adminHector Moyo HR column
Although I did not get as many responses to last week’s article articulating the “blame game” phenomenon, the few that came through were quite exciting and pertinent. Could the reduction in feedback be due to the fact that I touched some raw nerves that left a lot of my readers introspecting? If so, that is as it should be, we really ought to act responsibly and rid our society and the work place of ills such as the blame game.
I, however, need to make mention of this telephonic conversation I had with this one elderly reader, who sounded very much at home with the topic. Although the conversation had airtime implications because I was returning his missed call, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you madala. There is additional good news baba, the Nqameni pot is simmering with something too good to be missed, soon to be released to the public, through an official launch. The wait will not be much longer, I promise.
Today we want to look at another very important component of life/work situations, which is ordinarily left to adults or supervisors/managers to deal with and yet it as critical to the young and employees too. We are today dealing with the all-important issue of identifying and solving problems.
The correct way is to look at problem identification and solving as a total package and deal with it as such, and yet in reality the majority of us tend to separate the two. We tend to treat it as a relay situation, where the one category identify the problems and then pass them to the other group, whose responsibility it is to solve these problems!
A good example is where children think their role on this planet is to generate problems and expect the parents to then solve these problems! Is a description of this scenario as being “crazy” unloving and unparent-ish? The second example is where employees think that their role is to come up with all sorts of problems, for the supervisors/managers to solve.
I will not use any superlative to describe this scenario!
Problem identification and solving are inherently linked and consequently inseparable, I argue. Let the mind that identifies the problem, solve it. Not easy columnist, you say. Granted, but there is perhaps some fundamentals that should guide us in seeing this linkage and help us adopt the two-in–one package. Below are some fundamentals that we need to grapple with.
Brain games
Our generation has come a long way madoda! Remember playing the macatshelana game? Those were the beginnings of exercising our minds as we looked for all manner of ways not to be captured as we hid from our “enemies” and we did it quite successfully most of the time.
No wonder the armed struggle was waged so successfully! The macatshelana game was a problem solving based game. In order not to be captured, one had to hide nice and proper. On the other hand, the person looking for the hidden guy could not afford to give up, they had to search high and low.
I do not see any of these games being played to any meaningful levels these days — no wonder our children are mostly based in the problem identification domain most of the time, never mind their age!
Next was the spot the difference mind game. I particularly enjoyed this one. Two pictures were drawn side by side, with 10 or so subtle differences which you were then expected to spot. A few of the differences would be obvious, and the rest a bit on the tricky side. We would take next to no time to unravel the differences, and that is where we derived thrills from.
I see this word game in one of the daily papers and I always find myself wanting to indulge, despite my advanced age.
There were of course games like jigsaw puzzle, snakes and ladders, chess, draft games, high schools quiz, debate sessions, etc which also developed young peoples’ minds.
However, the most painful and yet rewarding one was learning how to ride a bicycle! You were lucky if you had an understanding sister/brother or uncle, who would take you through the paces without too many falls. Learning how to ride a bicycle was always a test of endurance and a balancing act. Only the strong willed ones conquered in a reasonably short time.
I do not see many children falling off their bicycles these days — does it mean that we were less gifted in problem solving than them?
Back to basics
There is no substitute for training in basics. Children have to be trained in problem solving at a tender age, just like pot training for infants. This is an activity which if delayed, can lead to some kind of disaster, especially if the child has to attend a boarding school! Thus introducing children to the games mentioned above is a sure way of getting the child trained in problem identification and solving.
Have you ever seen how lions train their young ones the art of killing prey? You really feel sorry for the prey, as it is caught and released a number of times before it is finally mauled to death! However, the end result for them is that the cubs learn the basics in the art of killing prey
At Work
Problem solving is a skill that can be taught at work. There are a wide range of approaches, with some emphasizing individual skills while others concentrate on group skills. The emphasis, however, is always about a systematic approach; problem identification, generating a number of solutions, choosing the best solution and then implementing it until the problem is solved.
The pertinent thing is never to generate one solution or not to generate a solution at all. This is unacceptable in the world of problem solving.
Methodologies such as five whys and the herring bone analysis, come in handy in the teaching of problem techniques.
Incentive schemes
Some companies invest monies to encourage creativity and problem solving mindsets among their employee lots. The benefits range from small to real big, depending on the company. I know of employees who have benefitted from such schemes, they always walk tall as they cash in on their creativity!
Employee development schemes
There is no substitute for employee development in some of these things. A wise company will ensure that employees in various positions are developed appropriately, to encourage conceptualisation and problem solving. Programmes such as Work Study are excellent for problem solving and continuous improvement.
Helping employees develop a flair for problem solving is, in my view, much better than incentive schemes or are they complementary? There is a resultant internalisation of skills, this way, I argue.
Take home this week?
From the above treatise, it can be seen that the problem identification mindset only accounts for half the job, the other half has to be about solving the identified problems. The two are therefore inseparable, in real life situations. The skills have to be developed, preferably at an early age, but can also be successfully learnt even at old age.
Whereas it is said that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, I have seen that in most cases, it really depends on the teacher! A good trainer will always achieve the desired results at the end.
Time for me to rest my case for this week as I seek solutions to problems related to book publishing. Send your views to e-mail address hecandbe@ gmail.com or sms 0777556081.
Online Reporter