The 4 Types of Problem Solvers Your Team Needs
Episode 699: Show Notes
We recently came across an article about the types of problem solvers (or innovators) that exist within a business. In this episode, we are going to be sharing a breakdown of this article. The idea is to encourage you, as a leader, to look at your team and determine whether it is diverse enough in terms of the perspectives and roles as well as whether it is cognitively diverse enough. This is such an important conversation because there are certain things that will be innately easy for some people and much harder for others and when you understand the dynamics of your team, everyone can help each other out. For anyone looking to grow their team in the coming year, this episode is for you!
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A Key to Successful Hiring
Hiring successfully takes effort, and there are a number of different factors that need to be considered. When bringing a new person onto your team, it’s important not only to look at their skill set and whether they are a good culture fit for your business. You also need to focus on whether they have the kind of personality that is going to thrive in the role that you are looking to fill! For example; if you’re looking to hire a salesperson, someone who is an introvert is probably not going to be an ideal fit whereas someone who loves to be the center of the conversation and to interject their own thoughts and ideas at every opportunity is much more likely to thrive in that position.
The Four Types of Problem Solvers
There are four broad categories of problem solvers, each of which will benefit a business in a different way. Generators are best at finding new problems as a result of their own direct experience with the world around them. Generators are the rarest type of problem solver found in businesses. Conceptualizers are best at defining problems thoroughly. They ideate in a more abstract way than generators. Optimizers are best at thoroughly evaluating a number of different ideas and then selecting solutions based on their analyses. Implementers are best at implementing selected solutions. They prefer to dive straight in and experiment, rather than mentally testing potential solutions beforehand. Which one sounds most like you?
Training Problem Solvers
Most business owners won’t fall strictly into one category but will rather ebb and flow between the different types. The most common type of problem solver is the implementer, and a lot of job seekers are implementers. A study conducted with over 100 000 people, 41% were implementers and only 17% were generators. But the good news is that the skills held by each type are absolutely trainable! Studies have shown that when a group of people are struggling to solve a problem, if you can train one person in the group to roleplay the problem solver type that is needed (even if they don’t naturally fall into that category,) that will more often than not be enough to get the group out of their rut.
The SMRT Innovation Framework
Step 1 (Structure) involves achieving the right ratio of problem-solving styles. Step 2 (Model) involves demonstrating the importance of a problem-solving style top-down. Step 3 (Reward) involves creating incentives for problem-finding. Step 4 (Train) involves creating opportunities to learn about all styles. If you feel like your team is stuck and not coming up with new ideas or moving forward, chase the breadcrumbs! By this we mean that you need to determine during which stage of innovation things are breaking down, and then make sure that you are putting people with the right problem-solving abilities in place in order to breathe new life into your business!
Quote This
As a founder and a business owner and a CEO, or even as the head of a department, you will ebb and flow between types.
Highlights
A Key to Successful Hiring [0:21:36]
The Four Types of Problem Solvers [0:23:50]
Training Problem Solvers [0:27:14]
The SMRT Innovation Framework [0:33:45]
Today’s Guest:
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
The Strategy Hour Podcast is a twice weekly show hosted by Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams, the founders of Boss Project. Join us for semi-ranty biz conversations for service providers looking to ethically grow their agency businesses. Episodes cover everything from lead generation to leadership mindset to team culture and beyond.
Key Topics:
Hiring, Problem Solving, Personality Types, Leadership, Training
