Problem-Solving Mentoring

Something that sounds stupidly simple, but often doesn’t come naturally to founders: One of the biggest gifts you can give someone is to make them feel capable of handling things themselves. What you’ll think this means is showing them all manner of ways they could solve it. Jumping into problem solving right away. This might help - it often does. But it can also wait. There’s something way more important to do first. What is actually needed first is an extreme form of listening that can take a lot of practice to get right. Ask an open ended question and shut up, maintain eye contact, make encouraging noises and do not interrupt. Ask if there’s more. Repeat. You’ll create space for them to creatively think about their own problem. It’s about them. Not you. Let go of your need to be helpful by making comments or suggestions. Be the coach, not the hero. If you start by solving, people feel judged and bombarded rather than soothed or understood. You can move into solve mode later don’t worry. This will leave them feeling greater autonomy and competence, and encourages them to naturally stay in discovery mode. Once you’ve spent some time in this place, more than you think you want to, THEN you can ask what they want to do, and then there may or may not be a natural place to great creative with them about possible approaches. They’ll feel supported, and most times solve their own problem right there, with you taking the role of a mirror that shows them their own resourcefulness. Over time this compounds into highly effective, self reliant humans, capable of interrogating their own challenges more creatively. Jumping into solve mode straight away is only investing in you continuously being the source of good ideas, which neither scales nor is it probably right (founder mode aside, your people will collectively have more better ideas than you will.) Life as a founder is more fun when our colleagues are in good form and feel powerfully capable.

Day 8/30 of the Idea to Revenue Mentorship: Something magical happened today. I stopped talking. The group started solving each other's problems. One participant was stuck on their product format. Before I could jump in, three others shared what worked for them. Problem solved in 10 minutes. It made me realise: The best mentorship isn't mentor-to-student. It's student-to-student with a guide on the side. Three powerful shifts emerged: 1. PEER FEEDBACK HITS DIFFERENT When I critique, they listen politely. When a peer who just solved the same problem shares? They take notes furiously. 2. COLLECTIVE WISDOM > INDIVIDUAL EXPERTISE 100 people trying 100 approaches beats one mentor's playbook every time. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY COMPOUNDS Disappointing your peers who are grinding alongside you? That's harder than disappointing a mentor. This is why accelerators work. Why building in public beats building in private. You don't just need a mentor. You need mirrors — people on the same journey. Question: Who are you building alongside? If the answer is "no one" — that might be your biggest bottleneck. Day 8 complete. 22 days to revenue. P.S. The participants helping others the most? They're moving the fastest. Teaching forces clarity.

An executive client confessed last month: "I'm drowning. My team brings me issues, I offer to help, and suddenly I'm working weekends on their deliverables." Sound familiar? Here's what's actually happening: Every time someone brings you a problem and you say "Send it to me" or "Let me think about it," you've just adopted their responsibility. My client was carrying 23 problems that belonged to other people. TWENTY-THREE. No wonder she had no time for strategy. She was too busy solving everyone else's problems. We tried an experiment. For one week, she could only respond to problems with: "What have you tried so far?" "What options are you considering?" "What do you recommend?" "What's your next step?" "When will you update me?" Week one was brutal. Her team stood frozen, waiting for her to solve things like always. Week two? They started bringing solutions, not just problems. By week three, she'd reclaimed 15 hours. Her team was making decisions. Real ones. The shift: 🎯 Each problem stays with its owner 💡 Next move is theirs, not yours ✨ You coach the approach, not do the work 🌱 Schedule your check-ins (minimize those swoops!) Your team doesn't need you to solve their problems. They need you to believe that they can solve them. Which of your team's problems will you let them solve this week?

Mentoring startups in uncertain times means not having all the answers. Lately, the market is shifting so fast that many past strategies aren’t relevant anymore. Instead of giving advice based on what worked before, I’ll need to co-create solutions with founders in real time - because none of us have all the answers right now. The biggest shift for me comes down to sharpening my listening. Innosphere founders jokingly call me their “startup psychologist” because so much of what I do is listen - not just prescribe solutions. And this year, that’s more important than ever. My new mentoring strategy will require me to: 🔎Pay close attention to the challenges founders are facing collectively and ask - what’s emerging as a universal challenge? 📚Resist the urge to jump in with solutions too early. The right answers come from fully understanding the problem first. 🤝Work alongside founders to test strategies, not just recommend them. We’ll all need to get comfortable experimenting, learning, and adjusting as we go. Mentorship isn’t about having the perfect answer. In fact, it’s never really been about that. Good mentors are good partners, ones who figure things out with their mentees. And right now, that collaboration is more important than ever.

