You solve a problem by setting the appropriate goal. Within every problem is the seed to a new opportunity. Focus on achieving the goal found within the opportunity and release endorphins to power your Action Plan. Do not focus on the problem, which suppresses endorphins and creates a downward spiral away from achieving your goal. The following is a detailed list of steps to move from a problem to achieving your goal.
1 Real Problem | 2. One at a Time | 3. Deal With Facts | 4. Seek Information | 5. Develop Trust
6. Don’t Quit | 7. Develop Action Plan | 8. Check List & Series of Steps
Click the heading for each section to return.
1. What Is the Real Problem?
Perhaps half the time, your focus may be on the wrong problem. This makes it difficult to set the appropriate goal. You may be looking at the symptom rather than the root of the problem. Maybe your energies target the obvious rather than the important problem. Maybe the problem is embarrassing and you choose a more respectable problem. Maybe you are taking on someone else’s problem. To uncover the real problem, ask a series of probing questions. You may hire a coach, write down and analyze the problem or find a problem mentor. Chimorel can serve in several of these roles.
Symptom: Years ago a Chimorel client was struggling with her career. The presenting problem was being constantly tired and frustration with the superintendent. She loved teaching. Then she accepted an offer to be a principal in her school system and things changed. Instead of helping her students grow, she was dealing with discipline problems, angry parents and piles of paper. When asked “What would you rather do?” she stopped for a moment and starred at the ceiling. “I’d rather teach,” she said. Once the focus was on the real problem, not the symptom of tiredness and frustration, the solution was easy.
Obvious: One day Chimorel was offered a property. The owner was unable to manage the property. One building was vacant and vandalized. No one was paying rent. The few people left were using drugs or struggling with other issues in their lives. Shortly after Chimorel took over management, someone broke out windows and left water running in the vacant building. We learned it was the partner of the owner. The reason the building was vacant was this partner hadn’t fixed a plumbing problem and the tenants left. There were many other issues, but the important problem was the partner. After two years the owner lost millions, Chimorel lost thousands. and the best solution was to walk away.
Respectable: He walked into the office, head high. Everyone noticed. His wife was leaving him and he wanted help. The discussion was rambling. It took a while to uncover the fact that he had been having an affair. When it came out his whole body shook. The aristocratic demeanor was gone. It took a while, but he pulled himself back together. He and his wife reconciled and began to rekindle the romance they had years ago.
Someone Else’s Problem: When Chimorel took on the management of the building above, we had no idea about all the headaches we would encounter. It was our intention to manage, then acquire the property. We took on someone else’s problem, spent time and money. If we had not taken on someone else’s problem, we could have directed time, money and other resources to help others. It was a painful learning experience
The more specific your problem, the easier it is to identify the appropriate goal which will solve the problem. As you develop the habit of solving little problems, your self-confidence grows and your skills improve. Get into the habit of breaking big problems down into little bite size chunks. Then set the appropriate goal to solve each little problem, one at a time.
As you look at the overwhelming mess, the picture is daunting. Focus instead on small parts, prioritize those small problems or address them chronologically / sequentially. Can the problem be solved by one single action? If not it is a cluster of smaller issues.
You are overwhelmed with bills, your credit cards are maxed out and you loose your job. Write a letter to each creditor explaining the situation or linkup with a nonprofit credit counseling organization. This may be the opportunity you wanted to start your own business. When you become a Starter member, we will help you set and reality test one goal. As you stay involved, you will automatically move on to become an Action Planner and take action steps to achieve the goal which solves the problem.
If you face a series of non-sequential problems, you have a cluster. That is when you prioritize. If the problems seem to line up like a row of dominoes, deal with them chronologically. If one problem seems to trigger other problems, deal with it first. Otherwise take the problem that has the shortest deadline. In a cluster there is no triggering problem. Deal with the problem that presents the greatest immediate danger, causes the greatest pain or can be solved quickest.
