Problems that are Puzzles

DEFINITION

Examples

Building a bridge
Getting a man safely to the moon and back
Estimating financial requirements for retirement
Designing better work process

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These are problems where we are highly confident there is an objective answer, or at least an optimal answer among several candidates. Typically these problems are dominant in engineering, finance, mathematics, or the like. There are known and accepted methods or algorithms which provide a reliable path, even if the final outcome is unknown as of yet. The relevant variables are largely known, or at least knowable. It is merely a matter of applying time, effort, and expertise using the correct methods to secure an answer.

Problems that are Puzzles are not necessarily simple or straightforward. Getting a man to the Moon and back safely was a puzzle, albeit one of enormous proportions. Building a dam or a bridge across a river are essentially puzzles, even though they may take years to analyze and play out.

CHALLENGES

The essential requirement is for expertise. The solution may already exist from some other context.

The first challenge is making sure you really have a puzzle, and just a puzzle. Problems that are Puzzles may be closely related problems that are definitely not puzzles. Getting funding for going to the Moon, predicting the regional consequences of a new dam, or getting local communities to agree on the siting of a new bridge are not engineering tasks, even if engineers end up making the appeals.

Assuming we can isolate a pure puzzle, the second challenge is to marshall the expertise and resources required. Since there are known methods, the outcome can usually be scoped, scheduled, and estimated.

The third challenge is to insulate the problem solving effort against personal agendas, sour group dynamics, or organizational politics, all of which can contaminate the application of standard methods or obscure the identification of critical expertise.

The most common error in identifying Problems that are Puzzles is that we are so enamored of this class that we may squeeze other types of problems into this category just so we feel more comfortable with it.

OUTCOMES

Solutions are independent of the problem solvers; it will not matter who comes up with the right answer.

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The ideal outcome with a puzzle is that it flies, whirrs, clicks, turns on, lights up, flies away...in short, it works.

The problem solvers are free to disperse and work on other problems. Often the implementation is handed over to others, who typically have the knowledge to recognize a correct solution when presented to them, even if they do not have the expertise or credentials to generate it. For example, engineers may hand over their drawings and specifications to technicians or craftspersons who do the actual construction.

The process of working together has enhanced — or at least not damaged — the working relationships among the problem solvers. In the organization as a whole, the effort should have reinforced the basic understandings about "how we solve problems here".