Fellow creative, if you have been in business for any length of time, then you and I both know you’ve already run into a problem or two. As much as we wish that business ownership was this perfect process, it’s not. Part of becoming an effective business owner centers around learning how to problem solve like a CEO, no matter the size of your business. Whether it’s just you and your cat at your dining room table, or it’s you and a team of creatives alongside you, problem solving is a skill that is always going to serve you well.

In fact, looking back over the 10 years that I have been in this industry, I wish that I would have honed in on my problem-solving skills a little bit sooner. So today on the blog, we’re going talk about how you can not only shift your mindset to identify more solutions in your creative business, but we’re also going to be talking about a four step process that I found to be helpful in order to create solutions and problem solve like a CEO every time. 

Problem Solving Like a CEO

As we dive into today’s topic, I want you to remember that when problems arise, you are capable of finding solutions. In my years of coaching creatives and working with fellow designers through the Brand Strategy School I have seen this really common belief that so many freelancers or newer entrepreneurs possess. It’s this belief that problems are scary and that problems are a cause for panic. When you find yourself in that mindset of an issue coming up in your business and you start to freak out a little bit, well, it becomes more challenging to see the root issue of that problem clearly. It becomes, on top of that, more challenging to figure out an actual solution that’s going to serve as a true solution and not just a short-term band-aid. 

So how do we switch that belief around? We look at the fact that you can trust yourself. It’s important to remember that you are safe with yourself. Every decision that you have made up until this point in your career has worked out for you in one way or the other. So when it comes to solving problems, whether it’s a big one or a small one, you are capable of figuring this out. 

Personally, when I’m looking at an issue that arises within my business, I focus on approaching it from a place of curiosity and possibility, versus stress and fear. As soon as I begin to experience stress, or as soon as I begin to become fearful about a situation, then it’s more challenging for me to see the whole dynamic clearly.

It becomes quite tricky for me to figure out how to create a true and lasting solution. So when I find myself experiencing issues, whether it’s something tiny or something massive, I always remind myself to take a breath, to look clearly and analytically at what’s happening, and to approach the problem from there. This helps me bypass that feeling of stress or anxiety that can arise whenever an issue appears.

Let’s take a look at four steps that can help you step further into problem solving like a CEO versus a frantic freelancer.

Assess The Problem

First step, assess the problem or issue you are faced with in your business. Whether it is a problem with your email marketing platform, or it is a bigger problem with a client project. It’s important that we truly get to the root of how this all started.

So often when we become aware of issues in our businesses, we become aware of symptoms of the root issue, but we don’t become fully aware of the underlying cause until we do a little bit more digging. For example, there was a point in my design business where I found that my design clients, when we came to the website portion of our work together, they were getting off the timeline and we were missing a lot of due dates. That meant that the project completion date got pushed back and we weren’t able to launch on schedule. Now, I could look at that situation and for a while, I did look at that situation and think, oh, my clients just need more help. My clients just need more hand holding or me reminding them more about these due dates. But, actually what I found is that was a symptom of the expectations that I was setting for my clients at the beginning, the very beginning of our work together.

Instead of clearly communicating that these are due dates and that when content is delivered, that enables us to launch on schedule. I was assuming that my client was reading this in the contract. I assumed that this was information that we both were on the same page about, but realistically, my clients were acting as if this wasn’t a priority because I had not made this a priority to them. So when I started booking new clients and I sat them down and I clearly communicated the importance of our due dates, and I clearly outlined the consequences of missing due dates, they really focused on turning things around. All of a sudden pushed back timelines became a thing of the past, and we were able to set deadlines and launch dates and actually meet them! That would not have happened if I had not been so focused on the symptom versus getting honest with myself, putting my pride aside and actually digging deeper into the root of the problem.

So when you’re experiencing the discomfort of an issue within your business, ask yourself, is this a symptom of the problem, or is this the underlying cause of the problem itself? If it is not the underlying cause of the problem, it’s time to do a little bit more digging to figure out exactly what’s going on. Now we do that because we want clarify, right? We want clarify what is the true problem here, which leads me to my next step,  clarification. 

Clarify The Problem

Now we clarify what is actually going on here. In that story that I just shared with you, you saw exactly how, what was actually happening was a breakdown in communication on my part and a failure for me, as the service provider, to clearly set expectations with my clients with one very important part of our process. 

When I’m able to take radical responsibility and realize that as the designer, that is something that I need to be communicating, I am able to completely change my behavior so that I am not running into that issue.

And it’s a win-win for everyone. I’m happier, my timelines are moving along more smoothly, which means I’m able to book even more clients because my calendar is working the way it should. And, my clients are so thrilled because we are not having to push back deadlines! There’s no longer a breakdown of communication at any point. As you asses the problem, I’m encouraging you to look for the clarification that is going to help you move forward and either put a boundary in place, implement a new workflow, set a new expectation, or simply change your behavior. 

Solve The Problem

From there that gives us the opportunity to solve the problem. This step is usually the one where we want to jump straight to this because we don’t want to be experiencing the discomfort for any length of time that experiencing an issue in our business can bring. After we’ve gone through the two important steps of assessing and then clarifying, now we can actually begin to solve the problem.

This is one of those situations where you don’t want to skip that pre-work because it is going to help you create a longer lasting solution than simply trying to create a solution with not all the information available. Once you have figured out what action you want to take, this is where we begin to start to put it into action. And we do that through implementation. 

Implement The Solution

During this fourth and final step, we begin to implement the change, the solution or the new idea that you have generated. This is something that could be internal! It depends completely on what kind of problem you’re experiencing. This could be a backend workflow issue. It could be a client facing issue. It could be a very specific scenario with one client who you’re not quite on the same page with. Whatever this situation is, it’s important to give yourself time to implement.

Remember that this is a new thing you’re trying. It might not work on day one, which is why it’s important to stay consistent, to keep with it, to keep implementing. After a period of time, maybe a couple weeks, look back and assess, did this work for me? Did I successfully assess the problem, clarify the issue, solve that situation, and then implement my solution. When you’re able to look back on that and say, yes, I figured it out, that is just more proof that you are good at this. You are capable of trusting yourself, and you are capable of making decisions and creating solutions, just like a true CEO. 

Are You Ready To Problem Solve Like A CEO?

I share this process because I see a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs still acting like frantic frenzied, freelancers, in a lot of ways, instead of following a process that they can use time and time again, to create solutions. They get so fixated on the symptoms of the initial problem, and they try and slap band-aids on that. They never actually get to the root issue of what’s going on and their business can suffer as a result. If anything, solving problems with that short term mentality means that you are struggling longer than you actually need to. 

If you want to dive a little bit deeper into this topic, one book that I have absolutely loved over the years is called Traction written by Gino Wickman. In this book, he talks about a specific framework that he recommends, called the I.D.S. framework, for teams to utilize when it comes to identifying and figuring out how to address an issue big or small moving forward. 

I hope that you already have ideas about how you can approach problem solving in your business and trusting yourself to step into the role of CEO because friend, you are completely capable of doing just that!