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Management Challenges - Getting To The Source Of A Problem

Guest post by: Martin Haworth

Article Overview: In management situations, we so often face challenges that need urgent action. Making sure that we only face these once and solve them permanently is a valuable skill to have. Here's how to do it...

Management Challenges - Getting To The Source Of A Problem

Problem-solving is one of the most useful skills for a manager to have. Our people expect it of us and indeed we need to be able to make the right decisions when problems crop up, to help us function effectively. So often, the time taken with problems - especially when they recur - is time wasted that could be used much more productively.

Many managers find this challenge almost insurmountable, because they tolerate problems that show up time and time again without making progress in the long-term solution.

They fire-fight again and again, without being prepared to find out what's really wrong and then following through with actions that will make the issue resolved once and for all.

So, we spend time resolving the symptoms of the circumstances that present themselves. The minor outcomes that others bring to us that give us the clues that we need to appreciate, so that we can understand the bigger issues lying beneath the surface.

They say that over 90% of an iceberg is below the surface and it's the same with the problems we face. Whatever it is that is the observable part of a problem, has a whole pile of ice below the surface that you need to get to.

Problems that arise are signified by the consequences that they present to us. We are brought in to sort out problems when they become critical and create impacts that can threaten the delivery of the results we and our teams seek.

Yet the true problems that cause the noticeable elements of what we experience are rarely as simple as this. True problems are what managers need to get to and help to resolve, rather than the tip of the iceberg that comes to your attention.

To do this, you need to ask WHY?

You need to ask the 'why' question so that you can get underneath the issues that need urgent attention.

Asking 'why' a problem has shown up starts that ball rolling. And persisting by asking 'why' - the deeper and deeper you go - is much more likely to get the real cause of that problem you finally came across.

By taking the time to find out the crux of the matter, rather than the cosmetics of it, good managers will be much more able to create long-term solutions that make them go away for good.

Otherwise, it is so easy to spend your life as a manager fighting those fires to your heart's content, driving you - and your people - crazy in the process.

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Article Tags: firefighting, management development, problem solving, problem sources



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