The 7 Problem Solving Steps Every Leader Should Know

Problems are part of life and leadership. Some are small, like running out of coffee before a meeting, and others are big, like project delays, budget cuts, or conflicting stakeholder priorities. What separates effective leaders from overwhelmed ones is a systematic approach to solving problems.

Here is a practical 7 step process that will help you move from confusion to clarity.

1. Identify the Issue

The first step is simple but essential: name the problem clearly. Many teams waste time treating symptoms instead of addressing the real issue. For example, if a project keeps missing deadlines, the problem is not late work. It might be unrealistic timelines or unclear priorities.

Leadership Lesson: If you cannot explain the problem in one sentence, you do not fully understand it yet.

Tools to Use:  Problem Statement Template, 5 Whys Analysis

2. Understand Everyone’s Interests

Behind every problem are people with different perspectives, needs, and priorities. Understanding these interests helps you design solutions that work for everyone involved.

Leadership Lesson: Listen carefully. Ask questions. The more you know about what people need, the better your solutions will be.

Tools to Use: Stakeholder Analysis Matrix, Empathy Map

3. List the Possible Solutions (Options)

Brainstorm as many options as possible without filtering too soon. Sometimes the most unconventional idea sparks the best outcome.

Leadership Lesson: Encourage creativity. Separate generating ideas from evaluating them.

Tools to Use: Brainstorming, Mind Mapping, SCAMPER Technique

4. Evaluate the Options

Once you have a list, weigh the pros and cons of each option. Consider feasibility, cost, timing, risks, and long term impact.

Leadership Lesson: Be thorough. A quick fix may not solve the deeper issue.

Tools to Use: SWOT Analysis, Decision Matrix, Cost Benefit Analysis

5. Select an Option (or Options)

Decision time. Pick the option or combination that best addresses the problem and aligns with your goals.

Leadership Lesson: Involve key stakeholders in the choice. Commitment to the solution increases when people are part of the decision.

Tools to Use: Multi Criteria Decision Analysis, Voting Techniques, Delphi Method

6. Document the Agreement

Clarity prevents confusion. Writing down the decision ensures everyone knows what was agreed on, who is responsible, and what the next steps are.

Leadership Lesson: If it is not documented, it did not happen. Documentation builds accountability and shared understanding.

Tools to Use: Action Plan Template, RACI Chart, Meeting Minutes

7. Agree on Contingencies, Monitoring, and Evaluation

No plan is perfect. Build in checkpoints, monitoring, and a process for making adjustments if things do not go as expected.

Leadership Lesson: Follow up is where many problem-solving efforts fail. Continuous review ensures solutions stick.

Tools to Use: KPI Dashboard, Risk Register, After Action Review

Bottom Line:

Problem solving is not about having all the answers. It is about having a clear process. By following these seven steps, you will move from reacting to challenges in frustration to responding with clarity and confidence.

Next time you face a tough problem, whether it is a stalled project, a difficult decision, or even just an empty coffee pot, remember that problems are opportunities to lead.

Happy Thursday,

-srt 

P.S. Before you panic because you don't know how to use the tools above, never fear.  I got your back.  Starting next week, I will introduce each so that you can execute like a pro.  

From Certainty to Curiosity: How We Unlock Innovation and Connection

Now that I am retired, I give myself 30 minutes on Thursday mornings to read through LinkedIn and catch up on the lives and work of my professional friends.

One dear friend has been digging deeply into the Torah and writing about her learnings. Miriam is a Jewish scholar, and her posts always compel me to reflect and ponder.

Last week, she ended her post with a question that stayed with me:

“What would it look like if we approached difficult questions with curiosity instead of certainty?”

It is a question I have been asking for the past year and one that I often bring into my coaching engagements.

So, let’s begin with why curiosity matters. Then, I’ll share a few frameworks you can use to cultivate curiosity and spark innovation in your own life, community, nonprofit, or profession. 

Why Curiosity Matters

Certainty can make us feel safe, but it often builds walls. Curiosity, however, builds bridges. It allows us to sit in complexity, to listen more deeply, and to move toward understanding instead of division.

• In our personal lives, curiosity helps us pause before reacting and ask what someone else might be experiencing.
• In communities, it creates common ground even when values diverge.
• In nonprofits, curiosity reframes obstacles as opportunities for creativity.
• In education, it teaches students that questions themselves are powerful tools for growth.

Curiosity does not undermine expertise. Instead, it enriches our wisdom with openness, empathy, and humility.

Frameworks That Encourage Curiosity and Innovation

If we want to move from certainty to curiosity, we need practical ways to practice it. 

Here are five frameworks that I have used in my life, professional and personal, that you can use to guide you:

1. Beginner’s Mind

Drawn from Zen philosophy, shoshin invites us to approach each situation as if we are seeing it for the first time.

• Ask: What is possible here that I have not considered?
• Ask: What might someone with a different perspective notice?

Application: Invite new voices into discussions. Fresh eyes often see what experts miss.

2. Appreciative Inquiry

Instead of asking, “What is broken?” Appreciative Inquiry asks:

• What is working well?
• What gives life to this system, team, or community?
• How might we build on these strengths?

Application: Nonprofits can reframe scarcity into innovation by focusing on where creativity is already thriving.

3. The 5 Whys

By asking “Why?” five times, we move beyond surface answers and discover root causes.

