Understanding the term "problem."

 Understanding the term "problem." 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)
 

As we have been discussing problem-solving and decision making, before going into the problem-solving process and its insights, let us have clarity on what we mean by the term "problem" in the professional context.

The term " Problem " is interchangeably used to refer to challenges/issues/troubles/difficulties.

What do we mean by "problem" in a professional context?

We are desiring or expecting something, and the current reality is different...there is a gap between expectation and reality, and the gap is nothing but PROBLEM.

For example,

You want to earn "X " amount as salary, and you earn less than "X," there is a gap ..that is a problem to be solved.
You desire to grow your business by 30 % every year; in reality, you are growing only by 10 % every year..there is a gap between your desire and reality..that gap is a problem to be solved.

Likewise, you can look out any gap between the desired level and current actual status as a gap and consider it as a problem.

Why this term understanding/clarity is required?

When we have precise clarity on the definition of a problem from a professional or business perspective, it will help us narrow or define the solution objective quickly. Otherwise, we struggle to progress on the problem-solving approach.

For example,

one of the business heads mentioned that he has people problems in his organization. The people problem could be excess / scarcity of people or skill or behavioral or integrity related. When you express people's problems, that would be generic, and no progress will be on it.
Later on, when we clarified the definition, he articulated that his people are loyal and good; however, he expected the team to take independent decisions in his absence. In reality, the team does not make decisions without his guidance. That is a gap that makes it easy to move to the next step in problem-solving.

When you have clarity about your expectations on any aspects and relate to existing reality, you define the problem precisely as this will help move to the next level of the problem-solving step.

We need to articulate the problem or understand the problem from desirable / expectation vs. reality to get clarity.

Let us discuss some other aspects of the problem-solving process next week.

Have a great week ahead.