Einstein’s theory of madness – is doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting a different result……

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A bath is full of water. You are offered a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket and
asked to empty the bath. Would you use the spoon/the teacup or the bucket?

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A normal person would pull the plug! This highlights that sometimes we over
complicate finding solutions.

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Effective problem solving should be at the heart of any organisation, we often
only contact companies when we have a problem and will form an opinion on
that company based on how well or how badly that is handled.

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One of the main problems is a tendency to fire fight internal or external issues
rather than provide a long-term solution.

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By drilling down to the root cause (and this is not always the obvious one) you
can come up with a solution that will prevent re-occurrence.

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​An example goes back to my days of vehicle contract hire where a customer
reported a problem with this van regularly breaking down. We repeatedly put
the van into a garage to diagnose the problem and after several visits and
great expense there was no improvement. After speaking to the customer at
length, we discovered that he was piling so many boxes into the back of the
van, it was hitting the interior light – hence the battery running low.

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Asking the right questions at the beginning would have saved us and the
customer a considerable length of time and money.

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Look carefully at the current situation, the root cause and the potential
solutions before making a change that will ultimately improve your profitability
and help retain your customers.

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To support your staff in effective problem-solving contact us to arrange a
workshop designed to meet your specific business needs.