ReportWire

Tag: Problem Solving

  • Your Business Has Weak Spots. AI Knows Where They Are

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    There is a long intellectual lineage of psychologists and business theorists who have pointed out that organizations routinely work on the wrong problem.

    This tendency to misdiagnosis isn’t a failure of intelligence or effort. It’s a cognitive default. Humans are inexorably pulled towards the symptoms they can see, not the structure underneath. Behavioral scientist Daniel Kahneman called this theory-induced blindness, while management consultant Peter Drucker warned of the dangers of getting the right answers to the wrong question.

    Yet all these thinkers faced the same constraint: humans, and our factory-installed limits: Limited cognition. Limited time. Limited perspective. Limited data.

    AI, and its ruthless objectivity, removes those limits.

    Problem-finding revelations

    AI changes the game in ways that would have delighted Kahneman and his behavioral cronies, by providing cognitive diversity on-demand:

    1.Pattern chaos

    At the core of working on the wrong problem is an inability to zoom in on an issue because the trees are distorting the forest view.

    The solution:

    LLMs trained on trillions of tokens recognize structures across marketing, psychology, operations, economics, and design. They make cross-functional and competitive connections instantly.

    AI will aggregate and curate how others have successfully triangulated to the actual problem in the forest.  

    2. The white flag of satiation

    Business leaders are so overwhelmed with data that synthesis becomes impossible and so they return to the corporately accepted and institutionally normative definition of the problem.

    The solution:

    AI reads, synthesizes, and identifies implications from whatever you throw at it.  It thrives on heterogeneous data.  It finds correlations and latent drivers that are scattered, buried, and obfuscated in data like: 

    • Demographic and psychographic segmentation
    • Sales reports
    • Financials and spreadsheets
    • PowerPoints and emails
    • Sales call transcripts
    • Web analytics
    • Marketing plans and results
    • Customer reviews, social media commentary, NPS scores, research and survey data

    This creates a single interpretive surface no human could replicate.

    3. Assumption-challenging prompts

    AI responds to the most pointed and disruptive prompts in search of lasering in on the right problem, not the expected one.  AI can also sharpen those prompts, pushing for narrative inconsistencies

    The solution:  

    A new epistemology of leadership will emerge, one that puts assumptions under a savage microscope and helps straw man the other side of the argument. (This is a process I have written about here.) 

    Some of that brutal questioning is embodied in prompts like:

    • “Viciously challenge the assumption that pricing is our core friction.”
    • “Show my team up big time; Identify more plausible root causes than they found
    • “Dig deep – horizontally and vertically – to show what our data implies that we never articulated.”
    • “Show how wise you are by finding contradictions in our internal narrative.”
    • “Destroy my problem statement.”
    • “Reverse-engineer the problem from customer behavior.”
    • “Reveal the problem we would discover if we weren’t afraid to see it.”

    Fixing the misdiagnosis economy

    Here are eleven examples that instantly demonstrate how AI, with access to your data, can help find the actual problem across the organization: 

    1.“We have a churn problem.”

    AI reveals:  Your product is becoming irrelevant faster than your update cycle. Customers aren’t leaving because of service, it’s that the category moved and you didn’t.

    2. “We need more leads.”

    AI reveals: Your targeting is generating massively unqualified leads, and your salespeople are wasting their time.

    3. “Our pricing is too high.”

    AI reveals: Your value narrative is off.  Customers don’t reject the price—they reject the framing. Your language, or comparison sets distort perceived value.

    4. “Competitors are out-innovating us.”

    AI reveals:  They are only out-innovating you with a small percentage of buyers, who are not your customers anyway.  Your opportunities lie in finding the large market you are overlooking.

    5. “We have a talent gap.”

    AI reveals:  You have a feedback gap.  Patterns in internal messaging show employees don’t know how to improve.

    6. “Our emails aren’t working.”

    AI reveals: You don’t have a subject line problem, you have an over-promotion problem.  Social media is overrun with snarky mockery of the number of times you insist that “This sale won’t last.”

    7. “We need more people.”

    AI reveals:  Your people are working at cross-purposes, and you are burdened with bureaucracy and project collisions.

    8. “Our meetings suck.”

    AI reveals:  The meetings aren’t the problem; the issue is an absence of clarity about goals, and faux delight in simply ending the meeting with the aura of progress. 

    9. “Our close rate is terrible.”

    AI reveals:  Considering how unqualified your leads are, your close rate is good.  

    10. “Our innovation record is weak.”

    AI reveals:  The problem is a lack of risk-taking and a paucity of imagination, as your prompt reveals patterns showing that teams only generate ideas adjacent to what they already know.

    11. “Engagement is poor”

    AI reveals:  Ambiguity, not workload, is crushing morale. The most common sentiment revealed in internal communication is “I’m not sure what matters.”

    The automated brilliance of blind-spot detection

    Problem-finding might be the most effective management application of AI yet.  As a synthetic extension of executive function, it can integrate every form of data, see what humans overlook, challenge leadership assumptions, and hypothesize hidden causes.

    What’s more is that AI doesn’t just find problems. It helps fix them. Once AI identifies the subsurface challenges, it moves into solution design, ranging from prototyping new product features to reshaping pricing architecture to identifying the smallest change with the greatest impact.

    This all happens after AI finds the real problem – often the most deniable one – that was hidden in plain sight.

    Go ahead. Start now, upload your messy data, and push the delete key on your assumptions.

    Because your biggest business threat isn’t the problem you see. It is—you guessed it— the iceberg you don’t.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    The extended deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 19, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

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    Adam Hanft

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  • Inside Medium Rare’s Celebrity Events Business | Entrepreneur

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    The first time I spoke with Adam Richman and Joe Silberzweig, the co-founders of live events company Medium Rare, they were figuring out how their business could survive in a world shut down by the pandemic.

    In the five years that followed, they did more than just figure it out — they absolutely blew up. Medium Rare has become a powerhouse in the events space, creating festivals for some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment: Rob Gronkowski‘s Gronk Beach, Travis Kelce‘s Kelce Jam, Shaquille O’Neal‘s Shaq’s Fun House and Guy Fieri‘s Flavortown Tailgate, to name a few.

    I caught up with them as they were firing up the ovens for Dave Portnoy‘s One Bite Pizza Festival and prepping for John Summit’s upcoming Experts Only dance music festival (to be held September 20-21 on New York City’s Randall’s Island).

    The duo shared their insights and tips for building, growing and problem-solving that any entrepreneur looking to build momentum and scale can apply to their service-based business.

    Related: His Teenage Side Hustle Made $200 on a Good Night — Now the Business Earns $20 Million a Year: ‘Like Having X-Ray Vision’

    Momentum breeds momentum

    When Richman and Silberzweig first launched Medium Rare just before the Covid-19 pandemic, “no one gave a crap about us,” Richman recalls. “No one would take our call.” But after landing their first big celebrity collaborations, everything changed. “It is a domino effect — each event serves as its own sort of engine to the next one,” Richman explains. “The visibility of working with Shaq led to deals with Guy Fieri, who attended a previous event, which then led to Travis Kelce, and so on.” The guys treat every festival and event as an advertisement for what they can do.

    Takeaway: Make your work your marketing. Focus on delivering standout results for current clients, and let word-of-mouth build curiosity and opportunity for future partnerships.

