As a leader, you are the go to guy (gal) to get things done. You soon discover that a large part of your job is solving problems. President John F. Kennedy once said "The day before my inauguration President Eisenhower told me, ''You'll find that no easy problems ever come to the President of the United States. If they are easy to solve, somebody else has solved them.'' I found that hard to believe, but now I know it is true." The truth of the matter is the farther along the chain of command that you go the more time you will be spending on this time consuming but very important task.

In my role as a person who serves as a senior level leader (manager) in both the corporate world and in CAP much of my day is spent identifying and then trying to solve problems. While none of you are the President (yet) as cadet leaders the easy problems are usually solved at lower levels; they save the tough ones for you senior level leaders! (Editor's note: Remember that seniority is relative. As the cadet commander of your Squadron you are the most senior cadet around. If you truly want to lead your unit in every way you need to find a method to solve its problems.)

There are many different methods and theories that have been developed over the years for problem solving. The one that I will spend some time discussing here is based on the course taught at the 2003 Middle East Region Staff College. The course instructor was Col Charles Glass, MER CC and the Curriculum Coordinator was the author of this article.

Step One - DEFINE THE PROBLEM

The first thing you need to do is to define the problem. When defining your problem, in order to keep things manageable (solvable), you must do it using only one sentence. This may sound easy but it is often a real challenge to narrow it down this far. Once you have narrowed the scope you can find a workable solution to solve the problem. If the "problem" is too broad you won't be able to get your arms around it. While you are working on coming up with this one sentence definition be sure it is "the problem" and not a symptom of the problem. You don't want to spend a lot of effort solving your problem only to find you have only fixed a symptom. For example, you may identify your problem as poor unit moral. In fact your problem could be an ineffective commander who has caused poor moral. All the build up of unit moral is not going to make this ineffective commander go away. An even broader example would be giving someone Tylenol to reduce their fever when in fact they have a raging infection and need antibiotics. As a check, a well defined problem usually requires some sort of action.

Step Two - GATHER FACTS

Now that you think you know what the problem is it is time to gather as much information about it that you can. You can do this several different ways.

• Personal Observations -- What do you know about it?
• Witnesses -- What do others know about it?
• Measurements -- What concrete specific data is available on the problem?
• Analysis of Data -- What does this data tell you?
• Take a Poll -- Go to the people who live with this problem and get their thoughts on it.

All these methods or ideas can be used and can be done concurrently (at the same time). One of the most effective methods for gathering facts is getting a group of knowledgeable people in a room and brainstorm. There are no wrong statements when you brainstorm you are simply gathering data. Use caution not to discourage people from tossing out ideas, no one said you had to use their ideas if you discover that they are not really facts just opinions. Remember you are not solving the problem at this stage you are simply gathering information. Brainstorming works well for analyzing the data just make sure you gather first and analyze second. The bigger the problem the more time you will want to spend on this step.

Step Two (and a half) - MAKE ASSUMPTIONS WHEN FACTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE

So what happens if you there aren't a lot of facts available to gather? The next best thing you can do is to make educated, well informed assumptions. If you have to take this route rule number one is to use common sense when making assumptions. Sometimes we get "target focused" when we are making assumptions, in other words you make the assumptions fit what you are thinking is a way to solve the problem, don't do this. Write down your assumptions, indicating in big bold letters that these "facts" are assumptions and not really facts. After writing them down step back and take a look at them using your common sense. Even better get someone else familiar with the situation to take a look at them and do a common sense check. If you hear the words, what the heck were you thinking when you made this assumption, you should probably toss it out of your list of facts. Look for verification or proof of your assumptions. If you decide that your assumption are unfounded, change them and run back through the same verification process.

Step Three - IDENTIFY CRITERIA FOR DECISION MAKING

You have defined the problem in one sentence and gathered the facts and made some assumptions. You have analyzed you data, now you need to look at what other factors do you need to think about as you solve your problem. Moving back to step one and your defined problem, what criteria have to be satisfied or you can't solve the problem. List these as mandatory criteria and then thinking about these criteria, which ones aren't mandatory but they are desirable. For example, a mandatory criterion would be you have to follow regulations when implementing your solution. Cost may be a mandatory or it may simply be a desirable criteria. Keeping with the same cost theme, it can't cost more then fifty dollars (mandatory) to solve or the cheaper the better (desirable). Time may be mandatory or desirable. Further refining your desirable list, when you do come up with a solution you get to choose between acceptable alternatives. You can even rank them based on these criteria.

