The more challenging the problem, the more fun it is for Mr. Solver to solve. Please note that Mr. Solver does NOT focus on how to prolong an engagement to simply ‘rack up billing’ hours. The desire is to solve as many different problems, from as many different sources, in the shortest time possible. During the problem solving process, subsequent activities can typically include (but not limited to – just ask if interested in other activities):
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NEEDS ASSESSMENT
This is essentially, an extension of the initial stage of the engagement, taking a deeper dive to better understand your business, situation, context, and ultimately the source of the problem. This may include speaking with several additional stakeholders, general research, and reviewing mounds of documentation and data.
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IDEATION / BRAINSTORMING WORKSHOP
A naturally, tightly coupled activity with solving problems, and that often follows or gets incorporated into the needs assessment activity. A Mr. Solver favorite, this is a no-hold-back, exciting, and sometimes mind-bending mental exercise. It’s a perfect opportunity for you to explore a wide range of possibilities. Get ready to see things in a way that you never thought of before.
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SOLUTION VISUALIZATION
During the problem solving engagement, discussions can be lengthy, including tons of Q&As, and as such, particularly with more complex problems, the output from these discussions can be quite overwhelming for most. With that said, one of the most effective artifacts that Mr. Solver produces, is a succinct (goal is for this to be one sheet/page), synthesized diagram or infographic, that effectively communicates the solution. The most common response sentiment to this artifact?: This is exactly what we need, that we didn’t know we needed. Now there is clarity that puts all stakeholders on the same page.
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BUSINESS PROCESS
The needs assessment can touch on a lot of different elements within your organization, depending on how the discussion evolves. In many scenarios, properly identifying and addressing one or more business processes, can fully or partially solve the problem. This is an often missed opportunity, where stakeholders tend to be skewed towards taking a technology-first approach to solving business problems. Or, there isn’t a seamless, cross-platform user experience, because the business process is fragmented, and does not align well with the technology that’s facilitating the experience.
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MARKET / COMPETITOR RESEARCH
Sometimes, getting another perspective on the market landscape, can help to confirm your own assessment, or highlight other areas of opportunity. Is it your product or service? Is it positioned right in the market? Is your competitor’s ‘special sauce’ smothering you? Mr. Solver’s experience gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, and extracting business intelligence from vast amounts of disparate sources of information, will help you to get a different perspective of the market in which you compete.
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ROADMAP (STRATEGIC, PRODUCT, ETC.)
This is one of the most illuminating and potentially galvanizing artifacts an organization can have; but it’s grossly under-utilized. Often recommended by Mr. Solver, the roadmap is a very flexible and useful document, and can be applied to practically any entity within a matrixed organization. From general use such as strategic and tactical, to vertical-specific, such as marketing, and software development, roadmaps are great artifacts to communicate at a typically high to mid level, to a wide range of audiences. It’s also a great way to keep everyone’s eyes on the big picture.
