Our book demonstrates a wide range of practical, field-tested tools, but the secret to structured problem-solving is not the tools themselves. Those are just pieces of something bigger. The bridge from issues to action is built on two different kinds of resources, working together:
Process. There are steps to follow (and, frequently, steps within steps).
Principles. There is a lore, a wisdom drawn from experienced experts, that has shaped the design of the tools, and that guides our choices of which and when and how to use them.
The first “structure” in our structured problem-solving approach is a seven-step scaffolding that defines the overall process. We like to depict this in the shape of a diamond, to emphasize how its nature changes as we progress through it. The book digs deep into each step, introducing the relevant tools and demonstrating how to use them – and use them well.
A set of principles is the true foundation of high-impact problem solving.
In the years of teaching and training others in the art of structured problem-solving, we started noticing how often we would repeat certain phrases when we were explaining why a particular tool was the way it was, and why it worked so effectively.
At some point, we realized that there were reasons for the tools that were, in a sense, more important than the tools themselves. These recurring, underlying themes constitute a way of doing, an integrated approach that, when mastered, underlies our choices, even our unconscious ones.
We summarize them as nine guiding principles of SPS:
For expert problem solvers, these principles are mostly implicit: They are baked into their practice through years of experience and many repetitions that include both successes and failures. (This is probably why we ourselves didn’t notice them at first.)
In our book, we make these nine themes explicit, and we have given each one a short title to serve as a sort of mantra. When all else fails, we can turn to these powerful principles for guidance about how to proceed with a problem or project.