1. Overview

Individuals with Solving strengths have natural problem solving skills. They are able to identify issues in their environment, analyze them and offer insight with depth and logic. They are structured and independent thinkers, with the ability to transform ambiguous, complex problems into simple and logical frameworks. They understand that their ideas and opinions about the world are usually more intellectually advanced, but they struggle with ushering those ideas into the hands of people who can execute them. Their task-oriented mindset keeps them focused on big ideas and convoluted problems, but this frame of mind also keeps Solvers retreated in their work which limits their opportunity to develop deep, emotional relationships with people.

2. Capabilities

• Framing Problems – Solving individuals set up the right problem to solve because they focus on the “what” when presented with a topic or issue. They immediately seek the context of problems and challenge the question being asked. Their first step is to formulate the problem, then question things in minute detail, down to defining the language used in the problem statement. They clarify uncertainties, doubts, or ambiguities to establish the best possible starting point for their analysis. They don’t just ask questions to feel important, they ask important questions. This process is preventive of misunderstandings in the long term because it helps avoid wrong concepts and generalizations being formed in the beginning. Solvers have the innate talent of finding the right question before seeking the answer. The framing of the problem is always relevant to the answers at which they arrive. Solvers also use this mindset to frame arguments or understand complex concepts.
• Disaggregating Problems – Solvers have a very structured approach to the way they analyze a problem. They break the problem down into its fundamental pieces, then continue to dissect the issue until its core truths—or first principles—are distilled. Let’s take the simple example of increasing profitability. Some skill sets might start ‘bottom-up’, and generate ideas right off the bat for increasing profitability. Whereas a Solving individual addresses this problem ‘top-down’, separating the essential components of the issue: the company can increase revenue or it can decrease costs. Solvers look at the fundamental facts of a situation rather than defaulting to way the rest of the world thinks. They make no assumptions. They use mental models and logic trees to boil things down until they are absolutely sure of something. This analytical approach helps clarify complex issues and highlight what really matters.
• Robust Research – As one might already observe, Solvers are proponents of the scientific process. After they’ve performed adequate analysis on the issue, they form a hypothesis, then rigorously test the hypothesis—often through exhaustive quantitative research. They spend hours—even days—independently researching an issue, much like a professor or Ph.D. student, often to the point of the work consuming them. They go after the facts and data, typically through reading papers, books, and online reports; yet some Solving individuals are eager enough to get first-hand observations from people via focus groups, polling, and panels. Being the first to critique others’ research, they know exactly what is needed to test, prove, or disprove their hypothesis with conclusiveness (e.g. double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized).
• Drawing Insights – The real capability of a Solving skill set is being able to conduct deep-level analysis, while also coming back to meta level and connecting the details back to the larger problem. In other words, they are easily able to remove themselves from the weeds and answer the “so what” to all the work they’ve done. This ability to synthesize their findings then allows them to draw conclusions and create alternative options for the appropriate path forward.