affordable, commercially viable, could be easily transported to remote areas, and could be sold and installed by local entrepreneurs.

EWV developed an initial version and tested it in Uganda, where the organization asked end users such questions as What do you think of its weight? Does it meet your needs? Even mundane issues like color came into play: The woven outer bags were white, which women pointed out would immediately look dirty. By the end of May , 50 to 60 shops, village sales agents, and cooperatives were selling the product; more than 80 entrepreneurs had been trained to install it; and 1, units had been deployed in eight districts in southwestern Uganda.

EWV deems this a success at this stage in the rollout. It hopes to make the units available in 10 countries—and have tens or hundreds of thousands of units installed—within five years.

Ultimately, it believes, millions of units will be in use for a variety of applications, including household drinking water, irrigation, and construction. Interestingly, the main obstacle to getting people to buy the device has been skepticism that something that comes in such a small package the size of a typical five-gallon jerrican can hold the equivalent of 70 jerricans. Believing that the remedy is to show villagers the installed product, EWV is currently testing various promotion and marketing programs.

As the EWV story illustrates, critically analyzing and clearly articulating a problem can yield highly innovative solutions. Organizations that apply these simple concepts and develop the skills and discipline to ask better questions and define their problems with more rigor can create strategic advantage, unlock truly groundbreaking innovation, and drive better business performance.

Asking better questions delivers better results. You have 1 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more. Decision making and problem solving. Are You Solving the Right Problem? Reprint: RF The rigor with which a problem is defined is the most important factor in finding a good solution.

Establish the need for a solution. What is the basic need? Who will benefit from a solution? Justify the need. Why should your organization attempt to solve this problem?

Is it aligned with your strategy? If a solution is found, who will implement it? Contextualize the problem. What have you and others already tried? Are there internal and external constraints to implementing a solution? Write the problem statement.

What requirements must a solution meet? What language should you use to describe the problem? How will you evaluate solutions and measure success? Establish the Need for a Solution What is the basic need?

What is the desired outcome? Who stands to benefit and why? Justify the need Is the effort aligned with our strategy? What are the desired benefits for the company, and how will we measure them? How will we ensure that a solution is implemented? Contextualize the problem What approaches have we tried? What have others tried? What are the internal and external constraints on implementing a solution? Write the problem statement Is the problem actually many problems?

Which problem solvers should we engage? What information and language should the problem statement include? What do solvers need to submit? What incentives do solvers need?

That option should probably stay on your list. Step 5. Examine the consequences. Step 6. Identify the best solutions. Look at your list of options, and pick out the ones that are most practical and helpful. There may be one obvious solution, or some might work in combination. Step 7. Put your solutions into practice. Have faith in yourself and make the commitment to try out one of your solutions. Step 8.

How did it go? Order the remaining solutions in order of preference. Evaluate the remaining solutions in terms of their advantages and disadvantages. Step 4: Decide on a solution Specify who will take action. Specify how the solution will be implemented. Specify when the solution will be implemented. For example: tomorrow morning, phone the gas company and negotiate to pay the gas bill next month.

Step 5: Implement the solution Implement the solution as planned. Step 6: Evaluate the outcome Evaluate how effective the solution was. Decide whether the existing plan needs to be revised, or whether a new plan is needed to better address the problem.

If you are not pleased with the outcome, return to step 2 to select a new solution or revise the existing solution, and repeat the remaining steps.

The approach referred to is generally designed for problem solving in an organisation or group context, but can also be easily adapted to work at an individual level at home or in education. Trying to solve a complex problem alone however can be a mistake.

The old adage " A problem shared is a problem halved " is sound advice. Talking to others about problems is not only therapeutic but can help you see things from a different point of view, opening up more potential solutions. Effective problem solving usually involves working through a number of steps or stages, such as those outlined below.

This stage involves: detecting and recognising that there is a problem; identifying the nature of the problem; defining the problem. The first phase of problem solving may sound obvious but often requires more thought and analysis. Identifying a problem can be a difficult task in itself. Is there a problem at all? What is the nature of the problem, are there in fact numerous problems?

How can the problem be best defined? By spending some time defining the problem you will not only understand it more clearly yourself but be able to communicate its nature to others, which leads to the second phase. This stage involves: a period of observation, careful inspection, fact-finding and developing a clear picture of the problem. Following on from problem identification, structuring the problem is all about gaining more information about the problem and increasing understanding.

This phase is all about fact finding and analysis, building a more comprehensive picture of both the goal s and the barrier s. This stage may not be necessary for very simple problems but is essential for problems of a more complex nature. During this stage you will generate a range of possible courses of action, but with little attempt to evaluate them at this stage.

From the information gathered in the first two phases of the problem solving framework it is now time to start thinking about possible solutions to the identified problem. In a group situation this stage is often carried out as a brain-storming session, letting each person in the group express their views on possible solutions or part solutions.

In organisations different people will have different expertise in different areas and it is useful, therefore, to hear the views of each concerned party.

This stage involves careful analysis of the different possible courses of action and then selecting the best solution for implementation. This is perhaps the most complex part of the problem solving process.