    Related: 5 Essentials to Make Your Next Business Event a Huge Hit From the Creator of This Buzzy Food Festival

    Be strategic, not desperate

    Richman and Silberzweig have learned not to say “yes” to every opportunity. “We’ve had MVP-caliber athletes reach out to us, but Adam and I just kind of banged our heads against the wall and couldn’t figure out anything for this guy that we absolutely loved,” Silberzweig says. They turned down the offer, which shocked the athlete’s rep. “They said, ‘You’re the first person who has ever said no to us!’” he recalls.

    The pair says that in the early days, they would have jumped at the chance, but time and experience taught them not to force it. “There are only so many weeks in the year to plan these events, so we’ve learned to be a little bit more selective and strategic about throwing our energy into the ones we can really elevate,” Silberzweig says.

    Takeaway: Protect your time, energy and brand by learning to say “no.” Select partners and projects that align with your values and inspire you to do great work.

    Credit: Medium Rare

    Creative problem-solving under pressure

    Executing Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival had enormous logistical challenges. “Everyone told us we were crazy. All of our peers in the industry were like, ‘There’s no way you can do a pizza festival,’” Richman recalls.

    Each participating pizzeria required its own specialized oven — none of which could be rented in quantity. Their solution? “We bought the ovens from restaurant supply companies new, we’ll use them for seven hours, then sell them back as used. It’s a creative rental,” Richman explains. The initial outlay topped $1 million, but they calculate that they’ll recover about 70% through equipment resale.

    Takeaway: Take “impossible” as a challenge, not a verdict. Keep pushing for creative solutions — sometimes this means reimagining industry norms or business models, or laying out capital to take a calculated risk.

    Related: These Guys Produced the Super Bowl Pre-Show Everyone Will Be Talking About

    Stay cool — and collaborative — when chaos hits

    The founders say what separates top live event producers from the rest is “how they deal with the curveballs.” Whether it’s a lightning storm, missed flights or city permits, they emphasize splitting duties and making fast, collective decisions: “We know how to put our thinking caps on and react in those situations,” Richman says.

    When Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart‘s Roommates Fest event was threatened by storms, they “got on our hands and knees” with city officials to negotiate a later start time. After securing that, they rewrote the run-of-show, coordinated with celebrity guests and informed attendees — all in under 30 minutes.

    Takeaway: Build a culture of problem-solving. Success depends not just on planning but also on reacting to the unexpected with focus and clear communication.

    The first time I spoke with Adam Richman and Joe Silberzweig, the co-founders of live events company Medium Rare, they were figuring out how their business could survive in a world shut down by the pandemic.

    In the five years that followed, they did more than just figure it out — they absolutely blew up. Medium Rare has become a powerhouse in the events space, creating festivals for some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment: Rob Gronkowski‘s Gronk Beach, Travis Kelce‘s Kelce Jam, Shaquille O’Neal‘s Shaq’s Fun House and Guy Fieri‘s Flavortown Tailgate, to name a few.

    I caught up with them as they were firing up the ovens for Dave Portnoy‘s One Bite Pizza Festival and prepping for John Summit’s upcoming Experts Only dance music festival (to be held September 20-21 on New York City’s Randall’s Island).

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    Dan Bova

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  • When Everything Feels Broken in Business, Here’s What to Tackle First | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When everything feels broken in your business, deciding what to fix first can be paralyzing. I’ve been there — looking at multiple problems, all urgent, wondering where to begin.

    After 25 years of navigating these decisions and watching other entrepreneurs struggle, I’ve learned there’s a hierarchy to fixing business problems. Understanding this hierarchy can mean the difference between thriving and barely surviving.

    Revenue comes first

    Here’s the reality entrepreneurs don’t want to hear: sales need fixing first. Mike Michalowicz covers this in his book “Fix This Next.” The majority of businesses have decent products and people, but they’re not selling effectively. This truth became even more stark during the pandemic. McKinsey found that 70-80% of small businesses experienced 30-50% revenue drops between 2020 and 2021.

    This applies whether you’re funded or bootstrapping. If you’re a funded startup building a product that won’t launch for two years, you have the luxury of focusing on product development first. But for service businesses, bootstrapped companies or any business that needs revenue to survive, sales must be the priority.

    Think about it: if sales aren’t working, nothing else matters. It doesn’t matter how efficient your operations are or how talented your team is if you’re running out of money. When profitability is negative and growth is stagnant or declining, you must fix sales. Without revenue, the company dies.

    Understanding your business stage

    I’ve developed a framework called “leap, grow, scale” that helps identify what to fix based on where you are in your journey.

    First, you make the leap — you start your business, jumping into the void without knowing how it will go. At this stage, you need to generate enough revenue to survive and hire your first person.

    Then comes the growth stage. You’ve found something that works, and now you’re adding people. The key is finding a formula that multiplies value — every person you add should generate more revenue than they cost. While 1.25x might be the minimum to stay viable, the real opportunity is finding ways to 2x or 3x your revenue with each strategic hire. That’s the difference between linear growth and exponential growth.

    Finally, there’s the scale stage. You’ve found a working machine, and now you need to operate it at larger volumes.

    At every single stage, revenue remains critical. But once revenue is stable, other problems emerge.

    When revenue isn’t the problem

    Let’s say your revenue is okay — you’re making enough to cover expenses with a bit left over. There’s no immediate panic about making rent. What’s next?

    The answer is almost always people. When I look back at my own plateaus, people problems were the culprit. This challenge never goes away. Everyone struggles with it.

    The Peter Principle captures one common problem: employees get promoted to their highest level of incompetence. Here’s how it played out in my business: we’d grow, need managers, so we’d promote good individual contributors. They’d do okay as managers, we’d promote them to directors — and that’s where they’d hit their ceiling.

    Now you’re stuck. You can’t promote them, demoting feels wrong, and moving them sideways might not work. I ended up with people who weren’t right. Worse, when talented new recruits joined, the misplaced managers drove them away. I realized I had the wrong people when it was too late.

    Related: How to Turn Your ‘Marketable Passion’ Into Income After Retirement

    The third priority: Operational efficiency

    Once you have good revenue and the right people, operational efficiency becomes your focus. How quickly can you deliver your product or service?

    For example, if orders take seven days to ship, can you reduce it to four? If customer onboarding takes 30 days, can you cut it to 15? If you can onboard customers in half the time with the same team, you’ve doubled your capacity. If you previously onboarded 24 customers annually, now you can handle 48. That translates to revenue growth.

    According to McKinsey research, CEOs report that operational improvements through digital transformation can yield 40% efficiency gains, 36% faster time-to-market and 35% enhanced customer satisfaction. These aren’t marginal improvements — they’re game-changers.

    Recognizing the warning signs

    How do you know when it’s time to act? Sometimes the market tells you — loudly. A customer might refuse to pay because something that should have taken one month took three. Or you consistently miss your financial targets. These force you to confront reality.

    In my case, we kept missing product goals and financial targets. Then we started going backward. That forced us to acknowledge problems that needed immediate attention. The forcing functions are always profitability and cash reserves. If you’re profitable, you’re building reserves. If not, you’re draining them. Eventually, you run out of runway.

    The continuous improvement mindset

    Here’s the truth: there’s always something to fix in your business. It’s just a matter of degree and urgency. Running out of money is obviously more critical than a minor reliability issue in your product.

    Sometimes problems arise from strategic mistakes. We made a strategic error in 2023 that impacted sales. Now we’re fixing those decisions to restore revenue growth.

    The key is being proactive rather than reactive. Don’t wait for profitability to turn negative before examining your business. Look at your metrics. Are you growing? Are your cash reserves increasing? Is your team delivering efficiently?

