Problem Solving: A Simple Leadership Strategy

I have good news and I have bad news. Which do you want first? If you're like me, I always pick the bad news first because then the good news can override it.

The bad news: Because of Adam and Eve and our fall with them in the Garden of Eden, we're guaranteed to have problems for the rest of our lives. And as we get older, problems tend to get bigger.

The good news: We are capable of learning how to handle problems and to solve them!

This blog is for those who know that the first and most important person you will ever lead is yourself. You're committed to growing in leadership, and leaders are problem solvers.

In this post, I'm going to share with you one simple strategy that you can use as a leader to solve problems. I'm going to ask you the same question I asked my leadership students last Sunday: Are you a problem solver?

How do you handle problems? Do you tend to accept your problems and leave them unsolved, or do you tend to be a fixate kind of person where your mind immediately goes to work as to how to solve a problem? Ask yourself: "Do I try to grow from my problems and use these problems to become a better person?" (That's what every good leader does.)

Types of Problems

You're probably thinking that how you solve a problem depends on what kind of problem it is, and you're right. There are at least three kinds of problems: simple problems, complicated problems, and complex problems. To help you distinguish between those three kinds of problems, think of a train tunnel (image credit: Enrique Martinez).

• Simple Problems: Have known solutions. They are straightforward solutions, so the light at the end of the tunnel is already visible from the very beginning. For example, studying for a test, getting a project done, finding a ride, anything you can look up on YouTube (fixing a leaky faucet, replacing a dead battery, etc.), even saying "sorry" is a simple problem to solve because you know what you need to do and you just need to do it. 
• Complicated Problems: There is light at the end of the tunnel and it is visible, but barely. You can tell that it's going to be a longer road to get there. It's going to take more time, more effort, and more patience. Examples include building the Hoover Dam, working through a traumatic experience with a licensed therapist, or not having full function of your body but there is physical therapy as a solution. Even the complicated problem of losing the trust of a friend can be solved with time, effort, and the emotional work that is required on both sides.
• Complex Problems: Some people call these "wicked" problems because there is no light at the end of the tunnel that can be seen, at least not yet. With complex problems, the solution is unknown or uncertain. Complex problems are easiest to see in the global scope of problems like homelessness, global warming, and world hunger. There are multiple layers and facets to these problems.

With God, all things are possible, right? So in this blog post, I'm going to be focusing on the problems that are solvable. It's a matter of knowledge--knowing what you need to do--and determination, to solve the problem instead of ignoring it.

A Simple Strategy for Problem Solving

A helpful quote to keep in mind when you want to solve a problem is:

"Do what you can with what you have where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

Be careful of this mentality: "Well, I don't know how to solve it, so I can't." That is not going to fly as a leader!

Colin Powell, who was the general commander of the United States Army, said:

"Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded that you don't care. Either case is a failure of leadership."

Leaders must fight for the solution instead of fighting for the problem. Here's a simple strategy to be a problem-solver in three steps.

Step #1: Decide Which Problem to Solve

Start by identifying all the problems that you could solve. Doing a brain dump is helpful for clearing your mind so that you can think clearly and figure out which problems need to be solved.

How do you do a brain dump? If you think of your brain as a full cup of juice, all you do is use a piece of paper to make a bullet point list of everything you're thinking of, everything that's taking up space in your mind--things you need to do, relationships you're thinking about, projects you're working on, etc. It's like pouring out your thoughts. As you write these down, you are clearing your mind and making space to think.

Then ask yourself: "which of these problems, once solved, will help me feel so much better and so much lighter?" It probably goes without saying that it's much easier to get at solving the simple problems -- the ones where solutions are known.

Solving Complicated Problems

 But how about the more complicated problems that are harder to solve, that are going to take some time? How do you decide which of those problems to solve? Here's one question that I like to use in order to answer that question: "What will happen over the span of one year if I don't do anything about this problem? What will happen if I just let it go and ignore it?"

Usually, the problem will get worse. The problem will snowball and become even more complicated, and it can turn into a complex problem if left unaddressed and unsolved. Now ask yourself: "Is that what I want?"

• "If I never apologize to this person, what will happen over a year? Is that the kind of relationship that I want with this person, especially if that person is in my family--somebody I'm going to have contact with for the rest of my life?"
• "If I never bother to find out if the Bible is actually true, what will happen to my faith over one year?"

We live in a fallen world; things don't remain the same. There is the law of entropy at work. In general, things decline over time. That's why we have to work at staying on top of our problems.

One student I worked with knew he did not have a healthy relationship with one of his parents. In a mentorship session, I asked him, "Well, what will happen if you don't do anything about it?"

He said, "It's going to get worse." As soon as he said that, he knew what he needed to do; he knew he needed to start working on that relationship. Because as uncomfortable as it was going to be and as much work as it was going to be, he knew that it was better than doing nothing and letting the relationship decline to a place he didn't want it to go.