Step Four - LIST THE ALTERNATIVES FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM

We all know the old saying that there are many ways to skin a cat. A bit of an odd mental picture but appropriate for step four. Write down your list of alternatives. The length of the list depends on the time available. If you have plenty of time, make a long list so you can choose the optimum solution. In making your list don't prejudge success. In other words, don't jump a couple of steps ahead and choose you solution because you have already decided if I do "A" then "B" and "C" will be easier. It is OK to think ahead that is part of identifying the criteria, just don't take it too far. While you are in this step remember that doing nothing is an alternative. If you choose that alternative make it a conscious choice and let the parties involved know that you really did make a decision and that you just didn't wait around unable to make a decision. While we are kicking around the time factor, don't take so long finding your solution that you have "paralysis by analysis".

Step Five -SELECT THE BEST ALTERNATIVE

You know your mandatory criteria from step three. Use them to eliminate unacceptable choices. Use your desirable criteria to rank your alternatives in a priority sequence. Although you should have included this in step three, if you didn't now is the time to check for resource constraints. It would great if you could supply uniforms for every new cadet when they handed in their paperwork, but you probably don't have a warehouse full on uniforms.

Step Six - PREPARE A PLAN

When writing a story, journalists use the same set of questions. They are:

• Who ?
• What ?
• When ?
• Where?
• How ?
• Why ?

You need to write up your plan and present it to the decision makers. If you are scratching your head trying to figure out the best way to present your well thought our solution why not do what all good writers do. Using all the information your have gathered and analyzed write down the answers to these questions in paragraph form. Having a well thought out plan looks good when presenting your ideas to the boss for approval. Speaking of which....

Step Seven - GET APPROVAL FROM THE COMMANDER

One of my favorite "words to live by" (especially as a boss) is: Never make the boss look stupid. I know with some bosses that this not the easiest thing in the world, since they have risen to their level of incompetence in accordance with the famous Peter Principle (The Peter Principle essentially states that people will rise to the level of their own incompetence -Editor). Even so, don't start fixing the problem until you get approval from your commander. In other words, don't surprise the boss! There is nothing like being a commander and having your boss call you and chew you out over something you didn't approve and didn't even know about. If you want your plan to go forward and be used, present it as a draft seeking guidance and suggestions from your commander. He may have little to offer or he may insight into the problem that you wouldn't have because of his position. Normally there is a good reason why he is in command. He has experience and has shown good judgment skills over his career. A good leader always gives the credit to his troops but takes the blame when things go wrong. Allow your commander the benefit of having approved your plan prior to execution.

Step Eight - EXECUTE THE PLAN

You've done all your homework, submitted a plan for approval and received the green light from your boss to move forward. Now is the time to execute your plan. Make sure that you brief all the people involved in the plan so that they also have ownership in its success. Having ownership or having a plan shoved down your throat can be the difference between success and failure. Even a great plan can fail if it is not executed properly.

Step Nine - MEASURE YOUR RESULTS

I know, you thought you were done, sorry but not quite. Just because you executed your brilliant plan this still may not have solved the problem. In fact you may discover that you didn't identify the root problem way back in step one. How do you know the problem is fixed, what gets measured gets done. What sort of measurements are we talking about? Go back to step three, did you meet all the mandatory criteria? Did you solve the real problem? Every problem will have different measurements; I can't give you a formula here. What I can do is to remind you to measure or analyze your results.

Step Ten - CONTROL THE ACTION TO STAY ON PLAN

By now you're whining: "Come on give me a break! I saved the world and fixed the big problem! I want to go have some fun now!" Not so fast. It is still not a done deal. You need to monitor your progress and ensure that the problem "stays fixed". Remember back in step five when we selected the best alternative. I hope you kept that list around because it is always a wise idea to have a backup plan. If you discover that things aren't working out like you planned it is time to implement your contingency plan. Perhaps you required some help from Lt Smith but he had the audacity to transfer out of your unit. Maybe the funds you were promised for the new widgets had to be spent paying the electric bill. Have a plan B ready to go just in case.

The Next Step

"I am grateful for all my problems. After each one was overcome, I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come. I grew in all my difficulties." J. C. (James Cash) Penny 1875-1971, American retailer, philanthropist, and founder of JC Penny's

You are the future leaders of our nation. The effort made in trying to improve your leadership skills and learn how to solve problems will help you and make you stronger in the future. There are no easy methods for solving problems and all of us will make mistakes in the future. By definition cadets are student trainees, don't worry about being perfect and having the ideal solution. Take these ten steps and use them to overcome your challenges and grow as a leader