1. How2
SOLVE
If you think about it, you are confronted with Sometimes the approach to the problem is over
problems and challenges each and every day, complicated or unnecessary. Sometimes the
and so is everybody else. Whether it is how to method to evaluate the best options and create
make money, find a way to solve world hunger, action plans as a result is simply ineffective.
place blocks and shapes on a table or make a Problem solving does not have to be hard or
recipe in the kitchen - everything is a problem or complicated. In fact, using effective (objective,
challenge to be solved. Isn’t it interesting that logical, rational and holistic) thinking
problem solving (being the key skill that it is) is is all it takes to address the key
not even taught in schools? One of the key skills issues that face and taunt us. What
in life does not even appear in most school curric- would your effectiveness (and that of
ulums. I find that extremely odd if not silly. As a the people around you) be if you
result, most people have a haphazard way of knew how to solve problems bet-
solving their problems. Sometimes things are ter? Most people would agree that
made more complicated than necessary. Some- better problem solving skills would
times the problems are not even clearly defined greatly improve effectiveness and
or understood but already acted upon. efficiency in life.
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2. Vision
Inspiring facilitating & creating remarkability
Mission
Customer experience innovation and problem solving through
Workshops, facilitation, training, coaching, consulting, custom
solutions and customer value propositions design & development...
Values
Professionalism, reliability, innovation, collaboration, flexibility,
creativity, quality, relationship Networks, active thinking and fun...
“I formed this company because I want to help professionals become more successful at attracting and retaining
customers, becoming more creative, innovative, collaborative, customer centric and able to solve problems better.
To learn to solve problems better is a fundamental skill for, not only, people in business but also in life. In this
article I explore the different areas that are critical to address if you want to learn to solve problems better.
Enjoy it and please feel free to contact me.

3. Should...
Let’s first clarify what a problem actually is.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a prob-
lem as, “a difficult situation that needs to be
resolved or something that is hard to under-
Define the problem (Be specific)
stand or accomplish”. To this point, the first
Summarize the problem into a sentence
step to resolving any problem is to clearly
Make sure you are rational and objective
define what it is in the first place. Too many
people jump to actions and conclusions with- Make sure you have all the information
out having effectively and clearly defined the Look at all the different parts of it
problem in the first place. We seem to live in
Determine if this is really a problem
a society that likes to make quick assump-
Do others agree with you on the scope
tions, snap judgements and jump to conclu-
Is the problem ‘out there’ or ‘within you’
sions. Problems that are poorly defined (not
Have you considered all the questions
surprisingly) result in unsatisfactory out-
Define your critical success factors (CSF)
comes. The old adage “Garbage In, Garbage
Ask: Is this a new or existing problem
Out”, holds true here. Albert Einstein, one
Define the problem from many angles
of the worlds most famous scientists, puts it
a problem
simply
well defined is a
problem half solved!
So what’s your problem? Have you thoroughly
defined it? Have you asked all the necessary
questions? Have you considered all the factors
that contribute to your problem? Have you
effectively diagnosed the situation? Asking
questions is (as you can see) an essential
component, not only in defining problems but
in solving them in general. As children we
were used to asking questions. But while
growing up we were (through parenting and
education) discouraged to ask them too much.
Generally, in schools, children asking ques-
tions (...”stupid ones”...) were laughed at and
also scolded by teachers and peers.
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4. Causing...
You have now clearly defined your problem.
You may have already (subconsciously)
started doing the next step. The second step
in problem solving is to understand what all
Identify all the causes of the problem the factors that contribute to the problem are.
Make a list of all the causes A simple, yet powerful technique in identify-
Ask: What is causing this and Why ing causes is the fishbone diagram. The basic
concept in the Fishbone Diagram is that the
List the causes of the causes
name of the problem is entered at the right of
Look at all factors involved
the diagram at the end of the main quot;bonequot;.
Clearly understand the current reality
The main possible causes of the problem are
Understand the environment you’re in drawn as bones off of the main backbone. Sub
Look at the elements holding you back causes branch off the main causes. Remember
Be aware of your own assumptions to keep on asking ‘Why’ to identify all the
List all the forces for and against you causes of the particular problem. Once you
Remember to keep asking WHY have identified all the possible causes of the
problem you can choose to start addressing
solutions.
Sometimes when dealing with problems and
challenges that are routine, the answers may
be so obvious that creative thinking is not
always necessary because the answer is star-
ing you right in the face. However, sometimes
we must be cautious when identifying the
causes of our problems. We must be aware of
our own individual biases and the assump-
tions we make. When identifying causes we
need to be rational and objective. Sometimes
you won’t know all the causes and in this case
it is useful to conduct tests to verify the causes.
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5. Creatively...
Let me first begin by saying that this is the
fun part of problem solving. Thinking and
creative thinking are the third step. The fa-
mous SCAMPER technique is very useful at
Use the SCAMPER technique
helping bring out creativity. SCAMPER
Reverse your problem
stands for: SUBSTITUTE, COMBINE,
Make a provocation and extract a principle
ADAPT, MODIFY, PUT TO OTHER USE,
Compare the problem to something unrelated
ELIMINATE and REVERSE. Some people
think that creativity is magical and mystical Make a forced connection
but really all creativity (and creative think- Make lots of what if and why not statements
ing) is about is MAKING NEW CONNEC-
Create many new combinations
TIONS. By definition creativity is defined as
Look at unmet needs and customer concerns
coming up (bringing into being) with some-
Think unconventionally about the challenge
thing new that has value. The reason for us-
Have fun (use your right brain)
ing creative thinking in problem solving is
Don’t be reasonable at this stage
that it helps identify those options that would
Quantity of ideas is more important here
not necessarily have come up when using
conventional means. Not to mention that it is
the fun way of solving problems. Even
Einstein said that:
imagination is
more important
than knowledge
The critical challenge when doing creative
problem solving is the management of two
areas, FOCUS and ENERGY. Creativity
without focus is useless, unless you are just
shooting the breeze. Getting the right energy
for creative thinking is especially challenging
because it requires getting yourself (and oth-
ers) to WANT to be part of the process and to
enjoy it rather than just see it as business as
usual. Using creative media, exercises, vid-
eos, games, activities etc... Is highly recom-
mended when doing creative thinking and
work in order to inspire the mind.
