How good is your company at solving problems?

That’s the rhetorical question addressed in a Harvard Business Review article titles, Are You Solving the Right Problems?

The authors believe managers, spurred by a penchant for action, tend to switch quickly into solution mode without first making sure they really understand the problem. Can you relate? I know I’m guilty as charged.

The article offers what the authors believe are the seven best practices for effectively reframing problems:

1. Establish legitimacy — get agreement to utilize the reframing method.
2. Bring outsiders into the discussion — choose someone who will speak freely.
3. Get people’s definitions in writing — Have you ever left a meeting thinking everyone agrees with the loose oral description, and found out later that they don’t?
4. Ask what’s missing — make sure you ask explicitly what has not been captured or mentioned.
5. Consider multiple categories — identify specifically what category of problem (i.e., incentive, expectation, attitude, etc.) the group is facing.
6. Analyze positive expectations — what’s different about this situation?
7. Question the objective — pay attention to the objectives of each party involved, first clarifying and then challenging them.

Although this article may seem a little academic, I would highly recommend reading it. As I have already admitted, I love jumping in and solving the problem — and, at times, I’ve missed the mark. This article provided advice that would have saved me time and embarrassment in the past.