Problem Solving Fatigue

Background: I wrote this post at the beginning of 2023, but the same sentiments started popping up in my recent interactions, so I felt it was a good time to reshare and get insights on how others are navigating this enervation of decision making.

Just as we began to feel "normal" following an intense period of COVID management, a new fear lingered on the horizon... Long COVID. After all the challenges faced by the population during the COVID epidemic, scientists begun to see the lasting impacts of the virus beyond the initial episode of illness. Articles started to emerge, outlining the symptoms and persistent physical manifestations of the virus. As I consumed more and more information about the chronic impacts of something we thought we were finally ascending out of, I began reflecting on the parallel symptoms in the care industry.

Not long after those reports of long-covid began to riddle the news feeds, I was on a call with a collaborator who was reflecting on a conversation he had with our client. He shared her concerns that people seem adverse to action, and willfully anti-solution when in meetings. She attributed this frustrating phenomenon to be a consequence of COVID. At the time, I chalked this up to the common theme everyone has been hearing in healthcare over the last few years; staff are tired and burnt out from years (literal years) of being in crisis mode. We've asked extraordinary things of our healthcare professionals, constantly requesting and often demanding more support for the communities we care for with ever-depleting supplies of energy, resource, and people. Healthcare professionals are constantly problem solving, and they're tired of having to MacGyver their way through their daily tasks for care.

Problem: I walked away from the conversation thinking about how to change the mentality, and rebuild that innate sense of strategic thinking we see from our healthcare partners. Surprisingly, I found myself frustrated that I was having to think of a solution to motivate clients to participate in collaboration and brainstorming for work they solicited and paid for. I realized that same fatigue my clients were feeling was showing up in my own attitude. I was tired of coming up with solutions for them and constantly being presented with new barriers. This was a shocking revelation as a self-proclaimed lover of strategy and problem solving. Like many strategists, the thrill of a new juicy problem that is stumping others has always been extremely enticing, and here I was, actively procrastinating because I was tired.

The beauty of strategic roles and problem-solving exercises is in the fact that when you're in the zone of working through options, you get to be fully consumed in that task. You look at the whole picture and weave together components that would be seemingly unrelated in other venues...but when those other components are riddled with problems as well, your web of potential solutions is weighed down by complications that delay that gratification of finding the perfect approach. COVID and the approach to choking off the spread forced everyone to play problem-solver. It asked families to figure out how to work remote while home schooling, entertaining themselves and others while also protecting their personal time, limiting exposure while also needing to get essentials for the household. This constant balancing act was more convoluted for healthcare workers, who didn't have the ability to work from home, and instead, had to think about how they continue providing care and support for communities, make a living, support family and friends without exposure, and trying to have any semblance of a personal life. This quick adjustment and regular pivoting as rules and regulations changed across states and regions led to a near constant state of "what if" and mitigation planning. That state of heightened awareness has left our collective workforce & communities reeling from long-standing prevention planning and doing more with less.

Great statement of the obvious...now what do we do:

The (potential) solutions: I'm not naïve enough to think that I have the answers to how we conquer this collective problem-solving fatigue, but as someone who has seen the pattern in myself, I can share the tricks that worked for me, or have so far.

1. Take a beat: The first and hardest step for me was acknowledging that I needed a moment to step away from the issues. All of the standard mental health advice starts with taking a moment to breathe, and that's exactly what I had to do. I turned away from the computer and electronics, gave myself a time limit to clear my head, and focus on anything but the problem. For my brain, I need fresh air and nature, but for you it may be a nap, a cup or tea, or a book. Find how you can quiet the noise and recognize that in order to push forward through mental fatigue, you need to give the brain what it wants - a break.

2. Listen first: Ask questions and listen before trying to jump in to problem-solving mode. This will help define the true issue at hand (see point 3).

   1. Don't take everything at face value - ask clarifying questions and get all sides of the issue at hand from all stakeholders.

   2. Don't assume you know people's thoughts

   3. Be empathetic to the team experiencing the problem...and yourself. Remember most people are feeling this same burnout and frustration with pain points.

   4. Be humble - You aren't the key to everyone else's success or the answer to everyone's problems. Listening will help you identify what is actually needed and pull in resources to support accordingly.

3. Name the actual problem: Be specific, break down the problem(s) in to smaller pieces, and name the consequence of each piece, so you can find the underlying condition vs. the symptoms.

4. Brainstorm with abandon

   1. Start with no limits - List every potential option you can think of, as wild as it may be.

   2. Apply parameters after - you will be surprised how many ideas actually fall within the realm of possible that may have been written off based on preconceived notions.

   3. Break you ideas before sharing - Once you have proposals you think could be viable, ask your team to poke holes and see if they can "break it" so you aren't surprised by any unintended consequences later.

5. Share the burden: Don't be the savior...we have teams for a reason (** admittedly, this is one I sometimes struggle with. My desire to jump in and clear the path for my team to do their job has blinded me in the past to faster solutions where everyone has a part).

   1. Use your network for brainstorming - have someone who is not invested in the outcome to talk through ideas with. I'm lucky enough to have a mentor in a separate organization that I run ideas by to get a different vantage point.

6. Save, Tag, Share - Save everything and tag files (OneNote, Notes, Pages, Word Docs, etc.) with key words to help with problem-solving in the future.

   1. As great as the high can be from resolving an intricate issue is, there is often a great deal of investment that goes in to the creation of said design. Conserve that energy for newer, more elaborate situations by leveraging your tools and lessons learned for quick wins when problems repeat themselves across new projects. You'll notice many large service providers use tools like JIRA, ServiceNow, and eservice solutions that not only track tickets and issues, but their resolutions to build a knowledge bank for expedited turn around of problems. You're essentially doing the same thing for your personal knowledge base!

   2. Share your lessons learned - Remember that point about sharing the burden and not being a savior? You're actually an even better strategist and leader when you prevent issues from being escalated in the first place, so be generous with your expertise and share your lessons learned with your teams and clients so they can learn and leverage them in the future.

7. Be Honest - With Breaks, Deadlines, and Roadblocks

   1. Real Breaks - Step away from the computer and find something to do that is truly mindless (see point 1) so your brain has space to daydream and simmer. Some of the best ideas and strategies come when you're not actively in work mode.

   2. Real Deadlines - It's easy to hear an impending deadline and think everything is urgent. Before jumping to action, think critically about what else is on your place and who you need at the table to solve the problem, and set expectations accordingly. Sorter time frame means more resources participating, so go back to point 4 and be transparent on the barriers an time constraints with those asking.

   3. Don't hide the roadblocks - when you run in to issues, flag them early to the team as well as the stakeholders asking for your guidance. Hiding them won't do anyone any favors and could cause additional problems and trust issues down the line.