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6. Effectively...
So now you have reached the stage where you
have come up with all the possible options to
your problem, now what. At this stage of the
process you will need to sort all the ideas
Sort and categorize all options into groups
generated into similar groups. For example all
Use the Plus, Minus & Interesting Technique
ideas pertaining to generating more money on
Use a scale & rank options from best to worst
one side, all ideas for improving customer
Consider all the risks and the consequences
service on the other side and any ideas per-
taining to saving costs are on this side etc... Use judgement and reason here
Once you have sorted all your ideas the time
Be critical but also respectful with other people
comes to evaluate them. There are numerous
Consider your critical success factors (CSF)
techniques to do this. One way is to use the
How well do the options meet the CSF
PMI technique developed by Dr. Edward De
Consider probability, timing and deadlines
Bono. This technique simply requires you to
Check your assumptions
draw three columns on a page and for every
Consider similar ideas and past successes
idea. You need to identify the plusses (what
Consider the cost versus the benefit
you like) the minuses (What you don’t like)
Ask: How would someone else evaluate this
and what you find interesting for every idea
and in that way identify which idea is most
relevant to your cause.
our age wrinkles
the body, quitting
wrinkles our soul
Another way to evaluate ideas is to rank them
from best to worst where 1 = worst and 5 =
best. Then simply place a number on each
idea as you see fit. When evaluating you
should be aware of your critical success fac-
tors that you have identified in the problem
definition stage. By knowing what your suc-
cess should be (CSF) you can objectively eval-
uate how each idea or option suggested will
meet your original success criteria. Be aware
of the risks and consequences of the suggested
ideas. Be aware of your assumptions when
you are evaluating. Consider cost VS. Benefit.
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7. Go forward and...
Finally you have identified the best or most
plausible action to take. The challenge now is
to ACT. So many people and organizations
fail to be successful because they don’t trans-
Make a decision, plan and take action
late ideas to actions. When solving problems
Write out your primary goal(s)
you need to actually do something about the
Write out all the actions to be accomplished
problem and if you are going to effectively
Write the start & end dates for each actions
deal with the problem you then need to actu-
ally take the necessary action as a result. So Determine standards that need to be met
the first step is to write out your goal(s) clear-
List persons responsible & accountable
ly. An example of writing an effective goal is
List all the measurement criteria per action
to write WHAT you are going to accomplish,
Assign required costs for each action
by WHEN, and HOW you are going to do it.
Consider the order of all the actions
Be very clear when you want to start and
Consider which actions are dependant on which
when you are going to finish. Be clear on what
Also consider the independent actions and time
the actions for each goal are going to be. It is
Monitor your progress regularly on all actions
also a good idea to have this written out in the
Adjust your actions as necessary
form of a project plan or chart so you can track
Always learn before, during and after actions
your progress as you are progressing through
each goal. Overcome your fear of failure and ACT
We are all failures
at least all the best
of us are...
Be aware of the costs necessary to accomplish
each action as well as the people that would
be responsible for each action. And most of all
don’t be afraid to make mistakes and fail.
Remember that FAIL stands for: FIRST
ACTION IN LEARNING. The challenge if we
fail to achieve our goals is to learn and under-
stand why and then take action to learn from
those experiences. Too many people are afraid
to take action because they are afraid to make
mistakes and to fail. The result is that many
people don’t learn and grow.
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8. Summary and...
Problem Solving
Process Summary
Define the problem, the ‘as
is’ and your barriers
Identify and define the root
causes of the problem
Generate alternative
solutions ‘to be’ (Creatively)
Evaluate the alternatives /
solutions and test them
Agree on the best solution
Develop an action plan
Implement & evaluate the
solution
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9. About CEXINO
CEXINO consulting offers a wide range of products and services in the fields of:
Customer Experience strategy, design & management
Innovation leadership, management, strategy & enablement
Creativity in business, strategy & enablement
team Building, Coaching, Collaboration and transformation
CEXINO offers:
Workshops
Facilitation
Training
Coaching
Consulting
Customized Toolkits & Value propositions
Speaking interventions
Please feel free to contact CEXINO consulting to help you improve your customer
experience innovation.
Contact Details
Zwi Fainberg
CEO
084 555 9581
zwif@cexino.com
cexino@gmail.com
http://www.cexino.com
Contact CEXINO1 on SKYPE
About Zwi
Born in Israel in 1980. Immigrated to South Africa in 1989. Studied at Rand Afrikaans University and graduated
with Honors in Information Science with majors in Strategic Management, Knowledge Management,
Information Management, Web and Intranet Management. Worked at First National Bank as an Innovation,
Customer Experience, Strategy, Project and Change Manager and subsequently moved to Absa Barclays
Bank where I worked in the fields of Business Intelligence and Innovation Management. During my experi-
ences I attended many seminars, workshops and courses in the fields of innovation, creativity, coaching,
leadership, facilitation, strategy, change, communications and project management. I am a qualified personal
and life coach and love to work with people and help them solve problems and overcome challenges.