Problem-Solving from A to Z
But the best problem-solving method is the one that comes with a bonus.
     Ignore a headache and it will eventually disappear. Take a painkiller and it’ll be gone sooner. But start a fitness regimen and you could get rid of all your aches and pains, plus, as a bonus, have more energy, look better and live longer.
     A technique sometimes called “ABZ” or “aiming beyond the solution” is one you can apply to both personal and business problems.
     It can help you solve the immediate problem and maybe a few others you didn’t know you had. It not only can keep the problem from recurring, but also can prevent a shortsighted solution from creating other, more complex problems.

‘Getting to Heaven’
The concept is simple. If you are faced with a problem (A), you can either opt for a problem-centered fix (B) or a solution-oriented fix (Z). B is a solution (not necessarily the best one) and Z is the perfect solution, or the ideal.
     Problem A represents an opportunity. You can use it to go to B or as a means to move toward Z. If you think of Z as the goal of goals, the attainment of satisfaction, joy and serenity, you can see why ABZ problem-solving is referred to as “getting to heaven.”
     The ABZ technique isn’t always necessary or appropriate. Depending on the problem, it’s sometimes best to stick with what’s been working for you.
     If the wastebasket is full, and you’re comfortable emptying the wastebasket, by all means do so. If blood is pouring from the part of your finger that remained on your hand after you whacked it with the paper-cutter blade, apply pressure and call 911.
     Use ABZ problem-solving for especially troublesome or lingering, anxiety-producing problems when they start draining your energy.

What You Can Learn from Germs
Many problem-solving methods are just that — ways of dealing with problems. They’re like weight-loss programs that keep you focused on how fat you are instead of how healthy you could become.
     Problem-centered approaches usually make things worse.
     Say the problem is a sore throat. Physicians used to prescribe antibiotics if they even suspected a bacterial infection. Bacteria, thumbing their noses at the entire medical establishment, developed new strains that sent the antibiotics in a whimpering stampede back to the lab.
     Doctors attacked the new problem with different antibiotics, but the bacteria had already manned the escarpments, and now our entire planet is teeming with bacterial Godzillas that drink Lysol for breakfast and run office pools on the date of the next medicinal assault.

Focusing on Values
Problem-centered approaches create conflict and are responsible for much of the mischief in this world.
     When a worker gets hurt on the job, the government responds by issuing standards for ladders and floor mats. Employers are so busy slapping warning labels on dish-detergent bottles they don’t have time to focus on making the workplace safe.
     The most lasting and satisfying way of solving problems is not problem-centered or even goal-centered but value-centered.
     Arranging your life around your values is the basis of Stephen Covey’s book First Things First (Simon & Schuster, 1994) as well as Ready, Set, Organize (Park Ave., 1995) by Pipi Peterson, and other fine books about problem-solving, decision-making, time management and organization. (Tip: An excellent and almost free employee-training activity is a First Things First study group.)
     Remember, solving problems quickly and efficiently is a good thing. But using them as keys to open unimagined possibilities is what makes running a business — and living — fun and fulfilling.

An editor since the age of 6, when she returned a love letter with corrections marked in red, Mary Campbell writes and edits for The University of Arizona College of Business and Public Administration and for dozens of entrepreneurs, publishers, and authors. She is editor of the midsized-business journal The FINOVA Quarterly.