If your financial problems stem from spending to much on luxury or non-essential items, you know what has to be done. If there is no clear first problem, start with the easiest to solve and develop your skills. You’re faced with what appears to be overwhelming issues. Break the issues down into manageable chunks. Line them up by priority or chronologically. Tackle each problem, one at a time, by setting the appropriate goal.
3. Deal With the Facts
Solutions to problems are rational, based on a reasoned evaluation of the facts; or they are emotional, based on something irrational. Depending on your skills as a problem solver, all rational problems can be solved. Solving emotional problems, however, is unlikely if you can’t move the problem to the realm of rationality. Rational problems deal with facts. Emotional problems deal with feelings.
It is common to view business problems from an emotional perspective. When you do: (1) count to ten or (2) list examples. When your emotions flare and you react too quickly, count to ten or higher, letting your emotions cool then make a decision based on the facts. . When you procrastinate, the problem festers, grows and gets worse, probably because you hoped it would go away. When a problem festers, list examples of the problem, then prioritize your examples from clearest to most ambiguous. Treat your list of examples as rational problems and deal with the highest priority first.
Typically, the more irrational the response, the less time it takes to pass. There is a window of rationality: too quick = emotional, too long = emotional. Within the window = rational. Once you are confident you can solve any business problem, you are less likely to procrastinate.
You are in love, but she says no. Chances are the harder you try, the cooler she’ll be. Get control of your emotions and live to love again. When love is a decision, rather than an emotion, you determine what happens.
You worked for the company for years and have been passed over, again and again. Over the years, your resentment grows and is reflected in your attitude. “When you leave the emotions behind, you can uncover the facts (the son of the boss resents your ambition and hard work). Then make a rational decision (move on / deal with the son).
Learn about your own needs and wants. Learn about the problem. Learn about the needs and wants of the others involved.
When you are completing the application for a business loan – What are the banker’s needs? Why has he accepted or rejected previous applications from others? Can you write your application to look like successful applications?
You can seek information by (1) formal education (gain credibility, takes time), (2) public research (at library, on-line) or (3) private research (call friends and people they know, six degrees of separation).
As you seek information which enables you to make rational decisions, you also need to determine how much of what you know you want to reveal. Knowing your boss is having an affair may be interesting. Knowing she promotes college graduates is more likely to be helpful.
Find out what people think of you. (Like you – raise more likely. Not competent – you have work to do first). Understand the competition. Become an MBA. Research the market value of five years experience in your field. Determine your boss’s values. When you learn what the facts are, you can evaluate your opportunities and position yourself for success. Becoming an expert gives you a powerful tool in your problem solving tool kit.
When someone has no basis for trust, it is easy to say no. When they trust you, they are more likely to help you achieve your goals. Trust can be built over time through mutual respect and cooperation. Today’s business environment requires tools to create trust much more rapidly. The most powerful way to earn trust is to show that you genuinely care on a personal level. Caring is an emotional bond far deeper than shared financial interests. Trust is built by many acts of caring. You need to overwhelm the people you meet with many caring behaviors (both subtle and overt) to earn their trust. As a potential client walks into your office – Have staff greet him warmly. Take her coat. Offer coffee, tea, water. Ask if they’d like to use the restroom or phone. Make sure staff made them comfortable. Smile. Introduce yourself. Use their name. Express gratitude for their coming. Openly tell staff not to disturb your meeting, unless an emergency. Personally escort client to your office. Sit around a table. Ask about physical health, how’s business/job, home/work? Listen with genuine interest. Lean forward. Look them in the eye. Give them something to take with them. Personally escort them out of the office. Repeat offers made. Thank them for coming. Shake hands with greater intimacy and warmth. That day follow up by phone. Ask for questions. Confirm the next meeting. Do all of these things with real concern for the other person.
Show You Care
Here are nine areas with many ways to show you care:
- Face: Let your smile shine through. Show genuine concern, sadness or happiness as appropriate.
