A critical piece of machinery at the factory had been malfunctioning for days, causing significant downtime and creating a financial hardship for the company. Recently hired engineers had looked into the issue, but were unable to resolve it. Finally, an older mechanic, who was highly experienced, was called in to assist them. After carefully examining the equipment, the mechanic took a small hammer and gently tapped a specific spot on the machine. The machine immediately started working again.
The factory owner, impressed with the result, asked the mechanic how much it would cost to fix it. The mechanic handed him an invoice for $50,000. The owner was shocked at the high price and asked for an explanation.
The mechanic broke down the cost:
$5 for the tap on the machine.
$49,995 for knowing where to hit it.
Chances are you have heard some version of this story. The solution to the problem may not have been that complicated at all, but knowing what to do, through wisdom and experience, was worth its weight in gold.
We categorize challenges as unsolvable problems because at that moment we don’t have the wisdom or experience to solve them ourselves. None of the factory engineers had that wisdom, but the one experienced mechanic didn’t view it as a tremendous problem and knew exactly what to do.
By comparison, there are problems we solve daily, and almost subconsciously, as a result of our lifelong experiences to deal with them. You remembered the evening news talking about tomorrow’s weather forecast, and when getting ready the following morning, dressed accordingly. You made sure to get gas on the way home from work because you have an early morning drive to a distant customer site the next day. You’ve looked through the refrigerator and pantry, and made a shopping list, before heading off to the grocery store to purchase the correct items. We are solving problems all the time, most of them without thinking about it, because our experiences just allow us to address them seamlessly.
However, when we get to a moment, such as the engineers at the factory, when we don’t have that wisdom or experience, in facing a challenge or decision, that’s when we truly label it a “problem.” The question then becomes, how do we go about solving it?
Experience is a critical component in problem solving. A famous quote attributed to Thomas Edison related to his development of the light bulb states “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” While so many of his attempts may have been viewed as unsuccessful, each time, Edison gained more information that allowed him to either eliminate some solutions, or improve other solutions, until he found the one that worked to achieve his final goal. At one point in history, there was no experience at all to turn to when in came to manufacturing light bulbs. Through shear determination, and a willingness to fail over and over, Edison developed that wisdom and experience, and eventually solved that problem.
So, perhaps the question to ask is, how does someone develop that wisdom and experience? As discussed in the overview of the On The Ball Theory Eight Traits, formal education does not directly influence whether someone is on the ball or not, as there are plenty of Achievers in life who dropped out of school somewhere in their educational journey, and by comparison, people with a degree from a 4 year private university who are not on the ball.
Developing wisdom and experience to solve problems is the by-product of other key traits:
· Curiosity – you have to want to learn about the problem at hand in order to successfully solve it. If you are not genuinely curious, you might find solutions, but they likely won’t solve the actual problem.
· Problem Recognition – are you in fact solving the right problem? We’ve talked before about the importance of The Right Diagnosis, the absence of which can lead you to treat a symptom, but not cure the illness.
· Communications and Collaboration – how often to you need to engage with others to solve a large and/or complex problem? Perhaps you have learned all that you can about an issue, and realize that it requires a skill set you currently do not possess to completely resolve. Or, in the interest of time, a large problem has a number of steps which can be divided among a group of people. Finally, someone may have actually walked in your shoes and dealt with this very same problem before, and you could directly benefit from their wisdom and knowledge in how they addressed it (enter the experienced mechanic with his hammer). Additionally, it is important to remain flexible in solving problems. If you are collaborating with others (Two Heads Are Better Than One) and you each have your respective experiences in approaching a particular challenge, it is important to remain open and willing to explore alternatives or hybrid answers to the latest version of the problem at hand.
· Ambition – quite often, solving a problem requires patience and persistence. As discussed in a previous blog post, it is when we reach a tipping point that our drive is greater than just desire, and we’re willing to put in the work to accomplish the goal. Ryan Blair is credited with the saying “If it is important you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.” How often do problems go unresolved, or issues unaddressed, because we are unwilling or unable to make the effort to address them.
And this is a continuous journey. When we discussed how the Ball was “elastic”, we talked about how your professional journey might start as an employee, grow to be a manager, and eventually become an executive. Just at the point where you think you have a solid base of wisdom and experience in your employee role, and a solid track record of performance and problem solving within your company, you get promoted to a role where perhaps those experiences do not directly apply. You can leverage the traits and the skill sets, but the journey of acquiring the wisdom and experience starts over relative to the new role.
Early in my career, I was regularly included in interview process for new technical employees at my company. I was not necessarily a strong technical resource myself, and had counterparts who would quiz the candidates as to programming languages, coding capabilities, etc., but I would always ask questions in line with what has evolved into the Eight Traits. When asked afterwards by our recruiting team and my manager as to why I didn’t “tech them”, my response was that most technology has a limited shelf life, and something new and improved will come along that our whole team will need to learn along the way. By comparison, I wanted to make sure we were hiring problem solvers, independent of the code they could write. My philosophy was that if they could solve problems, they could always be valuable team members, but if not, their contributions would be limited over time.
Problem solving is indeed an art, one that is built on the foundation of experience, sustained effort, and an openness to learning from both our mistakes and the knowledge of others. The more we engage with problems over time, the more we unlock our potential to navigate complex situations with creativity, patience, and resilience. Never be afraid to pick up a small hammer and gently tap away.
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