What is your Problem Solving Mindset?

Ifigenia Arampelou

Director of Digital Transformation

Problem Solving Mindset 

A very important aspect to understand when embarking on a Digital Transformation journey is your Problem Solving Mindset. The driver to Transform is to Solve Problems and open avenues that will create growth and prosperity to your organisation. 

In this series of blogs we are going to look at different ways in which our minds work and how this links to our current technological context. We're also going to look at how we can adapt our internal thinking processes and mindset in ways that create the environment for a culture adapted to a technology-rich landscape.

Lets start by thinking about your organisations current Problem Solving mindset. Is it a fixed or a growth mindset? Does the organisation have a vision of solving the current issues or have they reached a point that have accepted that it is what it is and not willing to make a change. 

How does your organisation deal with failure? 

Do they see failure as reaching their limit and abilities and although in the past they had a good run, there is not much that can be done now? A lot of organisations resisting to change have a fixed mindset. 

The alternative point of view is to see failure as a great opportunity to improve and change, solve the current problems and enjoy growth and prosperity. That thought requires hard work and effort where accepting failure and do nothing doesn’t. 

A common piece of advice I give when dealing with people (and that also applies to young children) is instead of saying “You are so clever” to say “You have done a great piece of work on this project, I am very proud of you of working so hard and making so much progress”. Although the feedback in both cases is positive and leaves a nice warm feeling , the “you are so clever” passes the message of a fixed mindset. You are clever this is a fact and there is not much more you have to do here. The second version of the feedback installs the awareness of a growth mindset, you worked hard, you did a great job and you improved, you made change and achieved some level of transformation. 

Building Habits 

When solving a problem having a growth mindset is almost like building a habit. You view the problem as a challenge that with the appropriate effort you will be able to find a solution and allow your self and your organisation to grow and eventually transform.  It is not just about transforming your  behaviour, its about challenging your underlying assumptions, values and culture. 

Building a habit takes time and effort and doesn’t happen overnight. Do not expect your organisation to immediately shift mindsets and start growing straight away. It's like when you exercise and trying to build muscle, it’s the small and often changes that make the big impact. Work out often, repeat the same exercises, raise the bar slowly and finally the ice-cube melts. You  have visible and tangible results. Your body has began to transform. 

You can not do that.... YET

Another point is to change the story you and your organisation are telling to yourselves. The loudest and clearer story we hear is the one we feed to ourselves, everything else blends into the background. Instead of saying “ We can not completely transform our organisation” change the story to “We can not completely transform our organisation yet”. 

One word that changes the story from reading “We are stuck in a sea of manual process and unhappy employees” to “ We can not change overnight but we are taking steps and giving ourselves permission to solve our current problems and grow”. 

Such a powerful little word that takes us from fixed to growth. 

Summary and Next Steps

To summarise, if you are looking to embark in a Digital Transformation journey you need to check your problem solving mindset, focus on growth, build good habits and make sure that the loudest story you are playing to yourself is one of willingness to put effort in to change, growth and enjoy the benefits and prosperity of your outputs. 

In our next blog we will look at how to build a Business Case for your Digital Transformation idea and how to generate excitement around and buy-in for that business case.

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