Problem-Solving Skills Development

84% of students procrastinate. Not because they’re lazy because something deeper’s off (and fixable). A 2024 study of 290 med students found two big predictors: -Low academic self-efficacy -Poor emotion regulation Self-efficacy = your belief that you can succeed. When belief drops, procrastination spikes. Doubt → delay. Emotion regulation = managing tough feelings. Struggles with impulse control, self-awareness, or mood clarity →much higher odds of putting work off. The correlations were strong: -Self-efficacy vs. procrastination: r = −0.65 -Emotion dysregulation vs. procrastination: r = +0.70 Translation Confidence fights procrastination. Emotional chaos fuels it. Both off? You’re toast. Common emotional blockers -Low emotional clarity -Fear of failure -Mood-based avoidance -Impulse-driven distractions What actually helps Beating procrastination ≠ better to-do lists. It means: -Training emotion regulation (label feelings, reset, refocus) -Rebuilding self-efficacy (small wins, specific goals, feedback) One actionable idea Teach emotion regulation like a skill, not a byproduct of maturity Brief, recurring practice in classrooms and advising. Procrastination is often emotion management in disguise. What mindset shift or tiny habit will you try this week?

McKinsey taught me that brilliant people fail when they answer the wrong question. Don’t just answer questions. Frame them. Because a brilliant answer to the wrong question is still wrong. Ask, “How do we make customer support more efficient?” and everyone races to cut headcount or automate. You might save dollars and bleed trust. Try this instead: “What service approach builds loyalty while balancing cost?” Now you are designing for humans, not just a spreadsheet. How you frame a question shapes what you notice, what you measure and what you ship. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky called this the framing effect. It’s one of the most underrated leadership skills. I learnt the value of spending time on framing the question in my 10 years at McKinsey. At first it felt forced. But projects where we invested serious time up front to define the question led to sharper insights, faster decisions and happier teams & clients. When we didn’t take the time, chaos reigned. Put it into practice this week: 1. Question the question. ↳ What assumptions are baked in? What if you flipped it on its head? 2. Start at the finish line. ↳ Define outcome or experience you want, then trace back the decisions and actions that create it. 3. Make space for the devil’s advocate. ↳ Assign someone to challenge whether you’re even solving the right problem. If you work with data or roll out new tech, your analysis is already shaping outcomes. Make sure you’re shaping the right ones. Have you ever felt like you’ve missed the mark on the question you’re answering? What's one question your team has been wrestling with that might need a reframe? ♻️ Repost to help someone get their question right. 🔔 Follow Clare Kitching for insights on unlocking value with data & AI.

One of the most common questions in Data Analyst interviews is: "Tell me about an analytics project you've worked on recently." Many candidates stumble here— not because their projects aren't good — but because they lack clarity and structure while explaining. Here’s a simple and effective structure you can use—it's called the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result): 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭): Start by clearly describing the problem your project addresses. Example: "The company I worked with faced a major issue—customer churn increased significantly (about 20%) in just 6 months, directly impacting revenue." Highlight the Impact: Clearly discuss why solving this problem was crucial for the business. Example: "Due to this churn, monthly revenue dropped by nearly 15%, and customer acquisition costs increased." 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤 (𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 & 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲): Briefly explain what your specific role was in this project. Example: "My responsibility was to analyze customer behavior, identify churn patterns, and suggest actionable insights to reduce churn." 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡): Here’s where you showcase your analytical thinking and technical skills clearly: Explain your data collection methods and sources (SQL queries, surveys, databases). Briefly describe data cleaning and preparation (Excel, Python-Pandas, SQL). Mention clearly your analytical techniques (Segmentation, Cohort analysis, statistical tests, ML algorithms). Highlight tools used for visualization (Power BI, Tableau). Example: "I extracted and cleaned historical customer data using SQL & Python (Pandas). Then, I conducted cohort analysis and customer segmentation to identify patterns in churn behavior. Finally, I built a detailed interactive dashboard in Power BI to present my findings." 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 (𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞): Conclude your explanation by highlighting measurable outcomes: Clearly explain business impact. Share measurable metrics (percentage improvements, revenue increase/decrease, cost savings). Example: "By applying recommendations from my analysis, the churn rate decreased by about 12% over three months, directly saving approximately ₹30 lakhs in revenue. The insights also led to improved customer retention strategies." 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 (𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥): A quick sentence on key learnings or challenges makes your explanation genuine and engaging. Example: "This project taught me the importance of aligning analytics solutions with real business goals, rather than just technical outputs." Remember, your interviewer is not only evaluating your technical skills—they're also assessing your problem-solving capabilities, clarity in communication, and understanding of the business context. Share your own experiences and tips in the comments! Let's learn and grow together. Follow Shakra Shamim for more such posts !!