    Making the hard decisions

    When faced with multiple problems, use this hierarchy:

    1. Revenue/Sales – Without this, nothing else matters
    2. People – Wrong people sabotage everything else
    3. Operations – Efficiency multiplies the impact of good people and sales

    Within each category, prioritize based on impact. A 10% improvement in sales might matter more than a 50% improvement in shipping speed. A toxic employee might be destroying more value than three operational inefficiencies.

    You can’t fix everything at once. Focus on the most critical issue, resolve it, then move to the next. This approach produces far better results than trying to fix everything simultaneously.

    The businesses that survive and thrive are those that can diagnose their most pressing problems and address them decisively. Use this framework, be honest about where your gaps are and tackle them. Your future self — and your business — will thank you.

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    Alykhan Jetha

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  • 7 Steps to De-Risking Big Business Decisions Before They Backfire | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When the pressure is on — a new market, product launch or high-stakes pivot — it’s easy to rush past the steps that could have saved you from failure. Despite the volumes of books and case studies on how to make better decisions, many leaders still repeat the same mistakes. These seven steps are designed to cut through the noise and help you de-risk big decisions, no matter your industry.

    1. Remove bias before it wrecks your strategy

    Even the most innovative companies make irrational calls because they skip the hard part: eliminating bias. Groupthink, overconfidence and confirmation bias quietly sabotage good ideas — and major decisions get made based on ego instead of insight.

    The only real antidote? Data. And lots of it. Whether you’re restructuring your team or launching a new product, let data challenge your assumptions. Use tools like the AEM-Cube for internal shifts and lean on Design Thinking for customer-facing initiatives. Bias isn’t always obvious — but its costs always are.

    Related: The 5 Step Process To Identify Risk and Improve Decision-Making

    2. Get closer to the right customer with the right research

    Too many decisions are made in boardrooms, far removed from the people they affect. Metrics and dashboards are useful, but they don’t replace real customer insight.

    Most companies think they know their customers. Few actually do. Build detailed personas, map the full customer journey, and invest in ethnographic research. For internal decisions, your “customer” might be your team. If your employees don’t feel heard, seen or aligned with your mission, even the best strategies will collapse under cultural resistance.

    3. Test fast before you go big

    Once you have a strategy, pilot it quickly and learn faster. Build small experiments, run A/B tests, define your offering clearly, and measure everything — from product fit to pricing, UX to delivery.

    Let real customer behavior — not internal assumptions — guide your next steps. Pilots aren’t about proving you’re right. They’re about learning what works.

    4. Tie decisions to real incentives

    Too many change initiatives fail because they ignore human motivation. If you’re not aligning incentives with your new direction, don’t expect people to get on board.

    Start with clear internal communication. Then build in feedback loops, transparent compensation structures and tie your mission to purpose-driven rewards. Change without buy-in creates friction. Buy-in without incentives creates apathy.

    5. Make sure your capacity can keep up

    The right idea in the wrong structure is a guaranteed failure. If your systems, people, or tech can’t handle the growth or change you’re aiming for, capacity will break before the strategy does.

    Run stress tests. Evaluate your infrastructure, team readiness and internal workflows. Ask: Can we execute this at scale, or are we just excited by the concept?

    6. Stick to a customer-centric strategy

    Even great decisions go off the rails without early warning signs and course-correction plans. Identify the signals that indicate a pivot is needed — and stay close to your customers post-launch.

    UX research doesn’t end once the product ships. Keep mapping how real users engage with your offering, and adjust accordingly. Consistency with your core personas is your best safeguard against drift.

    Related: 7 Tips for Making Quality Business Decisions

    7. Disrupt yourself before someone else does

    If your strategy works, expect competitors to follow. They’ll try to copy your product — or poach your people.

    Stay ahead by regularly asking:

    • How would someone disrupt us?
    • What would it take to replicate our edge?
    • Where are we most vulnerable?

    Then take small steps to disrupt yourself before anyone else does. Build a culture of reinvention, not complacency.

    Final thought

    Smart leaders don’t wait for a crisis to think clearly. They build decision-making processes that are bias-proof, customer-led, and test-driven. Whether you’re launching a product or reshaping your org, these seven steps help ensure your bold moves aren’t blind ones.

    When the pressure is on — a new market, product launch or high-stakes pivot — it’s easy to rush past the steps that could have saved you from failure. Despite the volumes of books and case studies on how to make better decisions, many leaders still repeat the same mistakes. These seven steps are designed to cut through the noise and help you de-risk big decisions, no matter your industry.

    1. Remove bias before it wrecks your strategy

    Even the most innovative companies make irrational calls because they skip the hard part: eliminating bias. Groupthink, overconfidence and confirmation bias quietly sabotage good ideas — and major decisions get made based on ego instead of insight.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    Adam Horlock

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  • Closer or Colder? How AI Shapes Your Customer Relationships | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    I’m not going to lie, the latest generation of AI, especially large language models and agentic AI, is nothing short of impressive. At Human Cloud, we used tools like Claude and Windsurf to accomplish in 5 minutes what had previously taken us 5 years.

    On the surface, it’s a story of overnight magic. But dig deeper and you’ll find that the real magic wasn’t the AI itself; it was the five years of groundwork that came before. We spent that time using spreadsheets, Canva graphics, CRM automations and hacky off-the-shelf tools to create the right sales and delivery motion, and validate our customers’ needs.

    Only then did the AI become a true accelerator, as we used Claude, Windsurf and AWS to create the Human Cloud Platform in less than 5 minutes.

    This brings up a crucial point. AI can easily be a distraction, prioritizing hype and buzz over real revenue and profitability. Why? Because the fundamental principle of business remains unchanged: every breakthrough starts with a deep understanding of what your customers need.

    Before you invest another dollar in AI, ask yourself one question: Is this technology making us closer to our customers, or pulling us further away?

    Here are five steps to ensure AI helps you get closer.

    1. Manually implement before automating

    “Do things that don’t scale” is a famous startup moniker brought up by Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, in his essay in 2013. As a 4x founder myself, this ethos has always run true.

    In the case of AI, in every scenario, ask yourself if there is a manual alternative. If there is, try that first, then automate based on customer demand.

    Related: LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman: To Scale, Do Things That Don’t Scale

    2: Capture enough manual feedback

    Step 1 is only half the story. The other half is ensuring you have enough of the right type of feedback to automate what really works. My strongest recommendation is to capture feedback that’s closest to customers actually paying, engaging and sharing.

    I learned this the hard way in a former startup. We spent 3 months listening and iterating on prototypes based on feedback. We were maniacal in the level of detail we captured, from the user experience to the design. Then we launched, and less than 5% of these users actually paid. Instead, we shouldn’t have listened to what they said, but instead prioritized what they did.

    If you want a book to help you capture the right type of feedback, check out The Mom Test.

    Related: How the ‘Mom Test’ Can Help You Cut Through B.S. and Find Important Answers

    3: Make AI accessible for everyone, not just AI experts

    Rather than investing in an AI team or hiring AI experts, give everyone an opportunity to apply AI across their team and their work.

    Preston Mossman, Senior Director of AI Consulting for Galaxy Square, told me, “learning to use AI is a muscle you have to build. A lot of people self-select out because they can’t use AI today to help them, but the first step is to accelerate their comfort and understanding in a way that feels valuable to them.”

    When asking Preston about ways companies have helped their leaders get comfortable with it, he brought up investing in AI-related tools for interested individuals.

    In his words, “if your mechanic told you about a $50 wrench that could get your job done just as well for half the cost, you would buy it for them or find a new mechanic (with the $50 wrench).”

