Problem Solving 101

I know a simple process that helps me make really good decisions. It requires three basic steps.

Understand the question.
Obtain the information to answer that question.
Know where to turn when I get lost during steps one and two.

I avoid bad decisions when I really understand the question before me. When I take shortcuts oversimplify the problem I inevitably err. Many will have filled out the paper that presented simple questions like your name, date, simple math problems and the like, only to get to the bottom of the page and find the instruction that told you to ignore all of the other questions and to then do something like make three dots on the back of the page. Most people overlook the instruction at the beginning that says to read all the instructions before they begin. That oversight and overconfidence led to their very mistake.

Most of the time, when we think we already know the answer we try to solve problems we see before we understand the question before us. If we employ problem solving skills that we learned in high school and maybe college, we often search for minimal confirming data that supports the direction we want to go while we ignore nor seek contrary and divergent opinions. In this Information Age it is more important than ever that we overcome confirmation bias and investigation paralysis and solve the real problems in front of us.

This requires effective research, honest assessment, and confidence to make a decision at the right time. With the ubiquity of information at our fingertips we all need to become better researchers and understand when we have enough information and when it is time to act. In law school I learned that you are done with research when each of the sources cease to reveal new sources. As you read you will discover new questions that you didn't even know to consider when you began to study and the research scope of your research  will expand. Soon, however, you will find a tipping point when you find the answers to the new questions and the scope of the inquiry shrinks, until you are prepared and ready to act.

During the research phase you will either understand the questions you are studying, or not. You will either know where to get the information to answer those questions, or not. If you are lost and do not know how to proceed, the third step holds the key to good decision making. You must find a reliable source, someone who you can trust, to guide you by either focussing the questions that you must answer to reach the correct conclusion or to reveal additional necessary sources.

Avoid acting before you are satisfied that your research is done. Action before study and research paves a road of error and regret. If you find yourself struggling with a decision, do not fret, rather follow the steps until you are sure. Act only when it is time.