AN ENGINEER'S GUIDE TO

UNCONVENTIONAL
PROBLEM SOLVING
A 5-STEP GUIDE TO PROBLEM
SOLVING AND HOW TO SUCCEED AT
IT.

BLAINE LAFLEUR P.E.

STONEWALL
A PUBLI CATI ON OF
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Understand the “Real” Problem

Chapter 2: Educate Yourself

Chapter 3: Obviate the Noise

Chapter 4: Fail Fast

Chapter 5: Don’t Be So Scared

 CHAPTER ONE

Understand the
“Real” Problem
 Ask the right questions!
“If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes
defining the problem and one minute resolving it,” -Albert Einstein

What does your problem solving process look like? Need a head start? See a
beginner’s guide below.

The Problem-Definition Process

1. Establish the Need for a Solution
What is the basic need?
What is the desired outcome?
Who stands to benefit and why?

2. Justify the need

Is the effort aligned with our strategy?
What are the desired benefits for the company, and how will we measure them?
How will we ensure that a solution is implemented?

3. Contextualize the problem

What approaches have we tried?
What have others tried?
What are the internal and external constraints on implementing a solution?

4. Write the problem statement

Is the problem actually many problems?
What requirements must a solution meet?
Which problem solvers should we engage?
What information and language should the problem statement include?
What do solvers need to submit?
What incentives do solvers need?
How will solutions be evaluated and success measured?
''
Stonewall teamed up with partners at Rossi Oilfield Services to put
our problem solving process to work. Together, we designed and
manufactured a new line of downhole tools. (See next page for more
information.)

Most people prefer a problem

they can’t solve to a solution
they don’t like
Dr. Lee Thayer“
 Want real-world examples?

Click the links below to see how StoneWall supported two of

it’s customers in designing new downhole tools.

ROSSI MAGZILLA

DISSOLVABLE FRAC PLUG
CHAPTER TWO

educate
yourself
You can't possibly be fully competent in
all aspects of the process
Knowing about is not the same thing is knowing how!

What is Competency?

1. Competencies are bundles of habits.

Whatever we are capable of doing depends upon bundles of habits over which we have no
immediate control. For a person to do something differently, or better, requires fundamental
changes in fundamental habits, not one of which can be dealt with tangibly. The path of
practice by which these habits got ingrained is something we will never know –too complex,
too subtle, too out of conscious intention or control. They have to be changed in the same
way we got them in the first place –by practice, practice, practice.

2. Competency is true empowerment.

“The issue is not empowering people. It is helping and making it necessary for them, to
become competent. It is competence that is empowering, not a management technique.” –
Dr. Lee Thayer

How do you become Competent?

1. Start creating the habits that make a difference
We are led by our habits –of feeling, of thinking, of perceiving, and of understanding. Get
those right, and everything beyond becomes possible. Get those wrong, and the outcomes
will always be something you didn’t choose.

2. Empower yourself
A person who believes that winning a gold medal at the Olympics is his chosen destiny and
who is dedicated to doing whatever it takes to get there, is empowered. A person who is
simply told she can be “anything she wants to be” is not. Getting on the path to real
achievement personally requires ownership of the problems of one’s destiny –and thus
everything that happens between here and there.
Need a place to start?
Here's a good place!
CHAPTER THREE

Obviate the
Noise
 As engineers, we have a tendency to distract
ourselves with useless calculations, or problems,
that don't matter.
What constitutes a problem for one person may not even be seen
by another.

What is a problem?

A problem is some sort of discrepancy between the way things are

and the way we believe things ought to be. The first thing that
leaders learn about problems, and learn to the bone, is that a
problem is something that is had only by people. The perception of
the problem, the name given to it, and the solutions applied are
primarily functions of the minds involved. They are
interpretations constructed by those minds. They are not reality.
 How do you obviate perceived problems?

1.Choose the problems you want to have.

The leader, knowing that problems are inevitable, attempts to create
the circumstances out of which will emerge the problems he or she
prefers to have. Ask yourself, "What problems am I choosing with the
solution I am proposing?"

2.Own your own problems and make it necessary for others

to do the same.
Don’t ask, “What is the problem?” Ask rather, “What is whose
problem?” (Problems always arrive at your door on two feet.)

3.Forget what you “know”.

Many people mistake a solution method for a problem definition. That
is they define the problem by a known method of solution. What
constitutes a problem for one person may not even be seen by
another.
In order to identify the right problem you must start with
communication. You can achieve this through harnessing the
understanding of both personality and character. This
understanding enhances problem solving, which elevates
performance and effectiveness.

At STONEWALL we use a tool called EQUILIBRIA to discover

our E-Colors. This helps us identify our different personalities
and better communicate with our customers.
 Want to know more?

Do you want to have better team communication? Click the

link below to get started!