    Leaders not using AI in 5 years will be like leaders not using a computer today.

    Related: Why Your AI Strategy Will Fail Without the Right Talent in Place

    4: Hire independent experts first

    Telling someone to use AI with no support is like telling someone to jump out of a plane without a parachute.

    Obviously, hiring AI experts as full-time employees would be expensive and out of reach for most of us. Likewise, AI trainings take time, might be expensive, and rarely has direct applicability from training to application.

    But a shortcut is hiring individuals who already use AI, as 65% of independent experts were already using AI as far back as 2024, and 95% of independent experts stated that AI makes them more competitive.

    This brings up step 4: to hire flexible talent first, with flexible talent defined as independent, freelance, and fractional experts.

    The data is clear that flexible talent upskills faster than full-time employees and is ahead of the curve in AI adoption and effectiveness. It’s not just AI, Deloitte research shows that the independent workforce upskills faster than their full-time peers.

    There are also four massive benefits of flexible talent compared to full-time. You can control cost. You have a quicker time to effectiveness. You learn by seeing their expertise. And the most important benefit is that this is the future workforce.

    To get started, look for a flexible talent platform that is specialized in your region, industry, and the application you need AI for. There are over 800 of these specialized solutions.

    Related: Solopreneurship and Freelancing Is Here to Stay — Are You Ready?

    5: Scale like the cloud

    We take for granted how transformational cloud computing has been for us entrepreneurs. Without getting too geeky, what it really did was enable us to scale in line with customer demand rather than taking big bets because of large fixed costs.

    Apply this same mindset to AI.

    Do you think your AI idea is the next big breakthrough that will transform your company, your industry, and the world? That’s great. Now go through steps 1-4 before you bet the farm.

    I’m not going to lie, the latest generation of AI, especially large language models and agentic AI, is nothing short of impressive. At Human Cloud, we used tools like Claude and Windsurf to accomplish in 5 minutes what had previously taken us 5 years.

    On the surface, it’s a story of overnight magic. But dig deeper and you’ll find that the real magic wasn’t the AI itself; it was the five years of groundwork that came before. We spent that time using spreadsheets, Canva graphics, CRM automations and hacky off-the-shelf tools to create the right sales and delivery motion, and validate our customers’ needs.

    Only then did the AI become a true accelerator, as we used Claude, Windsurf and AWS to create the Human Cloud Platform in less than 5 minutes.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    Matthew Mottola

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  • How to Empower Your Team to Solve Problems Without You | Entrepreneur

    How to Empower Your Team to Solve Problems Without You | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It is quite common among entrepreneurs and leaders to become the ultimate “fix-it person,” always on the lookout for a solution. After all, we’ve built businesses by making decisions, fixing issues and clearing hurdles. However, as you continue growing your business, attempting to solve every issue you encounter is counterproductive, as it acts as a constraint on development and hinders team growth.

    It is important for you not to try to solve all the issues you come across. You need to build an environment where issues are addressed and resolved without your involvement so that you can concentrate on the strategic level.

    This is how you can work on your team, construct the process and stop fixing everything yourself.

    Related: 7 Ways to Help Your Employees Become Better Problem-Solvers

    1. Crisis playbooks: Create detailed guides for your team

    Perhaps the best way to stop being the “fixer” is to equip the team with tools and enable them to deal with the recurring challenges themselves. This is where creating crisis playbooks comes into play. A crisis playbook is a step-by-step plan that your team follows when faced with certain types of problems that occur repeatedly. But it is not just a list of directions; it is a well-thought-out strategy that enables them to manage emergencies on their own.

    For example, if there are many complaints from customers, you do not have to interject each time. Instead, create a step-by-step playbook for the team to follow — how to respond, to whom one should report the problem and what to do after the problem is solved. It reduces interference in your business operations, yet it also maintains a predictable and organized pace.

    Actionable insight: Select the three most frequent issues in your business and focus on them. Develop a precise roadmap for each of them, explaining who is accountable for what and how a problem can be resolved. Teach your subordinates to use these playbooks instead of seeking your assistance in the process.

    2. Empower your team: Give them the authority to solve problems

    If your team is always waiting for your approval or for your decision, then it is high time to change the way you lead your team. It is crucial for leaders to understand that implementing the concept of empowering your team is not as simple as throwing the reigns and saying, “Go for it.” It is about providing them with the freedom to make certain decisions without necessarily having to consult their superiors as long as they fall within a certain laid-down set of guidelines.

    When your team is endowed with authority and trust, they are more likely to exercise ownership of the roles given to them. Self-empowerment minimizes the level of reliance on you, enhances the rate of decision-making and promotes accountability. It also helps you to stop worrying about unimportant details and start focusing on the more important strategic tasks.

    Actionable insight: You must set limits on what your team is allowed to do without consulting you. Let them manage tasks on their own within such constraints and only report issues that need your intervention. In the long run, you will realize that fewer matters get to your table, and efficiency will increase.

    3. Early warnings: Implement systems to flag issues before they become crises

    Instead of waiting for issues to turn into major concerns, develop early signals that notify your team of potential issues before they become huge. These systems can be simple, for instance, using an automated software program to monitor for unusual activity or using regular team meetings to find out small issues before they become big problems.

    If problems are reported from the onset, they can be solved before they become a big problem in the organization. This minimizes tension and confusion and enables more rational approaches to problems.

    Actionable insight: Ensure that you use technologies that will enable continuous evaluation of your business processes. Whether it is the customer satisfaction index, the stock status or the performance of the employees, it is always advantageous to detect issues early before they snowball into something bigger. Schedule weekly or bi-weekly meetings with your team to discuss possible problems before they arise.

    Related: 4 Secrets to Building a Team That Can Handle Anything

    4. No interruptions for minor issues: Let your team handle the small tasks

    Not every problem is worth your time and energy. In fact, most aren’t. However, if you are always drawn into small issues, you will be bogged down by them and won’t be able to look at the big picture. For efficiency and better team relations, create an environment where your team understands that they don’t have to report petty problems to you. It could be small issues perceived by customers, small issues affecting day-to-day operations or even issues that employees have against each other or the company. It is okay to let your team deal with these issues on their own, in accordance with the playbooks and systems you have put in place.

    Actionable insight: Define what should be considered minor and what is critical in terms of the business. For small items, let the team decide what is best. If they know you trust them to solve these problems, they will, and you can spend more of your time on strategic planning and development.

    5. Define priority levels: What’s truly urgent?

    When everything is a fire, nothing becomes a priority to deserve the attention of a fire. There will always be competing priorities in any organization, and therefore, one of the toughest tasks is to know what is critical, what is important and what is less critical.

    If your team is still foggy on this, they will come to you with all sorts of things, just in case. To overcome this, you need to establish priority levels within your team. Set standards for what can be considered a high-priority area as opposed to a low-priority one. Emergent issues should be taken into your attention, whereas the rest of the problems must be solved based on protocols and procedures.

    Actionable insight: Discuss with your team members and try to divide various kinds of problems by their importance. Emergent issues could be any matter that is critical to customers or the safety or financial health of the business. The rest should be left to the team or addressed at your next meeting. In this manner, the team is aware of what really requires your intervention and what can be managed by them.

    6. Focus on long-term solutions, not quick fixes

    In many cases, instead of solving the root of the problem, we are quick to address the issues at hand and provide a quick solution. This is where many businesses end up being in a constant state of firefighting. Instead, motivate your team to develop a long-term perspective toward the problem.

