Do you also have someone in your life that seems to have solution for every problem? You are feeling nauseous during traveling they have a tablet, relationship issue they have a solution, exams are near and your syllabus is not covered they will turn professor for the night.
It feels that they have a natural talent of solving any problems. We all have such kind of people around us, always solving our problems and sometimes we are that person. Problems started existing the moment mankind came in to existence. We all have problems – family problems, relationship problems, school problems, and all the other problems that exist. But have you noticed that there are some people around us that have the innate ability to solve problems. You will be stuck on an issue for a long time and these people will enter and Eureka! Magic happens and the problem is solved.
Natural problem solvers are the people who try to focus on finding a solution rather than complaining about the problem, they don’t react impulsively when faced with a challenge. They sit with the problem, think of all the logical explanations and then try to come up with an innovative and creative solution. There are certain traits that are associated with the person who is a natural problem solver.
10 traits of a Problem-Solver
1. You try finding Permanent/long term Solution
In this fast paced world, we need everything instantly. We try to find instant solutions for everything. Hungry? Food in 2 minutes, don’t know an answer? Google it. With everything available so easily, we wish to find the solutions for our problems just as instantly.
But that doesn’t work always. You cannot expect a deep cut to heal within 1 hour of putting a Band-Aid, you need to give it enough time to heal otherwise the pain will keep on coming back. If you keep on finding quick fix solutions for problems that happen constantly, the problem will keep on occurring again and again.
For example – Aakash worked in a library. He noticed that the work was done on paper which made it difficult to remind people to return the books on time. Now instead of going for a quick fix like making a new list, Aakash thought for a while. He created an excel sheet where he added the names of all the members, the books they had borrowed and the date on which they had to return the books. This made it easier to track the members and
remind them beforehand to avoid late fee. Aakash found a permanent solution to the problem instead of finding shortcuts.
Natural problem solvers have the trait of trying to find a permanent fix to a problem. They understand the quick solutions are temporary and would not work long term.
2. You try to seek logical explanation
Problem solvers have a logical perspective for looking at problems. They do not react impulsively to issues. They try to find logical explanations for things.
For example – Kritika and her group had to make a model for the space day in the school. They were trying to build a space ship, but for some reason the space ship wasn’t standing, it kept falling back. Now instead of jumping to solutions and trying out 100 solutions Kritika took a break and started writing all the possible reasons for the problem. After careful contemplation she realized that since the space ship was made of paper it did Not have broad base that would help the ship to stand. Her logical approach to solving the problem instead of jumping straight to conclusion saved them unnecessary time and efforts.
Problem solvers do not get tangled in the web of problem. They try and keep an objective outlook, they do not let personal thoughts and biases come in between the solution. They look at the problem from the perspective of an outsider which helps them think of extremely critical and good solutions for the problems.
3. You don’t get Overwhelmed with Emotions
Emotions can cloud our judgement. They can overpower our logical thinking. Good problem solvers know and understand this power of emotions. Whenever any issue arises they try and keep their emotions in check.
Example – Arjun and Aashi had been together for more than 11 months. Other than little fights here and there, they had been strong, but now the challenging times were ahead of them. Arjun’s job had transferred him to Bangalore and Aashi did not want him to go.
As the fight kept intensifying between the two, Arjun took a step back. Instead of getting frustrated or Overwhelmed with emotions Arjun tried to understand Aashi’s point of view. He understood that she was not trying to stop him from progressing she was just getting insecure and needed some reassurance. Rather than mirroring Aashi’s emotions he kept calm and saved their relation.
When our emotions take charge of our thinking, our problem solving skills take a hit. When our mind is calm and composed then our thoughts becomes clearer.
Read More : Psychology Behind Emotional Regulation and Dysregulation
4. You are a Risk Taker
You might think that problem solving is only based on strategy and planning but that is not true. Risk taking is one of the traits of good problem solver.
Example – There was tense environment in the meeting room of Lighton Technologies. Since past few months there social media was not getting enough results. They had tried every solution available in the books of social media but still nothing seemed to work. Radha the social media head suddenly stood up.
She proposed that since it was March and women’s day was just round the corner they could do a series of posts on the stories of women working in the field of technology. This was not a conventional idea and had no guarantee of working but they decided to go with it. These posts became a game changer, there social media once again took off. If Radha had stuck to traditional ideas and not taken that risk maybe they would have not got such huge response.
One thing to remember is that risk taking does not mean reckless behaviour. It is the experimentation and innovative solutions that help in problem solving. You cannot walk the same path as others and expect different results.
Read More: The Psychology Behind Risk Taking
5. You are curious in general
The biggest quest to learn anything is curiosity. If you are curious about something, you will go and dig.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
Have you ever met a child that keeps on asking questions all day long? They are experiencing the world for the first time, which makes them curious about everything around them. Natural problem solvers have the curiosity of toddlers. They keep on asking questions about all things, this makes them well informed about different topics. This knowledge comes in handy while solving problems.
Example – Aditi is the topper of 10th standard of Torna High school. It is not her academics that set her apart from everyone but whenever anyone talks with her she seems to know some or the other interesting fact about the topic of your interest. You want to talk about movies – she has a fact about the movie, you are interested in sports – she knows what is going on in the sports world, interested in politics – Aditi knows all about the current affairs.
The reason for all this interesting knowledge is her never ending curiosity. Whenever she sees something new she loves to dig deep about it to get more information. Her curiosity fuels her creativity. She comes up with creative and unique solutions to the problems. If you are naturally curious about things you will be more motivated and invested in solving problems.