Good mentors frustrate you on purpose! They refuse to give you the quick answer. They respond to your problems with more questions. They make you think when you just want solutions. Most people want shortcuts. The formula. The step-by-step guide. The guaranteed playbook. I get it. Answers feel productive. Questions feel like more work. But here's what my experience has taught me: Leaders who memorise solutions fail during their first real crisis. Leaders who learn to think clearly navigate problems they've never seen before. The difference? One group learned answers. The other group learned how to find answers. Markets shift overnight. Industries get disrupted. The strategy that worked last year becomes irrelevant next quarter. But you know what never expires, the ability to ask the right questions, to dig deeper and to challenge your own assumptions. I've experienced both sides of this. And I think giving someone an answer might solve one problem. But teaching them to ask better questions can solve hundreds. Good mentorship feels harder at the moment. You leave conversations with more questions than answers. More work to do, not less. But you walk away with something better than a solution. You walk away with confidence in your ability to find solutions. And the best mentors resist the urge to just hand over answers. They know that creating independent thinkers beats creating dependent followers every time. Because when you can ask better questions, you can handle whatever the market throws at you. When you can only follow answers, you're stuck when the rules change. . . If you're looking to sharpen your thinking or work through a challenge, feel free to reach out. Happy to help you find the right questions. . #mentorship #leadership

How do you teach someone problem-solving skills? The first step is not giving them a problem to solve… it’s asking them to go find a problem! Recent OECD studies indicate that problem-solving skills, (particularly among adults!!) are not meeting the demands of today's rapidly evolving world. Leaders and manager are in prime position to change this in 2025!! 🧠 Problem-solving starts with the right mindset. Encourage a growth mindset where challenges are seen as opportunities to learn and improve. 🤔 And then it’s about cultivating curiosity- asking why they think something is happening, not just what is happening. Help them explore it from every angle (systems perspective): what’s really going on, who’s affected, and what makes it a problem in the first place. ⏸️ Stress the value of fully understanding the problem before jumping into solutions. A well-defined problem is half-solved. ❔ Focus on asking great questions...like "Who is affected by this problem, and how do they experience it?" and "What have we tried before, and why didn’t it work?" 📉 A lot of the time, gaps in problem solving skills are caused by lack of analytical skills...problem-solving isn’t just about finding answers; it’s about collecting and interpreting data. So, teach them to look for patterns, trends, and evidence that validate or disprove assumptions. 👂 Teach them also the importance of collaboration- help them learn how to listen actively to others’ ideas and build on them. 🧘♀️ Problem-solving can be frustrating. You may also need to help them develop emotional regulation skills to stay calm and focused. 🥼 Finally, guide them to test their solutions step-by-step, learn from what works (or doesn’t), and keep adjusting until they solve it. Problem-solving is a skill that improves with practice. Create opportunities for them to tackle real-life scenarios in safe, low-stakes environments. 👋 Don't forget to check in with the person regularly to reflect on their lessons learned and progress. Advise them that problem-solving doesn’t end when a countermeasure is implemented. There's a process to go through to monitor results, refine the approach, and find the next related problem to tackle. 🪜 And finally, I find that it's much easier to teach problem-solving with a structure or methodology that gives people a clear guide to thinking more scientifically. A clear, repeatable framework like the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle or the DMAIC (Define-Measure- Anayze-Improve-Control) are good options! What do you think? How do you teach #problemsolving skills to the people on your team? Leave your comments below 🙏

"Can you help me solve this?" How many times have you heard this from your team? If you're a leader, probably hundreds of times. I used to get frustrated when team members would dump problems on my desk without thinking them through. Then I discovered the 1-3-1 rule and it transformed how we solve challenges at our company. Here's the magic formula: 1️⃣ Problem: Define it crystal clear • A problem well-articulated is half solved • Encourage precise, thoughtful problem statements 3️⃣ Options: Generate 3 viable solutions • Forces creative thinking • Demonstrates proactive problem-solving • Shows the team isn't just waiting for a rescue 1️⃣ Recommendation: Their proposed solution • 90% of the time, this is what leaders want to hear • Shows they’ve done the mental heavy lifting By implementing this: We're pushing decision-making to the frontline. The people experiencing the problem have the most information to solve it. It helps build a culture of: • Critical thinking • Ownership • Empowerment • Strategic problem-solving Pro tip: Teach this framework to your entire team. Watch how it transforms your organizational problem-solving approach. Have you tried something similar? 

While it might seem intuitive to solve problems for your team, empowering them to find their own solutions often leads to better outcomes. We encouraged participants in our physician leadership programs to 'tame the advice monster' using concepts from 'The Advice Trap' by Michael Bungay. Instead of offering answers, we urge leaders to ask questions like, 'What do you think is the best course of action?' This approach helps team members to think critically and develop their problem-solving skills. Adopting this coaching mindset strengthens your team and creates a culture of innovation and sustainability. #leadership #coaching #physician #healthcare #leadershipdevelopment

You might be too good at helping. There’s a reason juniors love coming to you: You solve their problems in minutes, while they’d spend hours struggling. But here’s the catch: If you always jump in and do it for them, you’re not helping them grow. Instead, you’re building a culture of dependency -- even if it feels like you're helping. The next time someone asks for help, pause before you dive in. Try asking: - "What’s confusing you most?" - "What’s your hypothesis here?" By flipping the script, you’re helping them become better problem solvers—and buying yourself some time to focus on your own work. How do you balance being a mentor without becoming a crutch? ---- 📨 Sign up for my email newsletter! 🗣️ Share with your network!