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What Exactly is A PROBLEM?
People today, overuse and misuse the word ‘problem’ and it is becoming an issue for me because, here at BoxOnline, we use a tool to solve problems and this tool is very effective – but only when you actually have a real, genuine problem. So, when a Client says “I have a problem” we get all excited because we are trained and experienced problem solvers. The thing is most people say that they have a problem when what they mean is that they have an issue, a situation, a case where they believe that something has or will go wrong. So, what exactly is a problem?
A problem can be defined as a situation where you have all 3 of the following circumstances simultaneously:
1) You have a deviation from norm.
2) You do not know the cause of the deviation.
3) You must know the cause of the deviation in order to continue
Let’s clarify the above a bit better. When there is a deviation from norm, something unexpected occurred and when you do not know why this something occurred, it is likely that you do not know the most probable cause for the deviation. If your project is not able to continue after the unexpected something occurred then you need to repair the damage and the best way to repair something is to know what broke. Thus, if you do not know the cause for an unexpected deviation and you cannot move forward, you have a problem and we can start applying our honed problem solving techniques right away.
If, however one or two of the circumstances described above do not apply to your situation – YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ACTUAL PROBLEM. You have something else!
Analogy: You look at a board in the floor and spot a metal nail sticking out. You don’t want someone to trip over the nail or to cut their foot so you go get a tool to put the nail back where it belongs. Do you select a hammer or a screwdriver? That’s right, as soon as we have labeled a given situation “a problem”, we can reach for the appropriate tool to help identify what the most probable cause is or was. Then the cause can be dealt with and the process can move forward again. Any questions?