Background

EPS (Effective Problem Solving) is a method for solving problems that gives the best results with the fewest drawbacks and the most rewards.

Identifying problems (this article) is one of the empowering elements of EPS.

Problem (What)

A problem is a gap between the present state (conditions as they exist right now) and the goal state (desired conditions in the future).

Problems provoke either negative or positive affect. Affect refers to feelings and emotions taken together.

So if something causes positive affect, it might be a problem (a gap between the present conditions and desired future conditions).

Similarly, if something causes negative affect, it might be a problem.

Examples of Problems

Financial Performance

• Present State: A business is struggling financially.
• Goal State: Healthy financial performance.
• Discussion: Financial struggle certainly causes affect.

Pickleball

• Present State: A person has never played pickleball. They see some pickleball on YouTube and would like to learn this.
• Goal State: This person plays well enough for their context.
• Discussion: Positive affect also indicates that a problem may exist.

Car

• Present State: A car is broken down.
• Goal State: The car is fixed.

Stress

• Present State: High levels of stress.
• Goal State: Negligible or zero levels of unhealthy stress and appropriate levels of healthy stress.

Statistics

• Present State: Don’t know statistics very well. Need to know statistics.
• Goal State: Effectively apply statistics to do useful things: design experiments, predict probabilities, interpret data, read scientific studies, and so on. Ability to do most textbook problems.

Collaboration

• Present State: Collaboration is lousy.
• Goal State: Effective collaboration as measured by great results and by high levels of positive affect for the people in the group.

Rationale

Here are some reasons why recognizing problems effectively is worthwhile.

1. Feel calm and have peace of mind because you can see problems everywhere and recognize which ones are worth solving and which ones can be ignored or inventoried.

2. Transform high levels of affect into low or zero levels. This allows you to deal with problems in the best ways because affect shuts down higher-order charger.

3. Align your problem-solving with what is most important to you. Prioritize.

4. Be a doer: A doer is a person who takes initiative and gets things done.

Here are some other points.

1. Recognizing problems needs to be integrated with the other skills that make up EPS.

Problem Recognition (How To)

• Roles: Recognize problems in each of your roles.

  • A role is an area of responsibility or interest for an actor (person or group)
  • This provides balance.

• Metacognition: Pay attention to your thinking and feeling and identify problems in the following ways.

  1. Positive or negative affect often signals a problem.

  2. If you are stuck, this often signals a problem.

  3. If you see something or imagine something that provokes strong desires, this might signal a problem.

     1. For example, “I’d really like to visit Norway.”

• After you identify a problem that you don’t choose to ignore, write down enough information so you can remember your present state and your desired goal state.

  • Don’t worry about how to close the gap because EPS will reveal this to you.