Personally, I suck at efficiency (doing things quickly). Here’s my coping mechanism and process for maximizing efficacy (doing the right things): 1) Wake up at least 1 hour before you have to be at a computer screen. E-mail is the mind killer. 2) Make a cup of tea (I like pu-erh) and sit down with a pen/pencil and paper. 3) Write down the 3-5 things—and no more—that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable. They’re often things that have been punted from one day’s to-do list to the next, to the next, to the next, and so on. Most important usually = most uncomfortable, with some chance of rejection or conflict. 4) For each item, ask yourself: – “If this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?” – “Will moving this forward make all the other to-do’s unimportant or easier to knock off later?” 5) Look only at the items you’ve answered “yes” to for at least one of these questions. 6) Block out at least 2-3 hours to focus on ONE of them for today. Let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. It will still be there tomorrow. 7) TO BE CLEAR: Block out at least 2-3 HOURS to focus on ONE of them for today. This is ONE BLOCK OF TIME. Cobbling together 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not work. 8) If you get distracted or start procrastinating, don’t freak out and downward spiral; just gently come back to your ONE to-do. Congratulations! That’s it. This is the only way I can create big outcomes despite my never-ending impulse to procrastinate, nap, and otherwise fritter away my days with bullshit. If I have 10 important things to do in a day, it’s 100% certain nothing important will get done that day. On the other hand, I can usually handle 1 must-do item and block out my lesser behaviors for 2-3 hours a day.

Want to know the most underrated skill in HR? Pattern recognition Not policy Not process Not performance management It’s knowing how to read the signs Before they show up on a dashboard The subtle shift in someone’s tone The calendar that starts filling up with back-to-back 1:1s The team that goes from collaborative to cautious Pattern recognition is how you catch what data doesn’t say yet It’s how you stop issues from scaling It’s how you protect momentum Great HR leaders don’t chase symptoms They notice shifts They connect dots They act early Because by the time the problem is obvious It’s already expensive If you want to level up your HR team Don’t just teach them policy Teach them how to see :) #PatternRecognition #HRWithRange #EarlySignals #PeopleAndCulture #StrategicHR #PreventDontPatch

My favorite problem-solving tool is a way to find the most critical question to solve for in any decision. That’s the idea behind eigenquestions, a concept that Matt Hudson and I developed over years of working together, and it's one of the frameworks I rely on most for getting teams through hard decisions. I borrowed the concept from linear algebra because of my love for math, but there’s no math involved. An eigenquestion is simply the question where, if answered, it also answers the subsequent, related questions. When your team has a list of open decisions, the instinct is to start with whatever feels most urgent or most contentious. Eigenquestions says to do something different: look at your full list and ask which question, if answered first, would make the rest of the list dramatically shorter. Start there! At YouTube, we had a long list of tough product decisions that kept going in circles. Should we link users off-site for content we didn't have? Should we allow third-party video players? Should we let creators opt content out of certain devices? Each one generated heated debate on its own. But when we reframed around a single question (will the video market reward consistency or comprehensiveness?), we reached a clear answer, and every one of those downstream decisions became simple. That's the power of a good eigenquestion. Great framing starts by searching for the most discriminating question of a set, so that one answer cascades into many. A few ways to get better at finding eigenquestions: 1️⃣ Start with low-stakes situations. We're all born with the ability to simplify problems down to what matters, and we tend to lose it over time. Kids are still great at it. Give them a hard problem and they'll quickly zero in on the right question. Working through smaller problems is a great way to rebuild that skill. 2️⃣ Framing problems doesn’t need to be solitary. Great eigenquestions can come from anywhere, and involving your team helps them buy into the decision because they understand the framing. 3️⃣ Train yourself with questions as you encounter them. For example: you'd like to shift your company's communication patterns from being primarily "sync" to primarily "async," what do you do? Make a list of questions and considerations, then rank them. Which ones, if answered first, would provide answers for most of the others? Truly, eigenquestions show up everywhere. You can take almost anything and say, what is the question that really drives the answer? If you want to go deeper, here’s our guide on eigenquestions and the broader skill of framing problems here: https://lnkd.in/gwndrND