- Body: Your body speaks more loudly than your words. Sit straight. Don’t touch your face. Uncross your arms. Look at the speaker. Lean forward slightly. Before you speak, break eye contact briefly, lean back slightly, think through your response. Then re-establish eye contact, lean forward again, display concern and conviction. Greet with a firm handshake. Say good-bye with a two handed shake.
- Appearance: Be well dressed (appropriate for the occasion) and well-groomed.
- Space: Enable the person to be physically and psychologically comfortable. Make the effort (it may take them time before they actually are comfortable).
- Ask & Listen: Ask about something she is interested in. Listen intently. With a group, speak personally to each person. Listen carefully.
- Show Humility: Unaffected modesty is endearing. Take credit when due, but avoid obvious self-promotion. Say “thank you” or “that’s what you pay me for” instead of “its nothing.” Ask for small favors, giving a chance to do something they like and can get thanked for. Then say thanks. Ask a satisfied client to spread the word about your skills, because “it would mean a lot coming from someone as respected as you.”
- Express Gratitude: Say thank you often, in the language of the other person at the beginning, middle and end of a meeting. Give small, inexpensive thank you gifts. Express thanks for insight and advice.
- Words & Language: It is not what you say, it is how you say it. Avoid slang, curses, colloquial expressions. Use I to convey negative information, we to deliver positive information. Accept responsibility, give away credit. Use Mr / Ms until given permission to use first name. Learn & use a few relevant words or phrases in their language, but don’t show your ignorance with long, badly spoken conversations.
- Exceed Expectations: Hard work & excellent service, arriving early, staying late, attention to customer needs are a given. Exceeding these expectations comes when you improve your follow-up. After the sale or finishing the job, call or email to see if there are other questions or needs. You don’t need to speak to them. Leaving a message shows you care. Find out if they prefer a call or email and do what they like best.
After you analyze the problem, develop expertise and make a genuine effort to create trust, sometimes you still won’t solve the problem. Frequently you will get a “no” because of a quick reaction to a sketchy set of facts or a reflexive response to emotions or intuition. Don’t quit. Savvy business people know it is easier to turn a no into a yes, than it is to turn a yes into a no.
What you need to do is to uncover the reason behind the no, then ask for reconsideration based on a new set of facts. To find out, simply ask, framing the question as a search for self-improvement. “I would be very grateful if you could help me understand what I could do better in the future.”
Blame yourself for not understanding the situation correctly, then ask for reconsideration based on a new set of facts. You may need to think “outside the box.”
Your fee is too high. You offer to pass part of the work on to lower paid associates or divide the work into segments with the client doing part of the work. (This is a strategy frequently used at Chimorel.)
What ever the situation, don’t quit. Seek new opportunities by determining the reason for not succeeding. Then ask for reconsideration based on new facts.
After all is said and done, what you want to do is turn your problem into a goal. Test your goal against reality. Then develop an Action Plan to achieve the goal and solve the problem.
This is a good time to be sure you know that Chimorel’s goal setting process is free to everyone. At the top of many screens is a “Set Goal” tab. Click this tab to begin your goal setting process. The goal setting process will walk you through determining your life’s mission, the roles in your life and then set goals that work with your mission and roles. Then we talk about the cost – free, becoming a member, as needed.
Once you have set and reality tested at least one goal (remember deal with one issue at a time), it is time to develop an action plan. At the top of many screens in the Goal Setting area is a link to Action Plans. We give you examples of simple action plans and more complex action plans with sub-goals. When you need help take the steps to enter a higher level membership or program. We are ready when you are.
The above steps should be viewed as both a check list and a series of steps. The end result is to set a goal that solves the problem, test the goal against reality, then develop an Action Plan. You may or may not need to do every step. You will want to be very clear as to what the real problem is. You should focus on one problem, solve it and move on; otherwise, you will dissipate your energies. Use the other elements of the checklist as needed.
