Be the CEO of your own job - Bring Me Solutions, Not Problems

One of the most practical pieces of early career advice - “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.” The message is very clear. I hired you because you’re smart. As your manager I’m happy to help you any time you need. But I have my own shit to deal with – believe me. You think you have problems? Imagine having 10 people reporting to you all bringing you problems as well as our client and my senior partners. I don’t have the time or inclination to figure out your problems for you.

When you bring the solution / problem to others it should be info like -

• Problem - you do need to state what the problem is up front (but make it clear that you have ideas on how to solve it) before asking people to approve something. Try to be specific on the problem. Don’t make it too wide. It needs to be actionable. Having quantification in the problem definition always helps.
  
• Diagnosis of why you believe the problem exists.
• Options (3-4 in total) & Suggest Solution of what you think the right answer is including time, cost to implement and other asks - you need to tell somebody your preferred answer. don’t make them guess.

ref:

http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/08/14/bring-people-solutions-not-problems/

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/you-are-the-ceo-of-your-life/

http://www.cracked.com/blog/how-to-control-your-dreams/

http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Kanabe/CEO_of_Your_Life.shtml