Darcy Wilborn: Problem Solving Like an Entrepreneur

Introductions

Defining the Problem

Selecting the Problem

Solving the Problem

Introductions

 Who is leading a nonprofit currently (including staff)?

 Who is currently serving on a nonprofit Board of Directors?

 Who is working for a for-profit organization (consultant, ancillary services, board member, etc)?

 Who is a volunteer?

About i2E

 501(c)(3) to help innovators & entrepreneurs build, launch, and grow scalable, techbased companies.

 Founded when Oklahoma legislature created the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center in late 1990s

 Assist startups by providing guidance, helping them secure funding, and making thoughtful investments.

2. Student Entrepreneurs

3. Corporate Innovation

4. Investment Returns through Plains Ventures

About me…

 Vice President of Operations at i2E, Inc.

 Consulted with 250+ startup companies through 6-week E3 Bootcamp since 2015

 Prior job: New Product Development Engineer at L'Oréal Cosmetics

 B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and double major in Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis

 MBA from The University of Oklahoma Gene Rainbolt Graduate School of Business

What is a “solution-based culture”?

Is a Solution-Based Culture good?

Pros

 Sorts out the “doers” from the “complainers”.

 Empowers teams to solve and implement their own solutions without permission or guidance from management.

 Spurs individuals to seek resources and take action without slowing down decision-making with bureaucracy.

Cons

 Teams or individuals only ask questions they can answer.

 Important problems are buried or covered with a band-aid

 Challenges can be hidden from leaders until they become a three-headed monster that could have been solved earlier.

What do for-profit companies do when problems snowball?

What do nonprofit organizations do when problems snowball?

Suffer?

What do entrepreneurs do when they find problems?

Innovate!

Case study: Cost of “solution-based” culture

 Most nonprofits are short of funds and people

 If a nonprofit brings in a consultant, it needs to be a good use of time and funds.

So how do we keep staff empowered and solution-oriented but help them disclose problems they cannot solve alone?

Compassion and an Open Mind

 Approach problem-disclosure not as personal or team-failure, but as an opportunity to get others involved

 Decide as a team which problems are worth solving

 Make room for mistakes, failure, bad brainstorming

 You must decide when there is time & budget for experimentation and failure, and when the status quo must be maintained

Case Study

Balancing “problem identification” with discussing problems all-the-dang-time

Steps to collecting problems

 Individual, as a team, etc

 Quarterly brain dumps on note cards

 Weekly or monthly individual check-in

Words of Caution

 You don’t want to create a culture of “complainers”, so there needs to be balance

 Create a structure upfront and communicate to staff and volunteers:

 What is the medium in your organization to collect problems, challenges, suggestions for change?

 How will you review these challenges once a month or once a quarter?

 What is the decision tree to decide what problems to solve?

Thanks, Darcy

I have 500 identified problems –now what?

Selecting a problem to solve

Once a month or quarter, sort your organization’s problems/challenges/opportunities

 What is easy, medium, or hard to solve?

 What is expensive or inexpensive to solve?

 If you are visual learner, make a priority grid

2x2 Priority Grid

Some solutions are not easy nor obvious

 Select one problem per quarter that will take more research or testing to solve

 Assign 2-3 staff to manage the “problem solving project” and starting researching and interviewing outside resources who may have insight.

 Treat problem solving like a scientist – develop a “best guess” and test it!

I thought this day was about Innovation

–

where is the AI?

I’m so glad you asked!

 Case study: Implementing AI tools in a highly confidential organization

Final thoughts

 Entrepreneurs treat existing problems as opportunities to innovate

 Problem-solving is a well-known science of testing hypotheses

 Bringing organizational issues and challenges to the forefront usually takes a culture shift and leadership with ego strength.

 In this post-pandemic, AI world, we should be asking questions even when we do not know the answer. The only path is through.