    Instead of quickly patching up a problem, ask them to look deeper: What led to this problem, and how can it be avoided in the future? Long-term solutions may take longer at the beginning, but they help to save countless hours and headaches in the future. When your team is working on sustainable solutions, your business operations will be better, and you won’t find yourself having the same issues repeatedly.

    Actionable insight: Remind your team members to always look beyond the surface of their tasks. Tell them to search for the root causes of issues and identify methods that can be employed to solve such issues and ensure that they do not happen again. This way of thinking will help eliminate many of the trivial problems that arise and give you more time to focus on the important questions.

    Related: 3 Leadership Secrets That Lead to Team Empowerment

    A leader’s role is not to be the one who solves all the problems that arise in the organization. It is to create a team and a system in which difficulties do not turn into issues in the first place. Thus, by writing crisis playbooks, giving your team more freedom, introducing early alert systems and working towards the future, you can take your attention off of mere survival and put it on success.

    Finding solutions is crucial, but finding ways to avoid problems is revolutionary. It is better to dedicate more time to leadership and planning and enable your staff to deal with problems proactively on their own. The result? A more efficient and empowered team — and a business that feels like one seamless unit.

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    Chris Kille

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  • 5 ways to use technology for classroom creativity

    5 ways to use technology for classroom creativity

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    Key points:

    Technology has enhanced the opportunities for students to be creative and engage in school work that is meaningful and unique.

    Why creativity?

    Creativity is an essential skill for all students to have. Creative projects help students connect new information to prior knowledge through critical thinking and problem solving. Assignments that engage students in creative practices motivate hard-to reach students and provide an opportunity for all students to be successful.

    Classrooms that include creative activities are those with students who are resilient and confident. Creativity pushes students to overcome challenges through productive struggle. This builds emotional development and lifelong skills that will help them in any future career they may have. Technology has made creative opportunities more accessible for teachers and students. With the use of technology, students are better able to apply their knowledge in different ways and be creative in their learning.

    These are 5 ways you can use technology to promote creativity in your classroom:

    1. Engagement with AI: There are several AI tools like School AI and Magic School that students can use that will promote their creativity. These tools have spaces where students can ask questions to historical figures, participate in problem-solving simulations, and learn through hands-on exploring. Using the AI spaces provides students with an immersive experience that is powerful and engaging. These spaces create a virtual experience that results in a deeper understanding of the content through applied creativity.
    2. Collaboration on Google platforms: Using Google Sites like Google Classroom, Google Slides, Google Docs or Google Earth makes for easy sharing and collaboration on class projects. These sites can be used for all subjects and grade levels and are limitless in opportunities. Google tools can be used for
      collaborative writing, assignment presentations, and implementing collaboration into assignments and daily routines helps build a sense of community in which students can work closely with one another, share ideas, and be creative in how they learn. All of the Google Workspaces have a wide variety of tools and resources for students to try out and implement into their work. Collaborating with Google will introduce them to new settings and content while being motivated and excited about their work. Working closely with peers allows them to think creatively.
    3. Experimentation and risk taking through coding: Coding has a lot of real world applications and is very engaging for students. There are several sites that students can use like Code.org and Scratch. Coding can be used in a variety of ways. Students can make a creative writing piece come to life, students can code a math learning game, or even share what they have learned about a science or social studies topic like an animal’s environment. When slowly introduced, coding is a challenging and exciting way to create projects for any subject. There are hundreds of tools and settings that students can get creative with and explore independently that lead students through a trial and error process causing them to think creatively.
    4. Interactive lessons: There are several web tools like Nearpod and Peardeck that help bring your daily lessons to life. Implementing interactive lessons provides students with the opportunity to participate in open-ended questions, collaborate with their peers, and think creatively about the content they are learning. Moving away from the traditional classroom setting and allowing students to be creative in how they learn will be beneficial to them.
    5. Open-ended assessments using online applications: Technology has given us an unlimited amount of resources for enhancing teaching and learning. Students are now able to show their learning in more ways than they have ever
      been able to before. There are many assessment platforms that encourage creative thinking from students in a way that works best for them. Students who are writers can publish on Book Creator or Storybird. For those who enjoy speaking can create a podcast using the Podcasts app. For students who love collaborating and creating presentations, resources including Canva and Padlet are great options. All of these modes for assessing allow students to be creative and apply their knowledge in different ways compared to a traditional assessment.
    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

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    Macy Quinton, Elementary School Teacher

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  • Conflict Resolution: 4 Principles Behind Constructive and Peaceful Negotiation

    Conflict Resolution: 4 Principles Behind Constructive and Peaceful Negotiation

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    In a world filled with conflict and hostility, one of the most important skills we can learn in life is conflict resolution and our ability to negotiate peacefully and effectively.


    This content is for Monthly, Yearly, and Lifetime members only.
    Join Here Login

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    Steven Handel

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  • Want More Customers? Use This Simple 5-Step Process to Create an Irresistible Pitch | Entrepreneur

    Want More Customers? Use This Simple 5-Step Process to Create an Irresistible Pitch | Entrepreneur

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    Q: I have a great idea for a service, but how do I know if people want it? – Shana, Tucson, AZ

    If you want to create an irresistible offer, you can’t start with your solution. You must start with other people’s problems — and those problems must be big enough that they’ll pay to solve them.

    How do you know what they’ll pay for? Ask them!

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    Terry Rice

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  • The Question Every Business Owner Needs to (But Doesn’t) Ask Themselves | Entrepreneur

    The Question Every Business Owner Needs to (But Doesn’t) Ask Themselves | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    During the Great Recession, I went to an Entrepreneurs’ Organization Learning Event where the speaker changed my life. He said that all 50 of the business owners in the room were inevitably working on their biggest problems, trying to fix them. And in that treacherous economic time, we each had plenty of problems! He knew we thought about those problems all the time — at night, in the shower, while driving, on the weekends — and that we had our very best people working on them, too. All of our resources were focused on fixing problems. That’s human nature.

    The thing he said that stuck with me is simple yet brilliant: Rather than focusing on problems, we should find what is going right and put our resources toward doing more of it.

    My company followed his advice, found the thing that was going right and did more of it. It saved the company and inspired a full pivot to an even better business. That statement literally changed my life!

    Related: Want a Successful Business? Focus on These 5 Things

    Ask the right question

    If you search the internet for questions you should be asking about your business, most concern expense control, profitability and solving issues. I even queried AI, and while I got a list of 12 great questions, they didn’t include, “What is going right?”

    The company growth and execution systems used by business accelerator programs do not typically prompt entrepreneurs with this critical question. In fact, they often direct resources at identifying your largest issues — encouraging business owners to work on up to 10 issues all the time.

    Now, I am not saying that time should not be spent fixing problems. Problems that could kill the company must be addressed. What I’m asking is:

    What would happen if you spent an equal amount of time amplifying what is going right?

    Make peace with quitting

    Doing more of what is going right often gets backburnered in favor of Ms./Mr. “Fix It” and the notion of never giving up. But if quitting something in favor of doing something that produces better results grows the company, why not?

    In Annie Duke’s book, Quit, she outlines all kinds of situations where it makes more sense to quit than continue. The 336-page book has 11 chapters of examples. I am not saying you must immediately quit certain things to make space for amplifying others. But make peace with the idea that it’s okay to deemphasize some issues or put them on the back burner and turn your focus toward what is going right to see what you can do.

