AviMarcus.net » Problem Solving

Podcast #10: What is Brainstorming? How Do I Do it WELL?

Avi Marcus — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:21:58 +0000

The many benefits of brainstorming and the principles for how to do it well . If you have ANY problem you can’t solve – or may have a problem in the future you want to solve easier – I strongly suggest you listen to this podcast.

If you can’t listen to the audio, click here .
Similar Posts:

Podcast #4: Do Things Differently

Avi Marcus — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:03:40 +0000

Why do things differently? Aren’t the old ways tried and true?

If you can’t play the audio file, click here.
Similar Posts:

You Always Have Control – No Matter What!

Avi Marcus — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:21:49 +0000

You aren’t responsible for what happened, but you have control over how you respond. The ball is in your court. You may not have decided to play the game – but now you have the ball. What are you going to do?

Many people start complaining and blaming other people or the situation. They ignore the ball in their hands. Don’t make the same mistake: you can take action. Connect with the people or information that can help you. Plan a way to change the situation. What can you do?

Sometimes, you really can’t do anything change the situation. More often, the cost in time or effort is more than you are willing to pay, e.g. starting a political movement. In either case it makes no sense to remain upset and let negativity take over. You still have control – you can change your thoughts. Don’t allow it to keep bothering you. Let it go. Or, see what you can learn or how you can grow from this situation.

Something you don’t like? Change the situation or change your thoughts!
Similar Posts:

Your Thoughts: How To Think Positively

Avi Marcus — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:55:00 +0000

Happiness is comes from happy thoughts. Remove all sad and negative thoughts, and focus on happy and positive thoughts.

One thought follows the last. We think by associations. If you have a negative thought, the next thought will also be negative. Our brain automatically tunes into thoughts fitting our current emotional state. If you are currently feeling depressed, depressed thoughts will come to mind. If you are happy, happy thoughts will come to mind.

Here are some good ways to start off thinking positively.

Feel appreciative and grateful. What do you appreciate in your life? A wonderful family, a rewarding job, amazing friends, great neighbors, a nice home, that you found my website? If you appreciate what you have in your life, then you will truly be happy, regardless of how wealthy you are. Try asking 3 people each day what they are grateful for. Just asking makes people think in that direction.
Speak joyfully and kindly. People act differently depending on who they around. You will be reserved around a serious person. You will feel relaxed and happy around a joyful person. Be that joyful person! Before you do anything such as washing the dishes, you can say, “I will now joyfully wash this dish.” Say it for each one! It’s a lot of fun in front of a mirror. If you are doing something, then at least enjoy it!
What emotional state do you want? Do you want to be enthusiastic now? Or relaxed? Just thinking about the emotional state you want will remind you of memories of that state. You can spontaneously become enthusiastic. The more you practice, the quicker and more intense the states will be. If you were excited right now, how would you act and speak? External actions affect you internally. Being relaxed and happy will help you learn, think creatively, and remember. Everyone has a hard time remembering when they feel stressed.

You can only think one thought at a time. If something happens that gets you down, you don’t need to cheer yourself up – just interrupt the flow of negative thoughts.

Focus on the solution. Instead of blaming or complaining about the problem, focus on the solution. When you take responsibility to fix something, that means you think it can be fixed, that you feel empowered . Consider what you want to happen, and work towards that goal.
Assume the situation is good in some way. Even if it looks bad, negatively thinking only makes it worse! Think about what you can learn from the event. How can it help you grow as a person? Are there any hidden opportunities? In the long run, is it really so terrible? Have you heard “in the future, you will look back and laugh at this.”? Well, try it right now!
If a person does something that seems negative , try to consider it from a positive perspective. Put yourself in their place – what would you want others to think? Don’t judge others negatively, it will start a string of negative thinking.

You can upgrade your thinking. It may take a while, but the time passes anyway. It will really improve your life.
Personally, for the past year I have been very focused on the solution. Asking “what’s the next action?” works wonders.

Go do something “joyfully”! Try it for anything and everything. It’s fun!

This post is part of a 5 post series about how your thoughts affect your world. View: one, two, three, four, five.

Similar Posts:

Why Band-Aid Your Problems? Stitch Them!

Avi Marcus — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:33:14 +0000

When a problem come up, do you recall with dread that you had this same problem a few times in the past, but it keeps on happening? Your secretary or partner keeps making the same mistake that you have to fix. Your child keeps doing something you don’t want. Someone asks for help to do something on the computer. So you fix the problem, but it keeps happening. Why won’t it go away?

