Finding a Problem to Your Solution

Last month I had a chance to exhibit at the Association of Legal Administrators. I had a great time meeting a bunch of people. One topic came up a number of times during the conference with the people I spoke to. They talked to me about how other projects they have implemented didn’t seem to have the impact that they had anticipated having. Then others were telling me about the upcoming projects that they were doing.

In each of these cases I realized that sometimes we go straight to the solution without understanding what problem we are trying to solve. And by going straight to the solution we end up not really solving anything because we didn’t know what we were trying to solve. I know that I’ve been guilty of this before.

I heard a quote from Albert Einstein once which goes something like, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend 55 minutes thinking about what the problem is and 5 minutes coming up with the solution.”

I have found that sometimes we tend to jump to a solution before understanding the problem. It is like we create a solution and try to come up with a problem that the solution solves. This is why I’ve seen many technology initiatives fail in law firms. They don’t always understand what the problem is first or what problem they are trying to solve for their clients.

Once we know what the root of the problem is then we can come up with the right solution. If you are interested in talking through what problem you are trying to solve, let me know. I’m good at helping people figure out the root of the problem. You can contact me by phone at 801-766-3183.