Clear purpose, ask questions and define questions. Only when the goals and objectives are clear can the problems be clear. In other words, there is no problem without goals and objectives, and the problem is the gap between goals and reality. The situation should be clear now. What's the current situation? What happened? Clearly defining the problem is an important prerequisite for solving the problem.
Asking questions requires question awareness. (Question consciousness has been explained in the previous chapter, so I won't elaborate. The discovery of problems is also related to information, knowledge, will, attitude, emotion, perception and other factors. There is no explanation in the previous chapter, but this chapter explains it. For example, when I went to work this morning, I found that the air conditioner in the office couldn't start. In fact, it is a phenomenon that the air conditioner can't start. As for what is the problem, is it a power problem or an internal motor failure? How do I find problems and define them? Information, knowledge, will, attitude, emotion and perception are needed to find and define problems effectively together.
What's the problem with "the air conditioner won't start"? We need more "information" (whether there is any abnormality in the air conditioning operation these days, whether the voltage suddenly rose yesterday, etc.). ) and related "knowledge" (such as the knowledge of the working principle of air conditioning) to confirm what is wrong with the air conditioner. "Willing" is the degree to which I am willing to take the initiative to do it. If the air conditioner is broken, will I think with my brain, find out the reason and analyze it, and further discover the problem behind the phenomenon of "air conditioner is broken"? "Attitude" refers to whether I can treat the phenomenon of "air conditioning is broken" with a pragmatic attitude, and carefully observe and analyze it to find out the problems behind the phenomenon; Attitude and willingness will produce corresponding emotions, whether they are positive or negative, they all have corresponding emotions, which have positive and negative effects on the search for problems; Perception is the ability of connection and association, which is the highest level, that is, by analyzing the existing phenomena and information, we can find the relationship between connection and influence; I heard that the projector in the classroom is broken and there are often mice in the office. I heard that the projector cable in the classroom was bitten by a mouse. Is there any possible connection, influence and restriction behind these information (connection is based on existing information, and known facts establish correlation and logical relationship), and further develop association (association is based on known speculation)-is it possible for mice to bite off relevant lines and then confirm what the problem is?
Grasp the facts, collect, confirm, sort out and analyze information (find the real reason from the facts)
Whether defining a problem or analyzing its causes, information is a crucial factor, so what is information? This should start with the events and things that have happened. In daily work and life, there will be endless variety of things. Things, things and phenomena are recorded, recorded and extracted to form data, and data with certain annotations becomes information. Information will be used as knowledge in specific situations and circumstances in the future, and knowledge can only be called truth after being tested for its universal applicability.
For example: phenomenon: everyone is in Taobao; Data: In 20 17 years, the national online retail sales were about 7. 18 trillion, accounting for 19.6% of the national total retail sales of consumer goods. Information: Online shopping will replace traditional shopping methods and become the mainstream mode of people's consumption and shopping. Knowledge: Innovating the sales model by using the network platform is a problem that every enterprise must consider in the future. Truth: A convenient lifestyle is people's eternal pursuit (need to be verified again).
Access to information: the collected information should be searched according to the factors related to the purpose of solving the problem, as comprehensive as possible, and the key points should be analyzed according to the proportion of each factor; Be objective, don't be preconceived or preconceived, distinguish between facts and opinions, and don't find out the facts subjectively for someone's point of view; For people's views, we should pay attention to his position and starting point, mood and attitude. Because positions, emotions and attitudes will affect the comprehensiveness and authenticity of information.
Information processing: sorting and classifying information; Using the thinking of fact superposition, add new facts that have not been discovered, and analyze the relevance, logic and causality of known facts.
Creative thinking
Through information analysis and processing, we can gradually clarify the cause of the problem, and then draw up a solution to the problem, which is inseparable from creative thinking. The so-called creative thinking does not suddenly produce creativity, but gradually produces it in people's internal behavior.
The steps are as follows: 1. Examine the problem from all aspects (preparation period. Diffusion thinking) -2. Unconsciously and compulsively think about problems, let the brain think freely in occasional time gaps when doing nothing, and unconsciously trigger the association of problem-solving countermeasures (incubation period. Convergence thinking) -3. A sudden idea to solve the problem (inspiration period)
For example, Kyocera received an order from Matsushita Electronics Industry Co., Ltd. in the early days of its establishment to order insulating ceramic parts and U-shaped insulators for the production of electron guns for TV picture tubes. Due to the rapid growth of TV demand, Panasonic hopes to localize the products imported from its Dutch partner Philips. Dongsheng Kazuo is considering whether forsterite ceramics can be used. Results It took about a year to successfully complete the synthesis, which was the first case in Japan at that time.