Problem solving does not essentially need you to be extra-ordinarily talented, it just needs you to be determined enough and not give up easily.
6. You are Empathetic in nature
Empathy is the ability to understand the emotions of others. It is an effective skill which can come in use during problem solving.
Example – Kavya noticed that since past few months her friend Riya has not been the same. She was distant and was not responding to Kavya’s calls and messages. Instead of getting annoyed by Riya’s constant absence and ignoring her Kavya decided to go and meet her and sort out the issue. After meeting Riya she realized that Riya was dealing with family problems and wasn’t feeling good.
Kavya understood that she needed her support. Together both of them talked and Kavya encouraged Riya to visit a therapist. Rather than judging Riya for her actions Kavya tried to find the reason for her behaviour and supported her friend through dark times.
Empathy helps in seeing the world through the eyes of other people, it gives you new perspective. Empathy is also a valuable tool for communication.
Empathy will help you in collaborating with different people and think of out of the box ideas.
7. You find patterns and meanings in things
Finding patterns and meanings in things is an asset in problem solving skill.
Example – Shyam had a catering business. He had the habit of keeping a note of any complaints that customers had in his personal diary. This helped him in improving the quality. One night as he was going through his diary he realized that a lot of customers have been complaining about the packaging of the food. He found that these complaints are repetitive and he needed to work on it as soon as possible. After understanding the pattern of the problem Shyam decided that he will change the packaging of the food from bags to tiffins. This will make it easy to carry from one place to another and avoid spilling of the food. Finding the pattern in the complaints and understanding the meaning behind it helped Shyam find a logical solution to the problem.
Recognizing hidden patterns and meanings helps in the discovery of solutions. It also helps us organize the information that we have in our hands about the problems. If we find out a pattern in the problem it will be easier to predict the occurrence of the problem and solve complex issues.
8. You take in to considerations different perspectives
Have you ever heard the story of three blind men and the elephant? According to the story once three blind men go to see an elephant, now since they couldn’t see the elephant they decided to touch it and imagine how it looks. All three of them touched different parts of the elephant and described it the way they felt.
The one who touched elephant’s leg described it as a pole, the one who touched it’s ears imagined the elephant to be like a big cone and the who touched its body said that the elephant was like a long, broad pipe. All three of them went to see the same elephant but imagined it to be something different. In the similar way, problem might be the same but everyone interprets it differently.
Example – The Psychology club of Kanha’s college is organizing an event for the world mental health week. As he is the head of the club he has to finalize on an idea. But he did not directly convey his idea as the final one to the committee; instead he called a meeting and asked everyone to brainstorm different ideas for the event. He considered everyone’s ideas before finalizing one for the main day. His consideration of different perspectives made everyone feel included and also helped in finding a creative and unique idea for world mental health day.
Everything has multiple interpretations. Understanding different perspectives help us better understand the issue and assist in coming to a creative and unique solutions.
Read More: Signs you are born to be a leader, According to Psychology
9. You let the information sink in
Has it ever happened to you that you are stuck on a problem since a long time and seem to not making any progress? So you decide to take a break and make yourself busy with some other work and then Eureka! Suddenly like a flash of light you find a solution. Solving an issue sometimes requires you to take a break to better understand the information. Problem solving requires clear thinking. If there is too much going on it is important to take a step back and let the information settle down. This helps in coming up with authentic and logical answers to the problem.
Example – Seema is a content writer for one of the leading fashion magazines of india. She submits her articles to her team leader who then suggests feedback in the article and approves them. Whenever feedback for article comes Seema does not immediately start working on the changes. She goes through the feedback and lets the information sink in.
This allows her to come up with better articles and include unique elements in her writing. Sometimes in the rush of emotions we might immediately react to the new information, which might not be the best choice. It is important to take in the new information, completely understand it and then try to find solutions for it.
10. You try to find opportunities in the problems
“If You Change the Way You Look At Things, the Things You Look At Change” – Wayner Dyer
Life is not always summer, you have to deal with the winters and rains. A good problem solver sees the problems as an opportunity to be creative and experiment.
Example – Saee is the founder of an event management company. Since it is just a start up at the moment, everything is trial and error for Saee. In one particular event which was managed by Saee’s company they came across an unexpected problem. It started raining in the middle of the birthday party. Since the event was outdoors, it seemed like a total fiasco. Saee did not get caught up in emotions and thought that all is lost; instead she saw it as an opportunity.
She converted the birthday party into a holi themed birthday party. She arranged for colours and all different toys for children. Everyone loved the idea and enjoyed a lot. When everyone was enjoying the rain party she arranged the food inside. If she kept on complaining about the problems she would not have come up with such a innovative idea.
Read More: 10 Subtle Signs of Highly Creative People, According to Psychology
Everyone has problems it is your perspective that matters. Some see the glass empty while some have the vision to look at the glass half full. If you start seeing your problems as an opportunity to be creative, your problems would not seem so big and bad. You just have to keep in mind that things change when the way you look at them changes.
Conclusion
Problem solving is more of a skill than a inbuilt talent. You can try and inculcate the traits like finding permanent solutions rather than quick fixes, taking into consideration different perspectives, being empathetic, etc. to develop good problem solving ability. Problems seem like a ocean that has no end but if you learn to surf on the waves of the oceans it is a very adventurous and enjoyable ride. Remember, there is no problem in the world that does not have a solution. You just need to be resolute and persistent enough.
