Have you ever stepped back to consider not what you’re thinking, but how you’re thinking about it?
How we think has a great impact on our actions, which then determine the resulting outcomes. If you were at my Creative Mornings Field Trip last week, you interacted with this concept in relation to PDCA, or the scientific method. What I love about PDCA is that it allows you to confront challenging situations with a methodology. You can forego the anxiety and uncertainty that often accompanies things we don’t know what to do with or how to fix and focus on the real problem itself.
One of the reasons this is so critical is that as humans, we often try to solve a problem by identifying a symptom and treating it as if it is the root cause of the problem. To clarify this, let’s take the chicken pox as an example. If you’ve ever had the chicken pox (or had a child with the chicken pox), the temptation to itch the welts on your skin is almost unbearable! Itching seems like it is the absolute best solution for the discomfort you’re experiencing. However, as those of us with scars from that attempted solution know, scratching those pox didn’t solve the problem – and even led to permanent damage.
Same thing with other less tangible problems. If we’re focused on the symptoms, we cannot get to the root of the problem, which means we will only cycle around the same mess for eons (okay, months or years) before getting completely fed up and giving up. What does this result in? Sadness. Misunderstanding of failure. Low morale. Maybe even depression. It doesn’t feel good to throw all you have at something only to find it never makes anything better.
Back to this idea about how you think being important. How you think drives what you are thinking. If you have cultivated a mentality focused on finding what really caused a problem, you are much less likely to look around you for a culprit to blame at the onset of a problem. Expansive thinking allows for a wider array of action, which in turn provides a greater possibility for a positive outcome. Read: A problem actually solved instead of kicked down the road.
This approach to problems is called RCA (Root Cause Analysis) in the CI world. The whole idea is rooted in changing how we think so that we have real access to what we want: longstanding, effective solutions to difficult problems.
Activity: What’s a problem you’ve been tempted to scratch? Consider that problem and ask yourself if this thing you are perceiving is the actual problem or just a symptom of a larger problem. Write down your trail of symptoms and see where it leads. When in doubt, or if you feel stuck, ask why that thing happened.