Step #2: Find the Problem That's Causing the Problem

Find the real problem, also known as the root cause. So often, the problems that we can feel with our bodies are just symptoms of a bigger problem that is underneath the felt problem. You need to dig a little to discover it.

For example, I was talking to a student who's problem was not getting enough sleep. As I was talking to him, I asked, "Well, why aren't you getting enough sleep?" 

He answered, "Because I'm staying up too late at night to study and do homework."

I asked, "Why are you staying up so late at night doing homework?"

And he answered, "Because I have poor time management skills." THAT is the root cause of his tiredness, his exhaustion, his sleepiness...he needs to learn how to manage his time. As we talked, we found out that he actually knows how to manage his time; he just isn't always self-disciplined enough to execute what he knows to do to manage his time. But it's his choice.

It's our choice whether or not we will do what we know. Many problems are actually simple problems. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We know that if we start getting distracted while doing homework to put our phones in another room, put it on Do Not Disturb, close the tabs that are like tempting us to watch YouTube videos and check sports stats while we're trying to do homework...

We know that those strategies are going to work. It's not a matter of knowledge. It's just a matter of discipline.

So very simply, the way to find the real problem underneath your problem is to ask yourself in a conversation with yourself: Why?

For example, "I feel lonely right now. Why do I feel lonely right now? Because I don't have very many friends. Why don't I have very many friends? Because I don't know how to start a conversation." There's the real problem. The solution is: "Let me learn how to start a conversation." Not only that, but let me learn how to start a conversation and actually be willing to act on it, to get uncomfortable, to be vulnerable, and to actually go up to somebody and take action, start a conversation.

Albert Einstein lends great perspective on how to solve real problems underneath some dramatic problems:

"We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

What does that mean? Here's my street paraphrase of what Albert Einstein said:

"What got you here, won't get you there." -Brenda Jung

Going back to the staying up to late doing homework example: the habits, the mindset, and the actions that led to staying up past midnight to do homework are not going to get you out of that problem. In order to solve that problem, you're going to have to apply different mindsets, habits, choices, and actions to solve the problem underneath that problem -- the problem of not choosing to manage your time well. In other words, if you want different results, you need to make different choices and take different actions.

Step #3: Give Yourself a Deadline

Don't let your problem drag on and on because problems tend to get worse as time passes.

Back in high school, there was a guy who was flirting with me. I was starting to develop feelings for him and so I was flirting back with him. You know how that goes...It's super fun and great to have attention, and he was probably enjoying the attention as well. But it got to the point where I was investing emotional energy into thoughts of him and wondering if there was a future for us. The problem was, I didn't know if he actually wanted a future for us, or if he was just having a little fun.

I didn't want the flirting to continue if there was no purpose in it. So I gave myself a deadline. I told myself that if he does not DTR (Define The Relationship) with me, I'm going to have to DTR myself. Well, that self-imposed deadline came and went, and so I decided that I need to sit him down and just and find out what the truth is. How does he feel about me?

Now I didn't say, "Do you like me?" because that's scary! Instead, I used a metaphor that I had learned. I said to him, "So I feel like we're driving in a car. You're driving and I'm in the passenger seat... I want to know where we're going."

Not only did he not have feelings for me, he liked somebody else! I was shocked! But I was relieved to find out that I didn't need to waste my time or emotional energy on him anymore. With that conversation, I shut it down.

A deadline. Don't let things drag on. If you let it go on for a year, what's going to happen? The feelings are going to intensify. The longer you wait, the more it hurts. The higher you rise, the harder you fall. Give yourself a self-imposed deadline.

Conclusion: Solving the Ultimate Problem

To wrap this up, let's bring it back full circle. We said that the reason we have problems is because sin entered the world when we fell with Adam in Eden, and we disobeyed God by eating the fruit from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

We are leaders. We can solve problems. You have learned how to solve at least the simple ones. But there's one problem that we cannot solve, and that is the problem of sin.

Thankfully, God is a problem-solver, and the one problem that undergirds all problems is sin. Sin is the one problem that God had to solve Himself. He solved that problem by sending Jesus to live in our place and to die in our place. Jesus' death for us conquered the ultimate consequence of sin: Death. 

As Christians, we know why we have problems. We know that every problem can be traced back to Eden, and every problem is our problem because Adam represented you and me in Eden. That's why we are born with sinful natures instead of sinless natures. But Jesus paid the punishment for that act of rebellion in the garden.

The hope in solving our problems is that Jesus solved the ultimate problem that we have. No matter how hopeless we might feel with the size of a problem that we have, or the complexity of it, it's okay because God is with us in the heart of our worst problems and Jesus Himself took for the punishment for all the problems of the world. It was put on Him on the cross. In the end, at the end of time when He returns, we will be in a problem-free heaven.

If you are not sure if you get to be in that place where there's no more pain, no more problems, no more tears, no more sickness, please contact me at [email protected]. I would love to explain to you why Christians have that hope and how you can too.

For more information about how you can strengthen your personal leadership skills before college, go to www.weleadthis.com