Chapter 2 - A Path to Any Solution ('APTAS') 

Sound familiar? 

How many meetings have you attended where a problem was identified, and everyone immediately started ‘just’ brainstorming?  
  
You all think you agreed on a solution (usually the idea from the most authoritative voice).   

Then you start implementing and realize it may not work.  Or worse, you go forward with the idea, and it doesn’t work.  Costly!!!  

Why does this repeatedly happen?

Too often, we go directly to brainstorming and skip two important steps. Let’s face it: It is fun to “brainstorm.” We feel creative and agile to quickly jump to a solution, even if it is “half-baked.” 

When you attend our courses, you leave with a little yellow laminated card, a quick reminder of a structured path to arrive at solutions that truly work, are lasting, and are fully baked!  

Sample: Need: 
Call center staff need to be more than order-takers. 
Why? To increase sales and profits while remaining customer-service-oriented and focusing on what our call center staff can do. The solution should be user-friendly, and development costs must be within our budget. 
What? Something that would enable our call center staff to generate more sales per call by recommending compatible accessories. 
How? Flash pictures of accessories to recommend that could appear on the call center’s computer screens. 
Produce! Contract with a programmer to develop an addition to the current call system. Develop an incentive program for call center staff to sell accessories. 
Effect! Train call center staff: inform them of incentives. Assess! Follow up with call center on how the system works for them. 
Use!  Use the accessory upgrade to recommend added sales. See if our Intentions were met with increased sales & profits and great customer service ratings, the system is easy to use and it was developed within our budget!

APTAS (A Path to Any Solution) can also be used to resolve disagreements. If you disagree on how something should be done, back up a step to see if you can agree on what you need the solution to do. If you disagree on what, you might even need to back up another step to address why in the world we are doing this at all. Collaboratively, the best solutions will come from agreeing on why and what before how. 

The APTAS framework is scalable for problems and opportunities of any size and complexity. But it does take practice, maybe a change in mindset, and a little bit of discipline to remind yourself to think of why and what before how. The best way to get good at it is to practice APTAS at an index card level in everyday life situations, like cooking!

RICHARD COOKING WITH CLARA

A PATH TO A SOLUTION

Need: Something to do with my 1st grand-daughter, Clara
 Why: To increase my bond with Clara, teach her something useful at our house when I am alone with her, using skills I love and have that she is interested in and capable of doing at age 5.  
What: Cooking something easy to make and enjoyable for the family to eat. 
How: Follow the recipe below. Determine parts Clara is capable of doing and safe for her to do. 
Produce: Get the equipment and ingredients needed. Set up a cooking station in the kitchen. 
Effect: Do prep work and cooking, following instructions on the recipe.  Put some spaghetti with sauce on a plate and try it out.  Add some more seasoning if desired. 
Use: Eat it. Ask Clara how she liked cooking with Grandpa and if she had fun and learned something she would like to do again. < She did! It met Richard’s Intentions!> 

Recipe Essence RICHARD & CLARA’S SPECIAL TOMATO SAUCE RECIPE
Heat a fat   ● Heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat
Bloom hardy aromatics in the fat ● Add 1thinly sliced small onion, granulated garlic, or minced garlic 
 ● Heat until fragrant 1 to 2 minutes
Simmer partially cooked crushed tomatoes to thicken and blend flavors ● Add 1 can of crushed tomatoes (I like Muir Glenn Brand) 
● Simmer uncovered until thickened for about 20 minutes
Add seasonings to taste ● ​Add a small amount of salt and taste 
● Add Pepper
Top with fresh herbs or volatile seasoning ● Add fresh or dried basil 
● Top with chopped parsley

Then, Clara put the special sauce over the noodles, cooked by Momo, her grandmother!

Now, it's your turn. Try following APTAS. We promise you will never go back to “just brainstorming”!

More on APTAS is covered in our Leadership Development ‘Creative Problem Solving & Innovation’ workshops.