    Related: 7 Ways to Refocus on What’s Truly Important

    Identify what is going right

    So, what could be going right in your business? There are many possibilities:

    1. Is one product line more successful than the others?
    2. Is there a type of customer who is buying more and appreciating you more?
    3. Is there a way of delivering your product that is getting more traction than another?
    4. If you have multiple locations, is one doing better than another?
    5. Are there certain types of people who are more successful in your organization?
    6. Do some of your marketing and advertising methods perform much better than others?
    7. Is one distribution channel working better than another?
    8. Operationally, which methods of running your business are working well?

    Why not double down on these winning ways? Look for things that succeed with little effort or come naturally — things that are flywheel-ish. Intentionally apply less effort to the things that are hard to do, require a ton of effort, and feel like pushing rope in order to free up resources for doubling down on what is working.

    As you ponder this, an important tip is that the thing going right might be a small thing. So look high and low, and involve your team — because everyone sees your business from a different viewpoint. For example, let’s say you have 50 customers and three newer ones are nuts about your product. That could be one of the things you identify as going right. Ask yourself what those three customers have in common and how you can find more of them.

    Break free of the past

    Another common scenario is that something that worked well in the past just is not working well now because of increased competition or another factor. Is it time to deemphasize that in favor of something else? Just because you started that way does not mean you have to stick with it. For example, maybe retail was working well, but now your new online approach or wholesale shows more promise.

    A friend of mine runs a business in which they track what advertising source each sale comes from in a traffic log. One of the big questions that came up in my search to ask yourself was, “How do you increase sales?” This friend was always pursuing that. He continuously invested in new methods of advertising. In areas that were getting poor results, he would try to tweak the wording or ad placement. I suggested he double down on the top three sources rather than trying to improve the poorly performing ones marginally. In other words, “Why not just do more of what is working?”

    He followed that suggestion and — while that was not the sole reason for it — his company revenue has since tripled. He shared that focusing on what was going right freed up all kinds of team time because it takes less time to do more of what you know versus dreaming up new strategies and fighting the tide. It also boosted company confidence, as more customers supported the company by buying their product.

    Related: If You Focus on Problems, You’ll Only Find More Problems. Here’s How to Focus on Solutions.

    Fight your ‘fix it’ nature

    One of my favorite thought leaders, Dan Sullivan, once asked our strategic coach class, “What do you get if you work really hard on a weakness for 10 years?”

    The answer: At best, a really good weakness.

    It is hard to fight our deep-down entrepreneurial desire to identify problems and try to fix them, and it feels oddly unnatural to find the thing that is going right and do more of it. But it is worth the effort! This one question has the possibility of transforming your business and growing revenues to the next level.

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    Barry Raber

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  • Expose ChatGPT Resumes and Uncover Real Talent Using These 5 Effective Strategies | Entrepreneur

    Expose ChatGPT Resumes and Uncover Real Talent Using These 5 Effective Strategies | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The rise of artificial intelligence has undoubtedly revolutionized various aspects of our lives, and the recruitment process is no exception. With ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art AI language model, job seekers can now create impeccable resumes with minimal effort. It’s like the fairy godmother of the job-seeking world, magically transforming resumes into Cinderella-like creations. While this may save time and energy for candidates, it creates a challenge for hiring managers and leaders who must cut through the noise to identify the true Cinderellas before the clock strikes midnight, and all you’re left with are a bunch of artificial pumpkins. This article offers five effective ways for leaders to navigate AI-written resumes and uncover the real stars during interviews.

    1. Focus on behavioral questions

    One of the most effective methods to evaluate a candidate’s real potential is by asking behavioral questions during the interview. These questions provide insight into a candidate’s past experiences, decision-making strategies, and general thought processes, allowing you to gauge how they may perform in your organization. While AI-generated resumes may present a flawless image, asking questions that require candidates to share specific examples can help you see beyond the polished façade.

    Related: 5 Creative Interview Questions to Ask Job Applicants

    2. Test candidates’ skills with real-world scenarios

    A well-crafted resume may showcase a candidate’s skills on paper, but it doesn’t always translate to their real-world capabilities. Implementing practical assessments, such as role plays, case studies, or hands-on exercises, can effectively separate the wheat from the chaff. Evaluating how candidates perform in situations that mirror the challenges they would face in the role will help you distinguish the true performers from those who merely shine on paper.

    3. Get creative with problem-solving exercises

    To cut through the noise of AI-written resumes, challenge your candidates with unique problem-solving exercises. This approach goes beyond evaluating technical skills and focuses on assessing creativity, critical thinking and adaptability. By presenting candidates with unexpected scenarios, you can observe how they think on their feet and navigate complex situations, much like a jungle explorer navigating through a dense forest of AI-enhanced resumes to find the hidden treasure of authentic talent.

    Related: 7 Ways to Help Your Employees Become Better Problem-Solvers

    4. Ask for work samples and references

    Requesting work samples and references is a time-tested method to verify a candidate’s genuine capabilities. While AI-generated resumes may present an impressive array of accomplishments, work samples offer tangible evidence of a candidate’s past performance. References from previous employers or colleagues can also provide valuable insights into a candidate’s work ethic, collaboration style, and potential fit within your organization.

    5. Pay attention to nonverbal cues and emotional intelligence

    Lastly, remember that interviews are not just about assessing a candidate’s technical prowess; they also provide an opportunity to evaluate their emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills. Pay attention to nonverbal cues, such as body language, tone of voice, and eye contact, as they can offer clues about a candidate’s sincerity, confidence, and overall fit for your team. By focusing on these aspects, you can uncover the real talent that may be hidden behind a polished, AI-crafted resume.

    Related: 7 Interview Questions That Determine Emotional Intelligence

    AI-written resumes have certainly added an extra layer of complexity to the recruitment process. Without a proper process and an element of intuition, you could end up with a fancy recipe writer that doesn’t possess the skills or capacity necessary to withstand or contribute to the heat of the kitchen. However, by incorporating these five strategies into your interviews, you can confidently cut through the noise and discover the true performers that will drive your organization forward. Happy talent hunting.

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    Kash Hasworth

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  • Turning Employees Into Problem Solvers With a 3-Step Plan | Entrepreneur

    Turning Employees Into Problem Solvers With a 3-Step Plan | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As a growth advisor, I work with leaders looking to grow and scale their businesses.

    One of the biggest issues I found preventing companies from scaling was the fact that all the problem-solving was left up to the leader. If you took the leader out of the equation, it seemed that the team members lacked the agency to solve the problems on their own. And on top of that, some of the leaders often lacked the confidence in trusting their teams to make decisions.

    So, what is the million-dollar answer to fixing this problem you ask? Well, it is not simple, but it certainly is worth the effort. If you want your company to scale and grow, you need to create high-functioning teams. And in order to do that, companies need to build a culture of problem-solvers. As a leader, it is your responsibility to create a space where your team members are not afraid to speak up, feel empowered and know what is expected of them. It is only then that you can effectively scale and grow your company.

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    Baptiste Monnet

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  • Tips For Creating a Great A Personal Brand | Entrepreneur

    Tips For Creating a Great A Personal Brand | Entrepreneur

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    Q: Every founder seems to have a personal brand, but it doesn’t appeal to me. Do I really need to do this? — Eloise, San Diego

    Before I answer your question, consider the following scenario:

    Imagine comparing two people who work for you. One employee does everything that you ask of them. The other does that, too — but they also go above and beyond to identify opportunities outside of the job’s general requirements. Not everything the second employee does is a hit, but a few things are, and those uncharted opportunities add asymmetrical upside to your business. Which employee does more to help your company?

