Problems and human beings are part of life and are interconnected it is often said that as one problem gets an exit there’s another one to enter in your life. Inability to resolve your organizational problems will spell disaster for your career. However you can be a great problem solver no doubt.
The first step in becoming an excellent problem solver lies in your ability to identify the nature of the problem.
Identify whether 'fix-it' kind of problem or a 'do-it' kind of problem
Fix-it problem usually involves something that has gone wrong and you have to put it right.
Do-it' problems apparently deal with something that has to be done in order to prevent further problems from arising..
The next stage in problem solving is the analysis of the problem. This will require you to ask some hard-hitting questions like what is the cause of the problem; who started it; why does it occur; what can we do about it; whose responsibility is it to solve this problem; do we have all the data to solve the problem; how can we get the information we want to solve the problem; what is the ideal outcome that we want here etc.
There may be more than one solution for a problem. This is when you need to integrate the process of decision making to see how best you could implement the most effective solution. When implementing the solution to solve the problem you should take note too that what works for one situation may not work for another. Therefore you need to re-engage yourself to come up with new strategies to solve new problems that arise.
Simple problems don’t often require a plan of attack. The plan is a good reminder for you of what and when things need happen as well as a communication tool for all the people involved. Creating a plan requires that you think through all the issues logically and identify all the relevant issues and constrains.
Emotions or stress can sometimes affect our thinking and judgment. Try adopting a rational mindset and let your mind govern your actions. Go through in your mind what the problem is, then identify the steps which are required to resolve the situation before taking action. If you find you are too emotionally charged, pause for a moment and let yourself calm down first