Hello!
Seiiti Arata.
The ability to solve problems is one of the most relevant skills you can learn.
When it comes to your personal life, efficient problem-solving skills can make you reach
your goals, move forward with your projects and even make stressful situations more manageable.
As for your professional life, having problem-solving skills will bring you better jobs and opportunities
for higher wages.
However, there is a large obstacle in the way of someone who wants to solve problems
efficiently.
That obstacle is to clearly define what the problem is, and thus be able to draw up a
plan to solve it in the best possible way.
The good news is that there is a centuries-old tested and validated method that can increase
your ability to understand and solve any sort of problem, regardless of whether it's a professional
or personal one.
This method is known as the 5W2H method.
5W2H is a seven-question method created to clarify what the problem is and how to solve
it.
“5W2H” stands for the seven questions you have to ask in order to define your problem
and plan a solution.
Five of those questions start with the letter W, and two questions start with the letter
H, thus “5W2H”.
The five questions are:
What?
Why?
Where?
When?
Who?
How?
How much?
Those questions originated in ancient times, in the ethic and rhetoric fields.
Aristotle called the questions “the seven circumstances”.
Over time, corporations adopted those seven questions as a management tool to help in
decision-making and solving problematic situations.
It looks like a simple method.
And it truly is.
However, at the same time, it’s also a powerful way of bringing clarity to situations you
are facing in your personal and professional life.
So let’s see how to put this method to practice.
The answers to the 5W2H questions define the problem and guide you to a solution.
Think of any problem you are currently facing.
It can be a financial problem, a work-related problem or even a personal goal, such as losing
weight.
The first question you have to answer is What?, as in What should be done?
What exactly is the problem to be solved or the goal to be reached?
Write down the answer on paper, your smartphone or on your laptop.
This is a very important aspect of the method: all your answers must be written down.
Writing has the power of organising and structuring your ideas better than just thinking them
through.
Since the 5W2H method’s goal is to clarify a situation, written down answers are fundamental.
After defining What, the second question is Why?, as in Why do you have to overcome the
problem or complete the goal you just set?
Oftentimes, we say that we want to do something without even knowing why we actually want
to do it.
When your reasons are weak, you will probably procrastinate a lot.
However, if your reasons for doing something are strong, it will be harder to not start
acting.
The third question is Where?.
Where will it be done?
There are actions that can only be performed in specific places, where you will have access
to a specific tool, person or any other resource needed to solve the problem, for example.
The fourth question is When?.
When will you need to solve the problem?
One of the most important aspects you need to establish when setting goals is a deadline.
Some people say that goals are just dreams with longer deadlines, so you need to set
a clear due date to solving a problem or reaching a goal.
However, beware of long deadlines.
If you have a great problem that can only be solved over months, break down that great
problem into smaller steps so you can have shorter, weeks-long deadlines.
Short deadlines keep you engaged and give you the feeling of progress as you accumulate
your victories, fulfilling smaller steps in a greater problem.
The fifth question is Who?, as in Who will solve the problem? or Who are you going to
solve the problem with?.
Maybe you have a problem that has to be solved by someone else.
In that case, you can delegate exactly what has to be done.
On other occasions, you can solve the problem with the help of someone else.
In that situation, everyone has to work as a team.
And there are also the cases where you will have to act alone.
Ideally, you should avoid that situation, and at least look for someone to support you.
It can be someone who can hold you accountable for your actions and progress, or someone
you can talk to, or even someone who can give you professional advice.
Your action plan should only be decided after the 5W questions have defined your problem.
You can think of the 5W2H method as a 2-steps process.
In the first step, by answering the 5W questions, you will define clearly what problem must
be solved and what goal should be reached.
Only after you know what will be done, why it should be done, where it will be done and
who will do it, can you go to the second step and answer the 2H questions.
The first H question is How?, as in How will the problem be solved?.
In practice, this is the point when you will write down an action plan, a series of tasks
that can lead you from your current situation to the solution of your problem.
That’s why you ideally have to answer the How?
question in a to-do list, always starting your bullet points with an infinitive verb.
If you do not know how to solve a problem, the first task on the list should be searching
for a solution.
This can be made by consulting professionals to advise you on the situation or by searching
in books, on the internet or other sources about a potential solution to your problem.
A good technique that can help you answer the first H question is starting from the
end and working backwards.
By doing that, you can visualize how life would be once the problem is solved, and then
decide what the step that you made immediately before that was, and then the one before that,
and before that, until you arrive at your current situation.
The to-do list must be as complete as possible, however, it doesn’t need to be perfect.
It’s very likely that as you complete your tasks, you find room for new, unpredicted
tasks.
That’s alright: just make sure you jot down the new tasks and move forward with your plan.
After your initial to-do list, it’s time to answer the final question: How much?.
How much will that action plan cost you to solve your problem or reach your goal?
This expense estimation can be made by observing your to-do list and noting down how much every
single task will cost.
What tools will you need to buy?
What professionals will you have to hire?
What other resources are you going to spend your money on?
Knowing how much everything will cost is important for you to be sure that you are able to afford
your plan.
If you are not, then you will need to find a way to make your plan cheaper, get more
money, or postpone your plan until you are able to afford it.
The 5W2H method breaks down barriers between who you are and who you would like to be.
Problems to be solved and goals to be reached often represent a barrier between who we currently
are and who we would like to become.
We are always trying to break down those barriers, however, we rarely have a clear method to
break them down in an effective way.
5W2H is that method.
It is simple enough to be used by anyone, requiring only pen and paper.
And it is also efficient enough to be used for personal matters and business plans alike.
If you use the method long-term, as we teach on the Planning Your Life training, then you
will have the perfect combo to great problem-solving and goal-reaching skills.
At the same time, you will also act on practical daily situations while you achieve your dreams
in line with your personal values.
So, let’s do a test.
Choose a problem or a goal of yours and use the comment section to answer the seven 5W2H
questions.
This will help you to solve your problem and reach your goal.
What exactly is the problem?
Why do you need to solve it?
Where will you act on it?
When will you finish it?
Who are you going to solve it with?
How are you going to solve the problem?
How much will it cost you?
Write down the answers in the comment section.
Seeing other people’s answers might be an additional motivation for you to act.
However, if you would like more privacy, write them down in a notebook.
The important part is actually taking action to break down the barrier between who you
are and who you would like to be with this problem solved.
5W2H is a method created to define problems and help you find solutions.
It is composed of seven simple and efficient questions that have helped us solve problems
for millenia.
So whenever you have to solve something, just write down the answers to these questions:
what, why, where, when, who, how and how much.
The answers will simplify your problem and give you an action plan to solve it.
If you want to use this method in a more meaningful way, use those questions combined with a greater
life plan.
You need a plan that will cover your problems and goals, and also your life’s purpose.
You can learn how to create a plan like that in the Planning Your Life course, which you
can access now using the following link https://arata.se/planningyourlife