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    Adam Bornstein

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  • How to Push Your Limits and Achieve Greatness | Entrepreneur

    How to Push Your Limits and Achieve Greatness | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In his installation pieces, artist Michael Murphy translates renderings of flat, 2D images into three-dimensional spaces. The viewer who sees the image of an eye, for example, would totally disagree with the person viewing the same piece of art from any other perspective. In fact, leave the single spot where Murphy’s eye is visible, and the image suddenly explodes into a galaxy of floating wooden balls. Depending on which perspective you see it from or which position in the room you’re standing in, you could have an infinite number of ways to describe what one viewer so clearly saw as an eye.

    This is what we do every day with the world around us. Think of how many descriptions we use to try and define people — height, weight, hair color, DNA coding — but we could never possibly identify every single dimension of their being. There could always be another way to describe them. The closest we could ever come would always be at least one dimension less. This demonstrates the limit of our perspectives but also offers unlimited possibilities for us to continue our exploration and imagination. In the same way, we could never imagine every possible approach to problem-solving, goal-setting and our own self-betterment. Everything in life is limitless — perspectives, solutions and room for improvement — but we define the quality of our lives by how much we push those limits.

    Related: 6 Ways to Push Your Limits and Accomplish Things You Never Thought Possible

    There are no limits

    When I attempt to solve a problem, I approach it with three principles in mind. The first is an understanding of the incompleteness of all perspectives. If viewers of Murphy’s eye were to reconstruct what they saw depending on where they stood, and we were to combine those limited perspectives into one, even if that limit included everyone on this planet, we would still be able to find another perspective and a different view. This is related to the diverging nature of brainstorming.

    The second principle allows each perspective to have any opportunity to be heard and reviewed. Each perspective is equally valid depending on the situation in which it was generated, meaning we can respect all opinions without bias. That is, however, until we confront a problem that needs to be solved, which presents the third principle — a break in that symmetry of perspectives. This is related to the converging nature of problem-solving. When facing the problem of naming his work, for example, Murphy could have brainstormed limitless solutions, but his goal was to narrow the viewer’s focus onto the same concern as his: government tracking and its watchful reach into people’s personal lives. Naming his work “Perceptual Shift” brings them closer to seeing his perspective — that many may not see the watchful eye unless they shift their perspective.

    Just like the infinite number of perspectives to view his art, there were an infinite number of solutions he could have devised to name his art. But he had to narrow down his own divergent perspectives to the best possible one at that time. Even still, there could be a better name to serve his purpose more effectively if he examined the problem from one more dimension; yet another limitless pool of opportunity.

    Related: 7 Essentials for Overcoming Mental Barriers to Exceptional Success

    Pushing our limits to reach new heights

    In the same way that solutions to problems are limitless, there is a limitless amount of data available to help us improve. It would be impossible to brainstorm an exhaustive list of all the room for improvement because there can always be one more idea. The two-dimensional ways we can approach our three-dimensional world are endless to the Nth degree: There is always an N+1 to be found.

    Of course, we all know there are physical limits to what the human body can do. Those who break those physical limits set world records until someone else comes along to push them even further. This is what separates elite athletes from average sports players — they push their limits to be the best in the world at what they do by practicing their skills every day.

    I try to encourage my son to take this same perspective as a hockey goalie every time he lets in a goal. I tell him to reflect on each one — the angle, direction, speed and player’s movements. Even though he could never possibly come up with an exhaustive list of all dimensions for improvement, by brainstorming as many as he can conceive, he can identify infinitely more ways to protect the goal better. With hindsight, we can always learn from our mistakes and identify what works and what doesn’t to find a better solution. Leaders can apply this to their own problem-solving and encourage the same mindset in the members of their team.

    Related: 4 Steps to Breaking Free from Time Constraints and Living the Life You Want

    It’s all part of the game

    Of course, I also remind my son not to dwell on those goals he lets in. It’s a natural part of the game. Sometimes, letting in goals could be a simple matter of bad luck, just as allowing no goals involves a certain amount of positive luck. Tapping into our limitless room for improvement is our small effort to control how we reduce that unlucky probability. The best goalies become the best and let in fewer goals because they use every allowed goal as a learning opportunity to prevent the next one.

    In the same way, failure is a vital part of achieving success when we use those experiences to better ourselves and fine-tune our skills. The best way of doing something today might not be the best way of doing it tomorrow. Stay open to the limitlessness of improvement. Let nothing be “too outrageous” or determine “it won’t work” before allowing it to exist as an option. Brainstorm as many ideas as possible and narrow them down to the best solution, knowing there could always be a better way and always aiming to find it.

    Each time we go back to square one and brainstorm another list of solutions to find this extra dimension, we come up with answers we haven’t tried before to accomplish our goals better. Understanding the limitlessness of problem-solving as an opportunity for improvement is how we grow. The framework of these principles is universal and applicable to any scenario, from becoming a better hockey player to leading a business for better performance and everything else in between.

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    Simin Cai, Ph.D.

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  • How to Align With Your Team to Solve Any Problem

    How to Align With Your Team to Solve Any Problem

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    I see it every day, all the time: different perspectives, power struggles and personalities out of alignment. In any industry, leaders and managers are constantly solving problems and making decisions of all sizes that often require team collaboration. While one solution may not be able to consider every single dimension of a problem, we can come to a decision that considers enough dimensions to satisfy as many stakeholders as possible. That step, however, is easier said than done.

    How do we overcome the obstacles of different perspectives and create alignment to make better decisions as a team? By aligning each individual piece in the same direction.

    With everyone aligned around scope, criteria and mentality, no matter how different our roles, we all know the right direction to row. An effective team effort depends on this alignment.

    Related: ‘The Alignment Factor’: Collaboration Is the Backbone of Alignment

    Align scope to focus on the problem

    To start a productive conversation that results in effective solutions, the first place where a team should be aligned is on the scope. To do that, we need to align our perspectives on the scope of the problem. Different people could perceive the scope of a challenge differently. Until the scope is aligned, any discussion is unlikely to help solve the problem.

    A couple evaluating their dog’s diet, for example, might have different scopes: One partner might be talking about the dog’s diet for the animal’s health, while the other is concerned with how much it affects the monthly budget. Both topics are important, but they need to be addressed separately. Once they identify which is of greater importance, budget or diet, they can align around that scope and have a meaningful discussion.

    Address scope first to draw a boundary around the intended purpose within which to find an applicable solution. This anchors team brainstorming to a focal point while allowing for as many divergent ideas as possible that stay within that scope. Let everyone contribute their perspective, but throw out anything that diverges.

    Align criteria toward results

    After the scope is defined, we need to align around criteria — which can be used to judge a solution as good or bad — to help narrow down those possible solutions with consensus among the team.

    A CMO and CFO may have very different problems to solve, for instance, market share for the CMO and profit margin for the CFO. This may result in an argument when making decisions, even when examining the same scope, like a branding budget. To work together on this decision, they need to establish the criteria they will use to evaluate the value of their solutions: Higher profit margins for the year or brand building for the long run? Then, management teams can align and focus their solutions around what brings the most value to the company. Both the CMO and CFO may make their own decisions in operations as long as such decisions have a positive impact measured by that shared set of criteria.

    By successfully setting this type of shared criteria among team members, you’re creating a general standard that can be used to measure results. The criteria act as guardrails, minimizing the possibility of team members making counter efforts and eliminating arguments over the final results.