The problem comes back because you are putting on a band-aid instead of stitches. Short term, shallow fixes don’t last. They don’t resolve the underlying cause. Its like putting a band-aid on a deep cut. It may hold it closed for a little, but doesn’t actually solve the problem. Often, just a little more time, effort, or creativity will give you a long term answer. When someone needs help on the computer, don’t just do it for them – show them how. If you settle for a short term band-aid without considering how to permanently fix the issue, you are wasting time.

Crises that come up are quadrant I – important and urgent. Dealing with them doesn’t help you in the long run. View your quadrant I problems as quadrant II opportunities - the things that are important but not urgent. Use problems as a reminder to do the things you feel are important, but not so urgent. If you haven’t gotten to fully training someone to use the computer program, use this opportunity to do this part of the training.

What do you keep putting band-aids on? Stitch it instead!

Similar Posts:

Four Benefits from Scheduling Play Time

Avi Marcus — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:26:43 +0000

You set time for work, but did you do the same for play?
When I refer to work, I don’t just mean your job but all things that aren’t done just for fun.
Usually, you end up spending more time working than scheduled. Things come up, deadlines have to be met, or you just get so caught up in the work you don’t end up with play at all.
So schedule your play time now, and get there benefits:

You can be positive that life isn’t all work. Work is only a part of your life, you have play scheduled! If you only have work scheduled, then life can seem like all spinach and no dessert. Even I like dessert.
Play recharges your batteries. When you get back to work, you can approach it with more energy. When you know that you have play interrupting the work week, its much easier to stay energetic and excited!
You form a positive feedback loop. It may seem like a paradox, but the better you play, the better you can work. When you finish your work and get to your play, you will be able to enjoy it because you put in time working. When you get back to work, you can approach it with more energy, which leads to enjoying your play even more – a very positive feedback loop! Scheduling your play FIRST, and make sure you stick to it. Yeah, I am asking you to stick to a schedule of play!
You get subconscious problem solving. When you get your mind off a topic and relax, your subconscious gets to work on whatever was bothering you. Your best ideas for work may come up while playing!

Similar Posts:

Finding More Time, Part 2: Delegating/Working With Others

Avi Marcus — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:00:44 +0000

In Part 1: Eliminating Activities, I suggested that you should make sure the work you are doing is what YOU should be doing. If something isn’t “worth” your time, then find the appropriate co-worker to do it, delegate it, or hire it out. Another reason to delegate is to have a more experience person doing the work.

These tips are about how to get other people motivated and get their creative juices flowing. The more positivity and creativity, the better!

Have Your Secretary Help
If you have a secretary, ask them to write a suggestion of how to handle each item before they put it in your inbox. With some training, you may find that they can handle most things themselves, or with only minor corrections. Make sure to give feedback on the suggestions, *especially* the good ones. This can save you lots of time. You may even be surprised by some creative ideas.

Get Them Involved
People work best when excited or personally invested in a project. See how the project may appeal to them. Find the benefits for them. Pitch it to them!
If someone comes to you with an idea, try to get them MORE personally invested in it. People love their OWN ideas, and will work with enthusiasm on them. Stop yourself from taking over and saying anything that will make the idea yours – encourage them, and help them become more enthusiastic about their idea.

Get Them To Problem Solve
When people come to you for help, does it ever seem they don’t really know what the problem is, or that they really could figure out the answer themselves?
To help them become more independent, ask (or demand) everyone to follow these three steps before they come to you:

State the problem in 30 seconds or less (15 might be enough!)
Think of 3 possible solutions
Choose which one you like best, and why

(Step one forces them to focus on what the problem really is. Step two makes them really look for solutions, with the assumption that many solutions exist. Step three gets them to make decisions.)

If you can install this habit in the people around you, the few questions you will be asked will be much more focused, and already have possible solutions!

Make Sure YOU Are The One Delegating!
In Time Power, Brian Tracy says one of the worst management issues is reverse-delegation. This happens when the person you delegated to asks you a question or needs a piece of information. They now must wait until YOU get the answer – after all, you are the boss so you have more experience. However, once they come to you, they have become the boss and are delegating to you! Get them to problem solve themselves (previous section) and suggest where they could look, rather than offering to do it yourself.

Don’t be a Bottleneck!
If your staff needs your approval on everything, that means that they are limited to YOUR speed – and they need to keep interrupting you!
When you delegate, make sure they know exactly what you want, and perhaps even why. Have them repeat it to you, so you know they understand. If they are clear with the goal, they can ask you less. Tell them that you would rather they decide minor things themselves than constantly ask you questions. When people are forced to think for themselves, they often come up with good ideas!

