Why am I always putting out fires at work and never getting ahead?

5 Steps to Managing The Systems in Your Business

Have you ever met someone who had NO problems at work? Personally, I haven’t. I’ve never even heard of such a person.

But what I’ve seen many times is a manager or business owner who spends all of their time each day going from problem to problem, fire to fire, complaint to complaint. Sometimes they are able to get these things under control, but because they never take the time to find and resolve the cause of these issues, the problems never stop.

Unfortunately, work problems are something we all have to deal with. And sometimes it can be pretty overwhelming.

But fortunately, there’s a process that helps to get around that. I mostly got it from the books “Principles” by Ray Dalio and “Work the System” by Sam Carpenter. I’ve used the process over the last few years to deal with the majority of the problems I come across, and it’s always helped.

By the end of this article, you’ll know how to use it too and you’ll have a 5 step process for getting around the problems life brings to you!

Step #1 - When problems come, don't focus on the result. Instead, focus on fixing the system or process that caused the result.

• When problems come at work(and they always do), don’t spend too much time focusing on the negative result or being upset about it. Instead, stop and think “this is just a negative result that was produced by a system or process”.

• Then, if there’s anything you can do to solve the problem or deal with it right then and there, do it. Otherwise, move on to Step #2 below.

Step #2 - How to go about fixing the system or process

Whenever I come across a problem at work that I can’t solve right then and there, I try to always write it down somewhere. Then, at the end of the week, I come back to the list of problems that I’ve written down.

If there’s more than 3 problems, I’ll narrow the list down to the top 3.

1. Problem -

2. Problem -

3. Problem -

Tip — Having trouble narrowing your list of problems down to 3? To get around this, ask yourself “Of the listed problems, which 20% would result in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?”. If you still have more than 3 problems listed, then ask yourself next “Of the problems that are still listed, which of them would either directly address other problems or make them irrelevant if they were solved?”

From there I’ll pick the #1 biggest problem on the list and answer the questions below in order of 1-6 to find a solution for it.

1. What is the problem? -

2. Why is this a problem? -

3. What’s the result I need or that I’m looking for? -

4. What actions or inactions(only mine) got me to where I am now? -

5. What ideas do I have for a solution? -

6. How will I get this done? -

Each time I find a solution to one of these problems and apply it, I’m preventing that same problem from happening to me again in the future. With the 6 questions above, you can easily do this too!

Step #3 - Make a list of the solutions you find

• After I’ve found the solution, the next step is to write it down somewhere along with instructions so that my team and I can apply it later. Tip - try to write your solutions down into 1 to 3 sentence statements. For example, “Stop at stop signs” is one of the basic principles of driving, and it can be expressed in just 4 words.

• As you find more and more solutions to problems, write them down on the same list.

• Eventually, as the list grows, you should be able to look at your solutions and separate them into categories. So if your list has a lot of solutions around talking to customers, then one category would be “talking to customers”.

Step #4 - Use the solutions you already have to solve new problems faster

From there, whenever you go to solve one of the problems you’ve written down throughout the week, ask yourself “what category does this problem most relate to?”

Then, just look for the solution(s) that seem most relevant to your current problem. If there’s one on the list you haven’t tried yet, this is probably the answer to the problem.

Step #5 - Make videos to go along with your solutions so your team can use them easily

I’ve found it very personally useful to make videos walking through how I applied a solution I found to a certain issue. But more importantly, my team has found this useful in carrying out the solutions themselves.

If you want to give instructions for how to do something that requires a laptop or phone, use a screen recorder app to record yourself while you demonstrate your solution.

For things that require a laptop, I use a website called Loom. It lets you record your computer screen and voice while you browse, and then download the video when you’re done.

Thank you for reading this article from The Goal Doctors - Providing clarity and guidance for people who chase big goals!