Problem Solving Important Skills

Problem solving skills are a critical part of everyday life. They are even more vital for business leaders, and people that work in organizational structures where problem solving skills can determine the economic well being of many, many people.

This article will provide some fundamental skills that you can put into practice to get over those nasty humps that seem like mountains. The situation you are in is probably not as bad as you think it is.

First, get involved, and get confused. That is the first step to your solutions. If you avoid troubling situations they will not go away. They will grow and create an ugly life of their own.

There are five problem solving methods you can use that are very effective. They are,

• The dual principle application,
• The lightning strike method,
• Team decision groups,
• Empower those closet to the problems, and
• Computer decision support software.

The dual principle application is one in which you mate the problem with its opposite mate. For example, the opposite of confusion is clarity. If the situation is confused, focus on the clear parts of the problem and work from there. Keeping clarity out front.

Low sales are the opposite of high sales. If your sales are low, you automatically know you need more sales. So, do things to generate more sales. Less products/more products. Do things to generate more products, which in turn generate more sales. Sound simple? It is!

The lightning strike method is where you put all of the facts together like you would cereal in a bowl. Then magically, out of the darkness of the problems the solutions strike your mind like a lightning bolt. You may have heard of people closing themselves off alone in a dark room and meditating on a problem.

Like magic, solutions start to just strike like lightning. Sounds simple? It is!

Team decisions are generally always superior to individual made decisions. This is true even when the decision makers do not have direct experience with the subject matter of the problems involved.

If you have decisions to be made, especially complex ones, get anywhere from two to seven people involved in the final decision process. Prior to the committee working on the problem many others may have given their input. Take it all in and use it. It works. Sounds simple? It is!

Empowerment works wonders. Get the people closest to the problems to solve them. The people that work with the systems and pieces of your business affected by the respective problems generally know more about the problems than managers far removed. Give them the authority and tools to solve the problems.

If you are a control freak, then you do have a problem. Only you can let those demons go.

Decision support software is such a wonderful tool for managers to use to methodically solve problems. You can buy computer software to assist you in making complex decisions. The software will suggest a number of alternatives after you input the facts of the problems.

You can purchase decision support software for just about any type of problem for any type of business situation. If you ever get a chance to see a demonstration you will be amazed. Sound simple? Well, this one may not be so simple because learning the software is a key part of using it successfully. After you learn the software it makes things much less complicated.

Well, since problem solving is the subject of this discussion let's not make more problems by giving you more than you can handle. Problem solving is really not that difficult. What is difficult often times is accepting the solutions that will solve the problems.

If you are not prepared to accept clear solutions to problems because they conflict with your narrow set of acceptable solutions, then that is another problem. Only you can let those demons go.

The human mind is an automatic problem solver. Let the mind do its work. Let nature take its course. And, the inner problem solver within you will do the rest.

If you give a problem over to your mind to solve like the mailman delivers a package to you, the mind will go to work on it as a dutiful servant. It won't stumble or resist. It will not even ask "how high to jump." It will just say "Yes Sir!" and get to work.

The amount of time it will take to solve the problem will depend upon what solution is required and your actual desire, weak or strong, to solve the problem.

Additionally, there is a universal law of attraction which states that you attract to yourself what you desire, and what you are. Your dominant emotions drive this law.

If your dominant emotion is love, then you will attract love. If your dominant emotion is self-improvement, then you will attract self-improvement oriented things and people. If your dominant emotion is hate, then you will attract hateful thoughts and people. It works this way for all of the human emotions.

Problem solving is a constructive, natural human mechanism. As long as you let this mechanism do its work it will serve you well.

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