Diverse teams are powerful, but only if they’re designed to be. Just putting different people together isn’t enough. What I’ve learned over 11+ years is that true  🧠 Collective Intelligence only emerges when diversity is intentionally activated. 🖌 My Blueprint to unlock it: 🔹 Cognitive diversity It’s about bringing different thinking styles. Teams that embrace divergent ways of solving problems uncover creative solutions that others miss. 🔹 Demographic Diversity The presence of different intersectional identities and lived experiences creates a richer understanding of potential blind spots and unmet needs. 🔹 Experiential Diversity Diverse career paths and life stories equip teams with practical insights that can cut through “tried-and-true” methods that often fail in complex, changing environments. 🔹 Psychological Safety This is the game-changer. Without it, diversity backfires. High-performing teams create a “safe container” where everyone—from the quiet thinkers to the bold disruptors—can voice their ideas without fear. 🔹 Inclusive Decision-Making Diversity is wasted if decisions are still made by the loudest voice in the room. Structured inclusion ensures that varied perspectives aren’t just heard but drive the direction forward. The result? 1️⃣ Faster, smarter decisions: diverse insights reduce blind spots and increase confidence in strategic choices, helping leaders respond swiftly to market changes. 2️⃣ Increased innovation and agility: aligned teams leverage diverse perspectives to solve complex problems creatively and adapt to new challenges with resilience. 3️⃣ Stronger engagement and retention: when teams feel psychologically safe and included, they’re more committed and motivated. This translates to lower turnover and higher morale. The path to unlocking your team’s full potential starts with aligning on the right elements—diversity, psychological safety, and inclusion in decisions. 🤔 P.S. Where is your team on the path to collective intelligence—and what’s your next step?

Creative problem solving is one of the most valuable abilities anyone can develop in a rapidly changing world. It is the skill of looking beyond obvious answers, questioning limitations, and finding possibilities where others only see obstacles. While many people stop when they encounter difficulties, creative thinkers learn to adapt, experiment, and reimagine the situation from entirely new perspectives. They understand that every challenge carries hidden opportunities waiting to be discovered. Some of the greatest innovations, businesses, scientific breakthroughs, and life-changing ideas were born not from perfect conditions, but from moments of uncertainty where someone refused to accept “impossible” as the final answer. Creative problem solving is not reserved for artists, inventors, or entrepreneurs alone—it is a mindset that empowers individuals in every field to think independently, connect ideas in unusual ways, and transform setbacks into progress. It requires curiosity, resilience, observation, courage, and the willingness to fail repeatedly while searching for better solutions. Often, the difference between people who remain stuck and those who create impact is not intelligence alone, but the ability to approach problems with imagination and persistence. In a world filled with constant disruption, automation, and competition, the people who will continue to thrive are not necessarily those who memorize the most information, but those who can think differently when faced with complexity. Creative problem solvers do not wait for perfect answers—they build them. They do not fear change—they learn how to navigate it. Every challenge becomes an invitation to innovate, improve, and grow stronger. The future belongs to those who can combine logic with imagination and transform ordinary thinking into extraordinary solutions.

