Many of the techniques used by the best photographers are the ones we can use to become great at problem-solving.
The essence of photography
At its essence photography is driven by three variables:
The essence of problem solving
The best problem solvers tend to be good at three factors:
Leveraging the principles of photography to improve decision making
The U.S. auto industry thought their problem was to enhance the quality of their hardware against the Japanese or design their exteriors and interiors to drive desire for their product against the German luxury brands when the real existential challenge was to become adept at electric and software vs Tesla and address a decline in a desire for auto ownership due to rise of Uber and Lyft.
Too many traditional publications failed to adapt to digital in part due to not having technical folks and younger folks who were comfortable using digital media having a voice in the room where decisions were framed. As boards become more diverse it is critical that they ensure that there is diversity of voices and backgrounds and not only a diversity of faces.
Many times, we might try to solve problems that are so broad that they are never solved because either they require too many people or too many resources or too much time.
2. Ensuring the right exposure: In the world of problem solving the aperture is how much data you decide to look at, shutter speed is how much time you allocate before a decision must be made and ISO is how much leeway (graininess) is acceptable.
One reason the original We Work imploded was that the key data they overlooked were from the industry they really were in (real-estate leasing). Rather, they focused on the ones that were not relevant (software, luxury experiences) in how they valued themselves and raised money.
Too many organizations spend time ingesting lots of inputs and look at their colon in many ways but end up with no real output.
In another vernacular, to solve a problem one must sooner or later emit or get off the pot.
Sometimes, though, one rushes too fast. Hurried decisions to make deadlines can also hurt an organization.
Jeff Bezos has often noted the difference between revolving door-and shut-door decisions. If a decision can be revoked or changed without significant damage one needs less input and time. But if a decision is difficult to undo and has long-lasting or wide-ranging impact, then one must need to be more circumspect and speedier in decision making.
It is important that before one begins to solve a problem one understands the sensitivity of the solution. How often have we procrastinated, and process-driven a decision to death or run up huge costs in “studying a problem” when just saying "yes" or "no" would have been smarter?
3. Editing the solution: The initial or first answers to a problem are not picture perfect and require three forms of editing.
Next time we solve a problem we may want to look at what makes a great photographer or photograph and think about how we frame the problem, how we determine the process of how much data, how much time and how sensitive the impact of the solution will be and then be ready to edit and hone the solution to maximize the impact.
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