11 Brilliant Problem-Solving Techniques Nobody Taught You Introduction

11 Brilliant Problem-Solving Techniques Nobody Taught You


Introduction
No one likes problems, especially at work. However, they’re part of our everyday work routine. If you take a look at job ads online, many of them will list “problem-solving skills” as a necessity for the job role. The truth is, every job in the world requires some kind of problem-solving.
From managing tasks to managing people, we don’t like feeling stuck, in work, or outside of it. The good news is, there are lots of tried and tested problem-solving techniques that you can use to easily solve difficult situations at work or in your personal life. 
Here are some of those problem-solving methods and how you can use them in
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First things first – breathe in and breathe out
Let’s start with the basics. No matter how bad the problem, how serious the situation, you can do one simple thing – breathe in and breathe out.
Most people get stressed out at the very mention of a problem. They feel like they need to come up with an answer immediately, they look for someone to blame and they want a quick and easy exit. All of a sudden, facing a problem becomes a problem of its own. 
For this very reason, it’s important to slow down and take a breather. When we are stressed out, we make one critical mistake – we resort to something called binary problem-solving. In other words, we limit our options by trying out proven solutions to problems instead of trying out something new and more efficient.
For this reason alone, slow down and breathe – you will come up with more ways to tackle a problem.
Ask great questions as the first problem-solving stage
Asking questions is a part of the pre-problem-solving stage. When you ask questions, your brain can come up with different scenarios and ways to make a decision. For example, a child will usually ask questions like “what if”, “why not”, “can we”, “how about” and many others. What rules should you break? Are there any beliefs we should drop? The more questions you ask, the easier it will be to find a solution to your problem.
Don’t just trust yourself
One of the many reasons why problems come up and stay unsolved is because we are too lazy or busy to distance ourselves from them. In other words, we just think from our own perspective instead of zooming out and looking at the bigger picture. 
For example, if you’re in our industry (SaaS), you may have a situation where people sign up for your app and disappear after the trial period. Sure, you could try generating more traffic to your website, but there are other things you can do. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

1. 
   Has my business industry changed?
   
2. 
   Does my app really meet my customers’ needs?
   
3. 
   Does my sales strategy need improvement?
   

In another scenario, your employee shows up late for work, despite several of your warnings. Before taking any actions, try to understand their perspective and ask yourself the following questions:

1. 
   Do they have any non-work-related problems in their life?
   
2. 
   What is (literally) stopping them from getting to work?
   
3. 
   How can I help them with problems solving?
   

Both situations have one thing in common – they look at the big picture before trying to tackle a specific problem.
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Do some heavy brainstorming to help solve the problems
One of the most effective ways to solve any problem is a brainstorming session. The gist of it is to generate as many ideas as you can and in the process, come up with a way to remove a problem. Of course, the prerequisite for any brainstorming session is a nonjudgmental, friendly environment.
If you want to brainstorm like a pro, you need to take the following steps.

1.