LEARN MORE
CHAPTER FOUR

Fail Fast
 Why do we always start with the solution? Why
wouldn’t we attempt failure first?
When did we decide failure was a bad thing?

Lessons Learned from Failure

How can you apply these concepts to problem solving?

Lesson#1: Experience
The first important lesson gained from failure is experience. What
happens when we fail? When we go through something and can walk
away with firsthand experience, it helps us to develop a deeper
understanding for life. The experience of failing at something is truly
invaluable. It completely alters our frame-of-mind through the
induction of pain. It makes us reflect on the real nature of things and
their importance in our lives, transforming and improving our future-
selves.

Lesson#2: Knowledge
Failure brings with it important firsthand knowledge. That knowledge
can be harnessed in the future to overcome that very failure that
inflicted so much pain in the first place. Nothing can replace the
knowledge gained from failure. When Thomas Edison famously failed
nearly 10,000 times to create a commercially viable electric lightbulb,
with each failure, he gained the knowledge of just one more avenue that
didn’t work. It was the accumulated knowledge developed from nearly
10,000 failed attempts that ultimately led to his success.
Lesson #3:Resilience
Failing in life helps to build resilience. The more we fail, the more resilient we
become. In order to achieve great success, we must know resilience. Because,
if we think that we’re going to succeed on the first try, or even the first few
tries, then we’re sure to set ourselves up for a far more painful failure.The
characteristic of resilience can help us in so many ways in life. Resilience helps
to breed success by setting the game up to win. Gone are the lofty
expectations that things will happen overnight, and in comes the expectations
that true success will take an enormous amount of work and effort.

Lesson #4:Growth
When we fail, we grow and mature as human beings. We reach deeper
meanings and understandings about our lives and why we’re doing the things
that we’re doing. This helps us to reflect and take things into perspective,
developing meaning from painful situations. Life is designed for us to grow
and improve. From the very genetic fibers that make us into who we are as
individual persons, into the fabric of society on a global scale, growth is a
fundamental part of us. Without growth, we couldn’t improve life on every
front.

Lesson #5:Value
One of the biggest lessons that we can learn from life’s failures is the
necessity to create and spread an exceedingly high amount of value. In fact,
value lies at the heart of success and a lack of value is a fundamental pillar to
failure. In thinking about your past failures, think about how much value you
brought to the table. Could you have offered more value? Would that have
prevented failure? When you learn to create immense value, and do so
consistently, you will eventually succeed.
 How to Fail Fast

1.Try to kill the idea first

We all believe that our idea is the next multimillion dollar idea. We can all
convince ourselves, and others, of how great it is. BUT, how many of us would be
better off if we did the opposite? If your idea/solution is a survivor of your death
plan, then let that be the idea you stick with!

2.Lower the costs of testing.

Running tests need not be expensive. There are tons of low cost ways to test
critical assumptions. Get out of your comfort zone!

3.Change the order of experiments.

Many companies spend a lot of money answering the wrong questions. They’ll
seek to perfect a technology without understanding whether there’s a market
need. Assess strategic risks first, because they are often what sink an idea.

4.Increase the pace of decision making.

Entrepreneurs with clearly bad ideas typically don’t have the luxury of spending
money on those ideas for too long. Companies, however, can let bad ideas linger
for inordinate amounts of time because of slow decision-making processes.
Shutting down flawed projects early avoids needless spending —and focuses
resources on the best ideas.

5.Be willing to let go of your baby and accept the learning.

We all put a lot of time and effort into our ideas and dreams. Maybe the
idea/dream was meant for your learning so you could be great at the next one.
Accepting this can save you a lot of heartache and money.
 CHAPTER FIVE

Don't be so
scared
 Get out of your comfort zone!
Being in your comfort zone eliminates the need for thinking.

What is a comfort zone?

We all have one, especially risk adverse engineers. It refers to certain habitual,
comfortable, familiar ways of thinking, feeling, seeing, acting and reacting.

Why is an obstacle?
Well, if your comfort zone is going to provide the infrastructure for real
achievement, no problem. But not even superior athletes imagine they can
compete unless they suffer the pain of staying in condition or competition. If
your competitor is better prepared, in better shape, more competent, and
better informed than you are, it may be that your enemy is not your
competitor, but your own comfort zone is.

Thought Prodders
Whether or not you have what it takes to lead yourself depends upon how
dissatisfied you are with yourself. Are you dissatisfied with your comfort
zone?
If you crave or pursue comfort, you are on the wrong path.
The more maintenance you require from others, the less likely it is that you
can become an achiever.
The reason why most people can’t think out of the box is that their box is
their comfort zone. Being in your comfort zone eliminates the need for
thinking.
 Want to know more about
Stonewall?

Click the link below check out who we are and what we do!

WATCH OUR VIDEO