How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life pdfdrive com

2. Ask 
Why
 Before 
How
When most people begin using strategic thinking to solve a problem or plan a
way to meet an objective, they often make the mistake of jumping the gun and
trying immediately to figure out 
how
to accomplish it. Instead of asking 
how
,
they should first ask 
why
. If you jump right into problem solving mode, how are
you going to know all the issues?
Eugene G. Grace says, “Thousands of engineers can design bridges, calculate
strains and stresses, and draw up specifications for machines, but the great
engineer is the man who can tell whether the bridge or the machine should be
built at all, where it should be built, and when.” Asking why helps you to think
about all the reasons for decisions. It helps you to open your mind to possibilities
and opportunities. The size of an opportunity often determines the level of
resources and effort that you must invest. Big opportunities allow for big
decisions. If you jump to 
how
too quickly, you might miss that.

---

3. Identify the Real Issues and Objectives
William Feather, author of 
The Business of Life
, said, “Before it can be solved,
a problem must be clearly defined.” Too many people rush to solutions, and as a
result they end up solving the wrong problem. To avoid that, ask probing
questions to expose the real issues. Challenge all of your assumptions. Collect
information even after you think you’ve identified the issue. (You may still have
to act with incomplete data, but you don’t want to jump to a conclusion before
you gather enough information to begin identifying the real issue.) Begin by
asking, 
What else could be the real issue?
You should also remove any personal
agenda. More than almost anything else, that can cloud your judgment.
Discovering your real situation and objectives is a major part of the battle. Once
the real issues are identified, the solutions are often simple.

---