FREE online courses on Change Management - The Change Process as Problem
Solving and Problem Finding - Problem Solving and Problem Finding
A very useful framework for thinking about the change process
is problem solving. Managing change is seen as a matter of moving from one state
to another, specifically, from the problem state to the solved state. Diagnosis
or problem analysis is generally acknowledged as essential. Goals are set and
achieved at various levels and in various areas or functions. Ends and means are
discussed and related to one another. Careful planning is accompanied by efforts
to obtain buy-in, support, and commitment. The net effect is a transition from
one state to another, in a planned, orderly fashion. This is the planned change
model.
The word “problem” carries with it connotations that some
people prefer to avoid. They choose instead to use the word “opportunity.” For
such people, a problem is seen as a bad situation, one that shouldn't have been
allowed to happen in the first place, and for which someone is likely to be
punished - if the guilty party (or a suitable scapegoat) can be identified. For
the purposes of this paper, we will set aside any cultural or personal
preferences regarding the use of “problem” or “opportunity.” From a rational,
analytical perspective, a problem is nothing more than a situation requiring
action but in which the required action is not known. Hence, there is a
requirement to search for a solution, a course of action that will lead to the
solved state. This search activity is known as “problem solving.”
From the preceding, it follows that “problem finding” is the
search for situations requiring action. Whether we choose to call these
situations “problems” (because they are troublesome or spell bad news), or
whether we choose to call them “opportunities” (either for reasons of political
sensitivity or because the time is ripe to exploit a situation) is immaterial.
In both cases, the practical matter is one of identifying and settling on a
course of action that will bring about some desired and predetermined change in
the situation.
