Chapter 6: Problem Solving and Decision Making--Establishing Defined Procedures

Overview

I have a favorite hardware store near where I live ”Stadium Hardware in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The people who work there are great problem solvers. I had a drainpipe that needed to go around a corner. They showed me three options that would work and ultimately custom-made a small sleeve that got the job done inexpensively. Another time I told them that I had too many squirrels and raccoons on my bird feeders. After eliminating the options of trapping or poisoning the critters, I was told to try using safflower seeds instead of sunflower seeds , and voil  ! I now can enjoy just about as many birds as before and no squirrels or raccoons go near my feeders.

The staff at Stadium Hardware is knowledgeable and motivated to solve people's problems. Sometimes my problem is solved by a single clerk. but I notice that most of the employees get their greatest pleasure from bouncing ideas off their co-workers and coming up with solutions to my home and yard issues that no individual employee (and especially not me) could have thought of by himself. They are good problem solvers because they listen to figure out what the problem really is ”and what might be causing it ”before they start pointing out solutions. They are good problem solvers because they want to solve the problem, not make me feel bad for being part of the reason why the problem exists. They are good problem solvers because they generate options and then let me as the customer decide which one to try.

Do you know some good problem solvers? Are the people on the team you are trying to help good problem solvers? If I could nominate just two procedures for a team to be skilled at, they would be problem solving and decision making. This chapter will give you a system and a set of tools to help your team succeed at both. Let's help your team become like those employees at my favorite hardware store.