5 very useful troubleshooting strategies

We are all clear about what a problem is and the difficulties that sometimes comes with finding the right solutions.

I wish we could give you a unique and infallible strategy to solve them, but regretting it, this does not exist: every situation is unique and requires specific skills and strategies.

• Related article: "Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences"

How to solve a problem?

What we will do is review some classic cognitive theories that work as problem solving strategies. We hope that some of them will serve you.

1. The first step: define the problem

We know that having a problem does not mean, in any case, that we do not have the resources necessary to solve it, but, many times, we do not know which ones to use or how apply them.

To be able to find the solution we must first define the problem well. This sounds simple, but it is not always. We have to be clear about the current situation, that is, where we are starting from and what we want to achieve. Being clear about our goal or what to do to achieve it is not as easy as it may seem.

If we thoroughly analyze any problem that we have today and try to do the exercise of defining it, we may be surprised. Defining our problem precisely will therefore be the first step.

When we are clear about the problem, the solutions can be very different. Sometimes achieving success will depend on unlocking a single obstacle, but other times we have different difficulties that we must resolve progressively.

2. Algorithms and heuristics

Regardless of the problem and the solution, to solve it we will always have, a priori, different options. To focus on problem-solving methods, it will first be important to distinguish between two concepts: "algorithm" and "heuristic."

An algorithm is a systematic process that tells us in a concrete way how to arrive, step by step, to the solution. Heuristics appear when algorithms cannot be used and they involve the participation of intuition. Unlike the previous ones, heuristics They cannot guarantee that we will find the solution.

It seems obvious that the really difficult problems to solve are those that do not have algorithms; we will focus on these. We will also leave aside those solutions that require specific knowledge, that is, the problems that arise simply due to the lack of knowledge and that we can only solve using strategies previously learned.

3. The trial and error method

One possibility is to use the trial and error method, consisting of go testing one or more actions and evaluate if the result obtained has brought us closer to our goal. This method will be useful when we do not have any guide to reach the solution and when lack of time is not an inconvenience.

A very basic example: if we want to open a door and we have different keys, we will try until we find the one that will open it. The idea is that next time we will be able to use the right key the first time.

Although it is a very elementary example, there are many situations in our day to day that we solve using this method and many of them are not so trivial. Young children, for example, they use this strategy a lot in their daily activities. Also in our social relationships we tend to modify our behavior based on the results obtained by trial and error.

4. The means-end analysis method

Another possibility is to choose actions that help us reduce the distance between the current state and our goal final. For this we highlight the means-end analysis method, which consists of defining what is the difference between the current state and the final state that we want to achieve as a solution to our problem.

Must create smaller subproblems or subgoals and easier to solve that will help us achieve our final goal. For this we will establish as many subgoals as necessary; that is, if we have impediments with the first subproblem, we will create another one and thus reduce it as much as necessary. We will solve each sub-objective, one by one, until we reach the definitive solution to our initial problem.

• You may be interested: "Fluid Intelligence and Crystallized Intelligence"

5. Each problem has its own solutions

In short, there is no ideal method to solve our problems, but there are different ways to deal with them so that the solution seems simpler.

The two strategies that we have discussed do not always work and there are many more that can be perfectly adapted to a type of specific problem, but we believe that they can be very useful as basic strategies for our day-to-day life, especially since we allow to objectify problems, simplifying them and thus allowing us to face the search for solutions in a less overwhelming way.