To a person holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail. This great cliché, in a backwards kind of way, says that there are many different tools and many ways to solve problems. Here, I will describe a tool that I have used successfully to solve complex problems in cross functional organizations. Perhaps my analog electronics engineering background compels me to formulate an analogous tool to aid me in describing this tool.
The analogous tool that I propose to use is the wheel. Like the wheel, this tool is an efficient way to move teams forward. Once the team is in motion, it wants to stay in motion. Conversely, once it gets stuck, it takes effort to get it rolling again. It requires balance for smooth operation: once out of balance, the ride can get bumpy. You get the idea. The wheel will be a good way to describe both the pros and cons of this approach.
This wheel tool is a methodology consisting of 8 steps or phases. Each step is critical to smoothly getting to the next step. The steps must be done in sequence in order to keep the wheel moving forward. And, each step allows the opportunity for team members to contribute in different ways, some steps will resonate with certain team members’ strengths. Those resonances will provide opportunities for those members to play to those strengths, providing leadership during that phase. Without further ado, here are the steps:
1. Problem – Goal: List the problems, define the goals
2. Team: Build a balanced team
3. Ideas: Brainstorm ideas for solutions
4. Analysis: Analyze the ideas
5. Proposal: Prepare a promising plan
6. Advocate: Present the promising proposal
7. Implementation: Implement the plan
8. Debrief: What worked? What didn’t? Start again.
Does this look familiar? I would expect most to say it does. That simply may speak to the natural way we humans solve problems. The magic, if I may use that word, of taking this systematic approach is that the solution the team chooses to implement has buy-in from all, everyone has a vested interest, and solutions are effective and lasting. Magic indeed.
Ah, yes. And, my favorite part about the wheel analogy is that the beginning and the end are at the same point.
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Matt Schlegel is a rare native to the Bay Area having grown up in Pleasanton and having gone to high school at Mission San Jose in Fremont. He went south to study engineering at Harvey Mudd College as an undergraduate and UC San Diego as a grad student. Perhaps his favorite education has been at the poker table, where he there learned about another kind of wheel – a five card hand consisting of A-2-3-4-5.
The analogous tool that I propose to use is the wheel. Like the wheel, this tool is an efficient way to move teams forward. Once the team is in motion, it wants to stay in motion. Conversely, once it gets stuck, it takes effort to get it rolling again. It requires balance for smooth operation: once out of balance, the ride can get bumpy. You get the idea. The wheel will be a good way to describe both the pros and cons of this approach.
This wheel tool is a methodology consisting of 8 steps or phases. Each step is critical to smoothly getting to the next step. The steps must be done in sequence in order to keep the wheel moving forward. And, each step allows the opportunity for team members to contribute in different ways, some steps will resonate with certain team members’ strengths. Those resonances will provide opportunities for those members to play to those strengths, providing leadership during that phase. Without further ado, here are the steps:1. Problem – Goal: List the problems, define the goals
2. Team: Build a balanced team
3. Ideas: Brainstorm ideas for solutions
4. Analysis: Analyze the ideas
5. Proposal: Prepare a promising plan
6. Advocate: Present the promising proposal
7. Implementation: Implement the plan
8. Debrief: What worked? What didn’t? Start again.
Does this look familiar? I would expect most to say it does. That simply may speak to the natural way we humans solve problems. The magic, if I may use that word, of taking this systematic approach is that the solution the team chooses to implement has buy-in from all, everyone has a vested interest, and solutions are effective and lasting. Magic indeed.
Ah, yes. And, my favorite part about the wheel analogy is that the beginning and the end are at the same point.
________________________________
Matt Schlegel is a rare native to the Bay Area having grown up in Pleasanton and having gone to high school at Mission San Jose in Fremont. He went south to study engineering at Harvey Mudd College as an undergraduate and UC San Diego as a grad student. Perhaps his favorite education has been at the poker table, where he there learned about another kind of wheel – a five card hand consisting of A-2-3-4-5.
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