What S Your Problem

"The author makes a compelling case that we often start solving a problem before thinking deeply about whether we are solving the right problem. If you want the superpower of solving better problems, read this book." -- Eric Schmidt, former CEO, Google Are you solving the right problems? Have you or your colleagues ever worked hard on something, only to find out you were focusing on the wrong problem entirely? Most people have. In a survey, 85 percent of companies said they often struggle to solve the right problems. The consequences are severe: Leaders fight the wrong strategic battles. Teams spend their energy on low-impact work. Startups build products that nobody wants. Organizations implement "solutions" that somehow make things worse, not better. Everywhere you look, the waste is staggering. As Peter Drucker pointed out, there's nothing more dangerous than the right answer to the wrong question. There is a way to do better. The key is reframing, a crucial, underutilized skill that you can master with the help of this book. Using real-world stories and unforgettable examples like "the slow elevator problem," author Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg offers a simple, three-step method - Frame, Reframe, Move Forward - that anyone can use to start solving the right problems. Reframing is not difficult to learn. It can be used on everyday challenges and on the biggest, trickiest problems you face. In this visually engaging, deeply researched book, you’ll learn from leaders at large companies, from entrepreneurs, consultants, nonprofit leaders, and many other breakthrough thinkers. It's time for everyone to stop barking up the wrong trees. Teach yourself and your team to reframe, and growth and success will follow.

Typically, root cause analysis is taught by explaining a variety of tools that require users to gain considerable experience before being able to apply them correctly in the proper settings. What's Your Problem? Identifying and Solving the Five Types of Process Problems simplifies process problem solving and outlines specific techniques to help you identify the various types of process problems and solve them effectively and efficiently. Arguing that there are only five types of process problems, the book explains that the Six Sigma methodology define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC) can be vastly simplified for learning, applying, teaching, and mentoring. It identifies the five types of process problems and describes how to solve them using a three-step procedure: Identify the type of problem Find the root cause Address the root cause Describing how to maximize ROI for Lean Six Sigma initiatives, the book: Facilitates the application of Lean and Six Sigma principles to both self-learning and teaching others process improvement Presents time-tested methods to help you reduce start-to-finish improvement/project times Identifies techniques that can shorten the time it takes to complete projects, reduce documentation of projects, and increase overall understanding of your projects Outlining proven approaches for seamlessly integrating Lean and Six Sigma methodologies with learning and teaching process improvement, the book will help to improve your courses so that participants acquire essential skills quicker and at lower costs. For the self-initiated, this book will get you identifying and solving the two most common process problems within hours, rather than days or weeks.

Blake wants to sell his brother, Braden, to another family. Savannah wants to fight Mary over an insult. Braden sooo wants to sneak out of class to play kickball. The characters in this fast-paced story face conundrums that make each of them consider solutions that are inappropriate, ill-advised or irresponsible. Fortunately, some good old-fashioned fatherly advice coupled with a tried-and-true strategy for solving problems keeps everyone safe and satisfied. This story introduces and encourages readers to use SODAS (Situation, Options, Disadvantages, Advantages, and Solution) as a way to logically and thoughtfully figure out how to solve any problem, from the silly to the serious. What’s the Problem? adds to the wildly popular Executive FUNction book series, which includes What Were You Thinking? and My Day is Ruined! The series skillfully weaves skill teaching into humorous story-lines to help readers become flexible thinkers, problem solvers and self-managers.

“Watch out, Goliath. Jon Yates has a slingshot and he’s teaching us how to use it.” —Amy Dickinson, New York Times bestselling author and America’s favorite advice columnist “Jon Yates gives consumers a great primer on how to solve their own customer service problems.” —Angie Hicks, Founder of “Angie’s List” Jon Yates, the Chicago Tribune’s popular “Problem Solver,” offers eminently practical, money-saving advice on how to become your own consumer advocate. What’s Your Problem? is a godsend for anyone who has ever had to take on the bureaucracy—from getting through to the cable company to dealing with identity theft to fighting the unfriendly skies. The first book of its kind—a combination of illuminating true stories and essential advice for cutting through the red tape put up by local governments, health insurance companies, and heartless corporations—What’s Your Problem? is an indispensable handbook that can alleviate your frustrations once and for all and help you get the results you need fast!

Turn team members into innovators Most organizations approach innovation as if it were a sideline activity. Every so often employees are sent to “Brainstorm Island”: an off-site replete with trendy lectures, creative workshops, and overenthusiastic facilitators. But once they return, it’s back to business as usual. Innovation experts Paddy Miller and Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg suggest a better approach. They recommend that leaders at all levels become “innovation architects,” creating an ecosystem in which people engage in key innovation behaviors as part of their daily work. In short, this book is about getting to a state of “innovation as usual,” where regular employees—in jobs like finance, marketing, sales, or operations—make innovation happen in a way that’s both systemic and sustainable. Instead of organizing brainstorming sessions, idea jams, and off-sites that rarely result in success, leaders should guide their people in what the authors call the “5 + 1 keystone behaviors” of innovation: focus, connect, tweak, select, stealthstorm, (and the + 1) persist: • Focus beats freedom: Direct people to look only for ideas that matter to the business • Insight comes from the outside: Urge people to connect to new worlds • First ideas are flawed: Challenge people to tweak and reframe their initial ideas • Most ideas are bad ideas: Guide people to select the best ideas and discard the rest • Stealthstorming rules: Help people navigate the politics of innovation • Creativity is a choice: Motivate everyone to persist in the five keystone behaviors Using examples from a wide range of companies such as Pfizer, Index Ventures, Lonza, Go Travel, Prehype, DSM, and others, Innovation as Usual lights the way toward embedding creativity in the DNA of the workplace. So cancel that off-site. Instead, read Innovation as Usual—and put innovation at the core of your business.

This is the story of a persistent problem and the child who isn't so sure what to make of it. The longer the problem is avoided, the bigger it seems to get. But when the child finally musters up the courage to face it, the problem turns out to be something quite different than it appeared. What Do You Do With a Problem? is a story for anyone, at any age, who has ever had a problem that they wished would go away. It's a story to inspire you to look closely at that problem and to find out why it's here. Because you might discover something amazing about your problem... and yourself.