IN the workplace ... great minds DO NOT ALWAYS think alike ... The ghost of unanimous, fierce head-nodding around the meeting table can haunt a workplace, often masking a deeper, silent turmoil that lies beneath the surface of agreement. This scenario is often reinforced by those around the table paying tribute to their effective decision-making capabilities by declaring that “great minds think alike”. The problem in the modern workplace is that the reverse is more likely to be true: great minds don't think alike. And when we begin to appreciate varying views as high-performing investments rather than taxes, they transform into valuable assets that enrich decision-making and encourage growth. The power of diverse thinking lies in the range of perspectives that come into play when approaching issues, challenges, problems and opportunities. Diverse thinking challenges conventional solutions, pushes the boundaries of what is possible and leads to breakthroughs that homogenous thinking might never achieve. This type of thinking also provides a platform for robust debate and challenge. Such an environment is not just about tolerating disagreements but actively fostering them. And with adaptability crucial in today’s rapidly evolving world, diverse thinking prepares organisations to respond more effectively to change. Teams equipped with varied thinking styles, experiences and ideas can navigate unexpected challenges more flexibly and creatively, maintaining a competitive edge in a dynamic market. Embracing diverse viewpoints also allows for a more comprehensive understanding of issues to better navigate the complex challenges that today’s organisations face. Perhaps most important, embracing differing views guards against the danger of group think, where the desire for harmony leads to poor decision-making. While there is little doubt about the importance of diverse thinking, the question is how to break the cycle of being in “violent agreement”. One suggestion is that individuals should argue like they are right but listen like they are wrong. The phrase emphasises a dual approach to communication: confidently presenting one’s own ideas while remaining open to the possibility that they might be mistaken. Engaging in constructive disagreement is not always easy or comfortable. It might lead to tension and occasionally bruised emotions. The value that diverse thinking brings is in the quality of outcomes it produces. The modern workplace must embrace the premise that great minds do not think alike, fostering a culture where diverse thinking is not only accepted but seen as essential to success. #diversity #management #leadership #aimwa #innovation #humanresoruces #AIMWA Cartoon Used Under Licence: CartoonStock

You don't have to be in a formal leadership position to influence change and improvement. Influence comes from building a shared purpose and anyone can do this! Let's say you’ve spotted a way to make things better, faster, or smoother at work. You know this change could really help, but when you bring it up, the team pushes back or doesn’t seem interested. ⚠️ It’s easy to get frustrated or try harder to win people over. But pushing hard usually backfires. ❗ So instead, shift your focus to shared purpose and cooperation. 👉Let’s take a common example: the weekly team meeting. 👉The problem: you see issues with meetings- they run over, lack focus, and don’t result in clear outcomes. Here's a suggested response to influence improvement... 1️⃣ Ask Questions That Spark Reflection Get your team to reflect on the current meeting process by asking: ❓ “How do you feel about our weekly meetings — are they a good use of our time?” ❓ “What parts of our meetings feel most productive, and what parts feel like a time drain?” ❓ “Do we always leave meetings knowing who’s doing what?” (This will get people thinking...) 2️⃣ Highlight shared goals. Link your idea to something the whole team values: ❓ “I know we all want to have more time for focused work. What if we could cut our meeting time in half and still get everything done?” (Now, the focus isn’t on your idea — it’s on solving a shared problem) 3️⃣ Invite Ideas and Feedback Rather than presenting a fixed solution, co-create it: ❓ "I've made a suggestion but that's just one option- what ideas do you have?” (When the team helps shape the solution, they’re more invested in making it work) 4️⃣ Start Small and Test Together Propose trying a small, low-risk change, taking into account all suggestions: ❓ “How about next week, we try a 30-minute meeting with a strict agenda and clear action points documented? We can see how it feels, adjust if needed, and then try out other ideas?" (Small tests reduce the fear of change and show that you value collaboration) 5️⃣ Celebrate Progress as a Team If the new approach works, recognize the team effort: ❗ “Our meeting was only 30 minutes, and we still got through everything! ❗ “It’s great to see us using our time more effectively. Let’s keep this going.” You could apply these 5 steps to influencing any kind of change or improvement....oh and don't forget to be prepared, use data and work on those communication skills! What do you think? Could you try this to help build your #influence skills? Do you have any tips from your own experience? Leave your comments below 🙏