Spreadsheets and reports, which we often rely on are just data, two-dimensional representations of reality. Gathering facts comes from close observation. It’s easy to jump to lousy solutions when you don’t have a strong grasp of the facts - and you can’t get that if you don’t leave your desk, your office, or your conference room. In my work as a leadership consultant, I’ve devised a simple, four-step process that can help you get past the urge to rush to solutions. Nevertheless, an ineffective Band-Aid solution can make things worse, and can be just as damaging in the long run as the problem it’s trying to solve. Crossing items of one’s to-do list and fixing problems provides a dopamine surge that is comforting, especially when the world around us feels more volatile and threatening. It’s understandable that we leap to solutions. Between our cognitive biases and our finite capacity for decision making, when our mental gas tank runs low on fuel, we tend to conserve energy by either avoiding decisions or rushing to solutions before we have a chance to fully understand the problem we’re grappling with. But Einstein wasn’t trying to run a company in the midst of a pandemic, when most of us are working longer hours and making new decisions each day on issues from childcare to employee safety. Albert Einstein reportedly said that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.
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