The biggest difficulty encountered in the process of synthesizing forsterite is that all mineral raw materials are dry powder, so it is difficult to form. If the traditional process of clay is adopted, impurities will be mixed and pure physical properties cannot be obtained.
Kazuo inamori was troubled by this problem day and night. One day, when he passed the laboratory, he seemed to trip over something and almost fell. He couldn't help crying. "Who put things here?" It turned out that a substance similar to brown turpentine was stuck to the sole. It turned out to be rosin used in previous experiments.
That's it, kazuo inamori's mind suddenly flashed with inspiration. If pure rosin is put into the powder as a binder, it should be able to be molded. So he immediately put the raw materials and rosin into the pot, stirred while heating, and then put them into the mold for molding. The result was a complete success. Moreover, after the object molded by this method is put into the furnace for sintering, all the rosin in the connecting part is burned out during the sintering process, and there is no impurity residue in the finished product. This unexpected success, in kazuo inamori's own view, seems to be a revelation from God.
Creative thinking probably goes through three stages: concentrated thinking-brewing maturity-inspiration and perception, which is a gradual process. If we can put forward the solution to the problem through concentrated thinking, it is the best, but it is difficult. It takes time to further ferment the ideas formed after concentrated thinking in the brain and improve the maturity; If you can't understand the law of cause and effect, establish a logical relationship and form a solution to the problem through continuous thinking, you need instant inspiration and insight to penetrate chaos and point directly at the core.
Creative thinking is an important means to solve problems, whether it is the manager himself or the deployment, so managers should realize the importance of creative thinking, form an organizational atmosphere, and let members' creativity come into play.
As managers, we should pay attention to the factors that hinder creativity.
Environment: bureaucratic thinking, absolutely authoritative management, failure to take proper authorization, and lack of attention and affirmation to creative activities. In such an organizational environment, it is really hard to expect creative thinking and activities to appear. Moreover, once the enterprise is bigger and the rules and regulations and operating standards are complete, this stability will promote the breeding of comfortable atmosphere. For the problems faced, members will also have the idea that more things are not as good as less things, and lose their creative thinking in solving problems.
Views and thoughts on things: inherent ideas, preconceived cognition and established understanding will bind free thinking. For example, the current work practice is quite mature, and there is no need to improve it because of it; No matter how hard you try, you can't do that kind of work well. Just give it up and so on. These ideas will constrain creative thinking.
Emotion: subject to individual feelings, such as depression, inferiority, disappointment, unwarranted doubt, shyness and so on; People are emotional animals, and no one can avoid them. This emotion is enough to restrain free thinking. As managers, we should be aware of the impact of this emotion on ourselves and deployment, and take appropriate countermeasures.
Conditions for promoting creative thinking:
Encourage an atmosphere of independent and divergent thinking, and maintain a calm, inclusive and curious atmosphere.
Increase mental stress-shorten the task delivery period, set higher task goals and approach the limit.
Separate other information from focusing on specific topics.
Get a completely different kind of experience, get a completely different field of knowledge and information.
Flexible use of time (morning, early morning), venue (valley) or activities that are easy to generate ideas (brainstorming).
Formulate countermeasures and make appropriate decisions.
On the basis of analyzing information and creative thinking, the structural logical relationship at the theoretical level of problem solving is formulated, and the envisaged causal relationship and logical relationship need to be verified and revised before implementation; According to the theoretical model or logical relationship to solve the problem, combined with the reality, formulate the action plan to solve the problem, and conceive-draft-revise-confirm the plan.
Countermeasures should consider the organization's systems and policies, and cannot be violated;
Consider the restrictive conditions of countermeasures (economy, time, means, security)
Resilient to change.
Need to consider the psychological influence or position of the relevant personnel (conflict of interest, etc.). ) In the process of implementation.
Set benchmarks and specify methods for the situation being implemented.
For matters involving "red line", set termination conditions.
Draw up more than 2 solutions.
According to the established scheme, make a relatively optimal choice and implement it.
