How to Identify a Problem SolverAs an executive recruiter, I interview a lot of people. And while most candidates find a way to look good on paper, their resumes don't always reveal how good of a problem solver they are. Yet all of my clients want to hire problem solvers - people who can walk into their operation and make their problems go away.
This is understandable. Business, of course, is all about problems. In fact, whether your business is in growth mode or decline, you will always have problems. And it's management's job to either come up with
answers, or hire people who will. This article is about latter.
How We Learned about Solving Problems
Through conventional classroom education, most of us have come to believe that there is usually a right or a wrong answer to a problem. As such, we tend to study our most pressing business problems to find a single "right" answer - as if we are solving for X in a math problem. Yet in business world, many problems don't become clearer more we study them. Instead, they may become larger and more confusing. Problems involving a mix of personalities and dynamic markets can be especially vexing.
Naturally, hiring managers who fail to understand nature of their business problems will find it difficult to hire someone who can solve them.
Seven Steps to Successful Problem Solving
When solving problems - whether in real life or in a job interview - it's important to follow a logical process. Most business problems are not solved because people don't define "real problem" clearly. Therefore, strength of a job applicant's problem solving ability can be seen by walking them through following seven step framework while getting them to describe how they solved a real life problem in their last job. When discussing a problem that they solved in a previous job, applicant should demonstrate an ability to:
1. Define problem: Have candidate identify what went wrong by including both a cause and an effect in definition in problem they solved.
2. Define objectives: Have candidate explain outcome he wanted to achieve as a result of solving problem.
3. Generate alternatives: How many alternatives did candidate generate? Did quality of alternatives vary greatly? Was there a significant difference in hard (and soft) costs associated with each idea? And so on. This is area in which candidate can demonstrate their creativity and resourcefulness as a problem solver.
