Problem Solving: Reframing Problems into Opportunities

“My life has been filled with terrible misfortunes, most of which have never happened” Mark Twain

Reframing a problem – the act of taking a problem statement and thinking about it in a new way – can often help move toward a new or different answer.

If the question is “How can we plan a birthday party” you get an expected set of answers (are you thinking party hats, balloons, and cake with candles??).  If you reframe the question to ask “How can we celebrate this milestone birthday?” you free yourself to think about new possible solutions (Road trip? Adventure? White water rafting??).

The same is true for your business problems. Reframing into a positive spin, or changing the words you’re using can be a start to thinking about the problem differently. This is one of the key components of endoStrategy®, our methodology at Grumpy Lemon®.

What’s a problem you have that can be reframed? Or how have you thought about something differently and gotten unexpected results? What is the methodology you use for problem solving?