Attachment: Case Saving Jefferson Memorial Hall
Ju Ran Institute is a famous quality management expert Joseph.
Ju Ran is an international management consulting organization. In the 1990s, the organization released a series of videos of research cases, one of which was about the Jefferson Memorial Hall.
Located in the south of Potomac Park in Washington, the Jefferson Memorial Hall was established to commemorate the bicentennial of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. Completed on 1943. The memorial hall is a 96-foot-high white marble building designed according to Jefferson's favorite dome style of the Roman Pantheon. Every April, cherry blossoms bloom on the tidal lake next to the memorial hall. There is a reflection of the memorial hall in the lake, and the scenery is very beautiful.
In the 1980s, managers found signs of accelerated aging on the surface of white marble, and cracks even appeared in some places. Due to the serious corrosion of the stone in the memorial hall, the maintenance personnel are very troubled. At the same time, tourists also complain that the memorial hall has been in disrepair for a long time and has not received the attention of relevant departments. The following is a list of problems at that time (current situation):
This stone has been corroded.
Tourists complain
Maintenance personnel spend a lot of time cleaning up.
The appearance of the memorial hall is not up to standard.
Cleaning costs are rising.
First, a clear purpose, define the problem
Objective: To protect the Jefferson Building from erosion.
Question:
1. The stones on the ground have been corroded.
2. The wall is aging and falling off, which leads to the appearance of the memorial hall is not up to standard, and tourists complain.
3. The falling objects on the ground and walls increase the cleaning workload, which leads to an increase in cleaning cost.
Second, grasp the facts and analyze information.
Fact:
1. The memorial hall was built in 1943.
The outer layer of the stone and the wall surface of the memorial hall are falling off.
There are bird droppings on the ground and walls of the memorial hall, which are cleaned up every day to keep it beautiful and receive tourists.
4. The memorial hall made of stone in other parts of Washington, the surface layer of the ground and the surface layer of the wall have not fallen off.
Other memorial halls are not cleaned every day, but regularly.
A large number of birds gathered outside the memorial hall.
Analysis: Imagine what you would do if you were a supervisor. The answer may be obvious: it's time to mend the stone. But when asked why the stone is corroded, you found that the acidity of the cleaning agent is high through sampling analysis, and frequent cleaning is the cause of corrosion. At this time, you may have a series of solutions to solve this problem:
Replace new stones with detergents containing mild chemicals to reduce the frequency of cleaning. Do nothing, just explain to tourists that this is just an old building. But at the same time, you find that other memorials made of the same stone have not been corroded, or don't need to be cleaned so frequently, so you will ask, "Why have we been cleaning the Jefferson Memorial?" "What's the answer?
It is the pigeons who frequented the memorial hall that left too much feces.
So get rid of pigeons, right? (No, you can't reduce it by killing it, you can't drive it away better, and all this increases the labor force) or, you ask, "Why are so many pigeons here? Because there are a lot of spiders here for them to prey on.
Third, find out the countermeasures and make appropriate decisions. After investigation, you can try a solution. You ask yourself, "Why should I hire so many people? Can't we solve the problem without them? " It seems that you have found the obvious answer-countermeasure 1: buy some pesticides and kill these spiders. If there were no spiders, pigeons would leave; Without pigeons, there would be no feces; If there is no feces, you don't need to clean it often. Look, the problem is solved. It seems that the answer is found quickly and directly-but it is only temporary, hasty and inappropriate (increasing workload, increasing labor force, increasing expenses, not being environmentally friendly, buying drugs to kill spiders and birds). Although pesticides can drive away moths and spiders, the disadvantage of this scheme is that these pesticides may corrode stones more. Who else wants to smell those chemicals? Will it not affect the health of tourists and staff? Simply put: "We have to accept these shortcomings."
Continue to analyze, why are there so many spiders here? Because spiders are attracted by a large number of moths. Keep thinking, why do moths come? At dusk, the lights of the memorial hall attracted a large group of moths. Then why didn't the moth go somewhere else to continue to ask and analyze? In fact, we found the real reason at this time. After repeated research, experts finally solved the mystery. Jefferson Memorial Hall turns on the lights earlier than other memorial halls 1 hour. So what is the solution? Countermeasure 2: Turn on the light in two hours. Without lights, there would be no moths; No moths, no spiders; No spiders, no pigeons; No pigeons, no feces.