Ask for help, or learn through struggle?
Some challenges at work can be tough to handle. Colleagues can help, but lessons are usually stickier when they come through effort. To decide how best to handle a novel challenge, it makes sense to take a step back and explore your options.
Complex problems are often vague and have many possible solutions. The Meta-Problem Method may lead you far away from the dilemma that started your quest. That’s because the method forces you to clarify what you really want and what you are willing to give up. It enables you to compare objectively the possible pathways and their trade offs. It prevents you locking into solutions mode too early and then doubling down on solving a low-yield problem that does not serve your goals as well as the alternatives. At the end of this process, you will have a better understanding of your priorities and how to achieve them.
Steps in the Meta-Problem Method
Dilemma
The high-level issue you are trying to address
Figure out the best way to tackle a stretch project.
Goal
The changes you want to make to address the dilemma. There are usually many options.
Supporting goals:
- To complete the project successfully
- To become a more successful professional
Other goals could include minimizing how much work the project takes or creating the most value for the company through the project.
Problem Space
The set of problems you could chose to solve to advance your goals, plus the constraints that hold you back.
Example Problems:
- How can I maximize the odds that the project is successful? Maybe the problem to solve is “What is the support I need to complete this task?”
- How can I become a more successful professional in the future? Maybe the problem to solve is “What are the most important lessons to learn during this project?”
There are many other potential problems to solve related to taking on a stretch project. Each goal has many possible problems we could link to it. Are there other problems linked to these first two goals? Which options come to mind for the other goals?
High-Yield Problems
Sometimes solving one problem helps make progress towards several goals. In this step, we identify these “two-for-the-price-of-one” problems.
Which options will advance more than one goal?
- Asking a more senior member of the team for guidance can help keep you aiming at the right priorities, increase the odds of a successful project and reduce the effort to complete it. However, without the experience of making mistakes, it can be hard to grow as a professional.
- Developing an initial plan and beginning work while asking for a review if things go slowly can help develop your skills and planning and manages the risk of a failed project. However, the task will likely take more time to complete and may have worse results.
There are many potential solutions that will have varying effects on the set of goals. Which alternatives improve the most important goals? How might the unknown change the right path forward? What other possible solutions are there to address the dilemma?
Problem Selection
Which of the many possible options in the high-yield problem step is the best set to address the dilemma?
- Which solutions make the most sense as a colleague?
- Which solutions will best address the dilemma?
- Which solutions will deliver the best outcome for the least amount of time, effort and money?
Implement, Learn and Adapt
Check continuously that you are still solving the best problem, as new information emerges.
Observe and learn as you go. As new information reveals itself, check continuously that you’re still solving the right problem.