4 proven problem-solving strategies

Nick Wendowski owns Stone's Beer & Beverage in Philadelphia, and in that capacity he's of course run into problems. He's not special in that regard.

Where he's special is how he approaches solving problems. In our interview he covered 4 approaches he uses to make sure he goes about problem solving the smart way.

Below you'll find a summary of the strategies, but click to the blog post for more detail, examples, and the video interview clip.

Strategy 1: Use data—not anecdotal evidence—to drive decision making.

Make space and set up systems for you and/or your staff to rely on data.

Strategy 2: Pump the brakes to mitigate risk of waste.

It almost never makes sense to act rashly. Instead, wait until you have good decision making data.

Strategy 3: The problem you hear about might not be your root problem.

Keep asking questions to make sure you get to the root of the problem.

Strategy 4: Once you've identified a problem, talk to your people about it and how to solve it.

Don't go it alone. Your team is often dealing with the problems, so their perspectives will almost certainly help you solve them.

Check out the blog post for more detail, examples, and the video interview clip:

Why?

Because it helps customers order faster, which can mean better beer sales for you and a better experience for them.

Beer drinkers generally know what kind of beer they want when they walk through the door.

For example, summertime me is looking for something hoppy. There's no world where I'll get a sour, stout, or amber. But, of course, some folks avoid IPAs at all costs.

If I see a section called "Hoppy" on the menu, I go there straightaway: "awesome, no need to scan the whole menu." For those IPA haters, if they see that "Hoppy" section, they can just skip on by: "ok, great, I'll just go find the section I'm looking for."

In each case, sorting the beer by style makes it easier for customers to find the beer they want. And that's a great thing for them and for your beer sales.

How?

You can do this manually. How you'd implement it depends on what works for your team, but it could look like this:

• Create an editable menu doc in Google Docs, Word, Powerpoint, or whatever and give everyone who needs it editing access.
• Make the beer style menu sections you need: Hoppy, Crisp & Bright, Toasted & Nutty, Dark & Roasted, Fruity & Spicy, Tart & Funky.
• Copy and paste your beer (and the beer info!) into the relevant category.
• Anytime your beer selection changes, delete the beer that's gone, then add new beers to the relevant category.

It certainly takes some time, but doing this would definitely be worth it.

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