Application: An educator might ask why a student is disengaged, peeling back assumptions until they uncover real needs.

4. Design Thinking

This problem-solving process centers curiosity and empathy:

1. Empathize
2. Define
3. Ideate
4. Prototype
5. Test

Application: A nonprofit can co-create solutions by involving the community it serves in every stage of the design.

5. The “Yes, And” Mindset

Borrowed from improv, “Yes, And” builds on ideas rather than shutting them down.

Application: In team brainstorming, replace “Yes, but…” with “Yes, and…” to expand creativity and inclusion.

Creating a Culture of Curiosity

Curiosity flourishes where it is safe to wonder, safe to question, and even safe to fail. Leaders, educators, and changemakers can cultivate this by:

• Admitting when they do not know.
• Rewarding questions as much as answers.
• Creating space for reflection, not just execution.
• Practicing empathy and seeking first to understand.

The Invitation

As Miriam’s post reminded me, the divides in our communities, workplaces, and world will not be bridged by doubling down on certainty. They will be bridged when we step into dialogue with curiosity.

Certainty builds walls. Curiosity builds bridges. And on those bridges, transformation, innovation, and hope are born.

So the next time you face a difficult question, pause. Instead of rushing to certainty, lean into curiosity. That is where change begins.

Wrap Up

So, I will end where I began .... with Miriam's question:

Where in your life, community, nonprofit, or profession can you replace certainty with curiosity this week?

Happy Thursday all,

-srt

P.S. How can I help?  In my coaching and consulting work, I help leaders and teams move from certainty to curiosity. Together, we create cultures where asking better questions unlocks innovation, deepens trust, and builds stronger connections.

If you or your team are ready to embrace curiosity as a catalyst for growth, I would love to partner with you. Let’s explore how we can shift conversations, bridge divides, and spark new possibilities.

When an Emmy Led Me Somewhere I Did Not Expect

The other night I watched a young man, Owen Cooper, walk across the Emmy stage to accept an award for his role in Adolescence. I had not seen the show but the way the crowd reacted made me curious. Curiosity can be a gift but sometimes it takes you places you do not expect.

I pressed play on Adolescence and from the very first scene I was uncomfortable. The tone was raw, unfiltered, and unapologetically masculine in ways that felt jarring. By the time I reached the end I realized my discomfort was not just about the acting or the story. It was about the world the show was pointing toward. At that point I still could not name it.

It was only later that I learned more about what I had stumbled into: the manosphere and incel culture. Before this I honestly had no idea these communities even existed. What I discovered is a cluster of online spaces built around ideas of masculinity, power, and gender dynamics. It is a world where certain beliefs are reinforced through repetition, memes, and yes emojis.

I had always thought emojis were playful add ons to texts: a smiley face to soften a sentence, a heart to show appreciation, a flame to hype up a friend. But inside the manosphere and incel forums emojis become something else entirely. They are signals, shorthand for beliefs, and sometimes weapons of mockery.

Here are some of the most common ones:

• 💪 does not just mean strength, it stands for alpha masculinity.
• 🟥 is not just a red square, it is the red pill, a badge of awakening to the so called truth about women.
• 🔵 is the blue pill, used to mock anyone who is seen as naïve or brainwashed.
• 🤡 is shorthand for clown world, a dismissal of feminism or social progress as ridiculous.
• 👑 instead of admiration is often used sarcastically, as if to say all women think they are queens.
• 🚩 does not just mean warning, it gets slapped on almost anything women do that men in these groups dislike.
• 🐍 is used to paint women as deceptive or untrustworthy.
• 🐒 is shorthand for branch swinging, the idea that women move from man to man without loyalty.
• 🍆💦 goes from a silly symbol for flirting to a crude brag about sexual conquest.
• 💅 becomes a way to mock women as vain or shallow.
• 💀 is especially common in incel spaces, used to express despair, nihilism, or even hopelessness about life and relationships.
• 🪦 pushes it further, a tombstone symbol used when fatalism or self hatred takes over.
• 💯🔥80/20 references the belief that 80 percent of women are attracted to the top 20 percent of men, often paired with symbols of strength or sexual appeal.

What struck me most is how these communities take something as universal as emojis, symbols meant to connect us, and twist them into coded language that reinforces division.

Watching Adolescence felt like peeking behind a curtain. It showed me not just a performance worthy of an Emmy but an unsettling mirror of a culture I did not know enough about. By the time I finished I realized that my initial discomfort was the point. The show, intentionally or not, pushed me into a conversation I had been only vaguely aware of.

And here is the thing: once you see it you cannot unsee it. Emojis, television scripts, social media posts, they are not just harmless background noise. They are often part of a larger language, one that reveals how people see themselves and others.

I started with curiosity about a performance. I ended with curiosity about a subculture. And now I am left with the reminder that stories, whether told on a stage, a screen, or in a string of emojis, always mean more than they seem at first glance. For parents especially, this is a reminder to pay attention to the digital worlds your kids move through, because sometimes what looks like a harmless symbol is actually carrying a much heavier message. That awareness matters, because the same coded language that fuels online bonding can also fuel online bullying and harassment.

More than anything, I see this as a cautionary tale. The manosphere and its darker corners like incel culture are not just abstract internet trends, they can have devastating consequences for impressionable young men and for the families who love them. Recognizing the signs early and talking openly about them is one of the most important ways we can help protect the next generation.

Uncomfortable Thursday all,

-srt