Problem-Solving Success Tip: Use Your Time for Problems that are
Truly Important
Use your time for problems that are truly important.
Hard as it may be to walk away once you're aware of it, just
because a problem is there doesn't mean you have to solve it.
Ask yourself and your colleagues, "What will happen if we don't
solve this problem?" If the answer is, "not much," then turn
your attention to something more important. If you don't know
what will happen, find out before you undertake a
problem-solving project. It should be clear to you and everyone
else involved that the problem is worth the effort--and
expense--to fix it.
Quantify the cost of the problem quickly, but as realistically
as you can. Include lost opportunity costs as well as real
expenses such as staff time to deal with the problem, travel
expenses, etc. Use actual costs where you can; estimate where
you can't. Then guesstimate what it will cost to analyze and fix
it. Write your analysis down, stating all your assumptions
explicitly. Get a colleague to verify that your assumptions and
estimates are reasonable. Start with a rough "order of
magnitude" estimate. That may be enough to answer the question
of whether you should proceed. If it's not clear, especially if
the cost to solve it will be high, do a more careful analysis.
If it will cost more to fix than to live with the problem, or if
the number is even close, perhaps your resources (time, people,
money) are better spent on other projects. If you decide to
proceed anyway, you can do so with a better understanding of
what you're undertaking. On the other hand, if you can
demonstrate that the cost of the problem is much higher than the
cost of solving it, using estimates based on reasonable
assumptions, it will generally be much easier to get the
resources you need. You can use your written analysis as a sales
tool to help win support for your decision to proceed or not.
We have to learn to distinguish those things that are truly
important from those that are merely urgent. --Jerry D.
Campbell
copyright 2005. Jeanne Sawyer. All Rights Reserved.