    Related: Why Team Building is Essential for Your Business Success

    Align interests for a common benefit

    For effective problem-solving as a team, all parties need to be able to see the transition from our own perspectives to that of others, and each party involved should benefit at least in some perspective(s). If I go into a decision feeling like I have to win a battle, this transition of perspectives is not likely to take place. The mentality of winning or losing is a zero-sum game — I win at the cost of your loss. Instead, we need to start on the same side of solving the problem.

    Of course, some people may be unwilling to move from their own perspective. This means the scope can no longer be a simple matter of solving the problem. We have to first stretch our scope in a slightly different direction — in this case, to my relationship with or the team dynamics around that person — before coming back to that original one.

    First, I try to evaluate that person’s motivation to win. Is this related to this person’s personal interest? Or is it just a personality issue? If it’s related to personal interest, I focus on aligning this person’s interest with the team’s. This way, the individual can realize the personal benefit of the team achieving their goal. If it is just a matter of personality, I would help them understand the damage of their personality, at the expense of the team failing to reach their goal.

    In some situations, no matter how much effort you put in, people may not be able to change. Is it worth putting in more effort? This judgment call is based on the criteria and a return on investment (ROI) concept. When your efforts can no longer be justified in reaching the team goal, you may have to make the tough choice to leave that particular person out of the decision-making process for the sake of achieving the overarching objective. Once you resolve this divergent scope for the team, everyone can return to aligning around solving the original problem.

    To effectively solve any problem, we must consider all possible solutions at that time by analyzing which factors are within our control and which are unavoidable obstacles. This will allow you to focus your time and effort on actions that ultimately result in progress.

    Alignment is built on team effort

    When the team moves as a whole and works in unity, they become more powerful than any individual on the team. If the team works sporadically and is out of alignment, it might be better to have a single person on the job. Rather than fighting to find solutions, everyone in alignment can work together to find better ones more efficiently.

    Related: The 4 Levels of Organizational Alignment

    Align interests around solving a problem so the team can work as a whole. This is one of the most instrumental steps you can take toward solving the problem. Of course, there may still be arguments, but the foundation of interest alignment in a problem makes it easier to align the scope and criteria for solving it. Even two different departments with different agendas and scopes, like sales and accounting, should be able to find a common denominator in their alignment with the company’s scope and interests. When we get all parties on the same side, we find more and better solutions. The framework of this process is universal and applicable to any problem-solving scenario, from agreeing on dog food brands to aligning board-level initiatives or anything else in between.

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    Simin Cai, Ph.D.

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  • Here’s Why You Should Steal Someone Else’s Leadership Style

    Here’s Why You Should Steal Someone Else’s Leadership Style

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    Q: People often talk about what kind of leader they are — but as a first-time founder, I don’t really know. How do I figure that out? – Liza, Oklahoma City, OK

    You shouldn’t copy most things — like product ideas, marketing copy, or someone else’s homework. But you can copy leadership techniques.

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    Adam Bornstein

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  • How Leaders Can Develop Their Diplomacy Skills to Drive Business Success

    How Leaders Can Develop Their Diplomacy Skills to Drive Business Success

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Diplomacy isn’t just important in politics – it’s also a fundamental set of skills in the workplace.

    Good diplomacy skills enable leaders to handle sensitive issues, navigate tricky conflicts and look at the facts objectively, without biased interpretation.

    A diplomatic leader will therefore create a healthy culture where people can work well together, even in stressful environments.

    So, what is diplomacy?

    Diplomacy is best described as the art of tactfully engaging with people to achieve a desired outcome or goal. Armed with this skill set, leaders can approach challenges and conflicts with empathy, a sense of fairness and solid analytical skills.

    Leaders with strong diplomacy skills are conscious of the power of their words and behavior and so intentionally communicate with empathy and transparency. They then listen carefully and consider multiple sides of a situation before making a decision, which encourages transparency, creativity and collaboration between team members.

    Related: Lessons From a Diplomat on How to Build Business Relationships

    What are the most critical diplomacy skills?

    Diplomatic skills encompass a range of abilities that can have an extremely positive impact on leadership success. A considerable advantage of these skills is that they help to improve workplace culture, thereby increasing employee engagement and productivity.

    Effective communication, empathy and creative problem-solving are just three of the important skills a leader could focus on if they want to be more diplomatic.

    1. Effective communication is an essential skill in diplomacy

    Often at work, we communicate with other people in our own natural communication style without consideration of the communication style of our colleagues. This is often the key to lots of misunderstandings. For employees to work together better, it is helpful to actively listen carefully to what is said, appreciate where the other person is coming from and ask clarifying questions. In a Harvard Business Review study, 69% of leaders reported that they aren’t comfortable communicating with their employees, demonstrating the necessity of ongoing training and coaching.

    Related: What’s Your Listening Style? Knowing It Will Make You a Better Leader.

    2. Understanding the perspectives of others through empathy

    Having empathy for another person’s situation can play a significant part in navigating complex situations. A diplomatic leader considers multiple points of view, understands how emotions factor into the equation and can use these understandings to help diffuse tense situations. A study of nearly 1,000 employees by Catalyst found that leaders who demonstrate empathy benefit workplaces through increased innovation, employee engagement and retention of employees.

    Related: The Networking Mistake Most Entrepreneurs Make

    3. Taking a creative, problem-solving approach

    Finding fair outcomes to complex problems isn’t always easy, but this is precisely what a diplomatic leader does — focuses on discovering outcomes that work for all. To do this, they’ll focus on gathering information from multiple sources and getting their team involved. Hence, team members benefit from providing their perspectives and contributions to solving the issue and have some buy-in to the result.

    How do you improve these skills?

    1. Focus on listening to understand

    When we listen to understand, instead of listening to respond, we stay more present to what is being said in the moment. Listen to the speaker without interrupting with your own point of view. As you listen, focus on both verbal and nonverbal communication. What is really being said? The goal of your listening is to understand the meaning and intention of the speaker correctly, as this will give you a good foundation for your diplomacy skills.

    Another idea to improve listening skills is to meet with staff individually so you can listen with fewer distractions and better understand what drives them. Be curious about who they are and ask open-ended exploratory questions. For example: How are they finding work? How is their workload? What are they hoping to do more or less of? With this knowledge, you’ll be better able to support them and manage expectations.

    Related: Are People Actually Listening to and Understanding What You Say? Here Are 5 Signs to Watch.

    2. Be supportive of creative solutions

    When you’re in a challenging meeting at work, think about how you can be open to innovative ideas and solutions from staff. Focus more on the various options for resolving the issues at hand. Allow for ideas that might be outside of the box. By doing this, you’ll build the knowledge that there are multiple ways to look at a situation. Your team’s insights might expand your viewpoint to something you’d never considered and having diverse input makes for a stronger team.

    3. Practice effective communication

    A large part of diplomacy is clear and effective communication. Build an environment of trust where your team feels they can converse with leaders without fearing retribution. Implement an “open door policy,” as this will spread the message that people can come to you with new ideas or to share their concerns. Be as transparent as possible with your team with information about how things are going. Share the highs and the lows of the week/month/quarter. Give shout-outs to celebrate accomplishments. If something is going wrong that you can share with them, let your team know. If there is a big project coming up that might impact your availability. Be sure they’re aware. An email to your team can go a long way.

    Related: Startup Survival 101: It’s All About Relationships That Work

    Ultimately, being a leader is about empowering your staff to do their best work and encouraging people to work well together to increase engagement and productivity. And this really is what diplomacy is all about. It can be a fine line, sometimes, between balancing the needs of a business with the needs of the team. However, having staff who are happy, engaged and productive will always lead to continued success.

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    Dr. Samantha Madhosingh

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