To really take advantage of all of these, you must learn to be more flexible. People will keep asking you to make decisions if you scold them for the decisions they make themselves!

Similar Posts:

Don’t Walk Away – Decide NOW!

Avi Marcus — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:24:43 +0000

Most things we do involve making many decisions. We often fear making a mistake or giving up an opportunity. When we need to make decisions, even small ones, we may get an urge to stop and walk away. Often, we just don’t want to deal with it.

However, you probably won’t want to sit back down to your work until you decide. You won’t want to spend the time getting back into the background info and all the options, weighing them all – again – in your head. The longer you push it off, the less certain you will feel – which will further prevent you from making a decision.

Here are some ideas that may help you decide:

Deciding To Walk Away Is A Decision!
“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a decision!”

Sometimes, It’s Not A Big Deal
How much difference is there between the options you are considering? We don’t get stuck considering a bad option vs a good option. We only get stuck if the options are both good! If the difference isn’t that big, just choose one and move on. It’s not worth your energy to worry about it.

Delaying Can Hurt
Often, if we can’t decide, the whole project needs to be put on hold. Is this decision large enough to warrant putting everything on hold? If not, just choose one and move on. Don’t let it break the momentum.

Get More Information
Call someone for some advice. Search online for how other people handled a similar thing. Write out the pros and cons of each option.

If you make it a habit to decide right away, you will save yourself lots of time and energy!

Note: For large decisions, you may legitimately want to sleep on it. But make sure to actually decide the next day, otherwise you will just be using this as an excuse to push off deciding!
Similar Posts:

Stick With "Stuck Tasks" to Avoid Even More Frustration!

Avi Marcus — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:01:49 +0000

(This is another reason to immerse yourself into tasks.)

If you don’t stick with the task until you finish, then you will end up wasting lots of time.
I vividly recall trying to complete a list of things for some software I was writing. Since I had so little time, if I got stuck on one, I moved on to the next. What soon happened was that I had spent some time on each – but got stuck on them all! I spent lots of time, but didn’t finish ANYTHING.

When you get stuck, don’t put it away and move on to the next thing. You won’t want to start on it again because you don’t know what to do next. You will lose your grip on the problem and it will take you lots of time to just get back to where you were – for you to get stuck again! Talk about frustrating!

Instead, just stick it out a little. You only need to think for a few moments – maybe a few minutes. Pause. Take a deep breath. What is the real problem? What can you do to work around it? It doesn’t need to be a perfect solution. As you implement a partial solution, you may realize the rest of the solution. The longer you spend on it, the better you will understand the problem. Knowing the problem is half the solution. You can also try looking around online – someone else probably has had the same issue.

When you do find a solution, take a moment to appreciate it!

If after 5-10 minutes, you can’t get it, then resolve to come back to it as soon as possible. The more it bothers you, the more your subconscious will work at trying to figure out answers. Expect possible solutions to pop into your head, and they will!

Similar Posts:

How To Make a Confident Decision

Avi Marcus — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:41:01 +0000

I have seen many people make decisions, but in the end, it doesn’t seem like they have actually made a firm decision. They go on to act with hesitation and constantly second-guess themselves. They fail to fully commit to their “decision” and make themselves crazy by constantly re-thinking their choice.
How can you make decisions with confidence? People try to reach a perfect decision that takes everything into account. But that’s impossible. We never have all the information, no matter how much time we spend. Instead of striving for perfection – which can drive us crazy – aim for a reasonable decision. With a reasonable amount of time to gather information, you can make a well-informed decision. It just generally isn’t worth the time or stress to put too much time into a decision making process. Once you have basic information for making a reasonable decision (i.e. one that wouldn’t be considered foolish) then make your decision and stick to it.
I notice this most often with daily decisions – which clothes to wear, which food to buy, which place to visit – ask for recommendations or get more info and just get it over with. If you would keep gather more information, are you even sure it would change your decision? Don’t agonize over it – it’s not worth it!
If something does go wrong – but you spent a reasonable amount of time researching or thinking, then rest assured that spending more time might not have made any difference. Also, most decisions don’t have such a big impact (think how much of an impact it will have in five years), and can usually be retried. Even if they can’t, would it even have justified more time gathering information?
If you follow this approach, you can follow up on your decisions with confidence. The confidence isn’t from a sure-fire knowledge that you are right – because you may be wrong. Rather, it’s from knowing that you made a SMART decision: you spent a reasonable amount of time gathering information and decided not to agonize over the decision.
Similar Posts: