Practical Problem Solving: A Lesson from My Extension Screen and Mouse

This morning in the office, I ran into a small but annoying problem. I plugged my laptop into the desk dock as usual, but my extension screen didn’t light up. Without thinking twice, I called Helpdesk. They came, did the classic IT magic – switch off, switch on, unplug, replug – and just like that, the screen was back.

Crisis over. Or so I thought.

Then my mouse wouldn’t work. I figured maybe this time I could sort it out myself. I unplugged it, replugged it, moved it around – nothing. In the end, I gave up and called Helpdesk again. Their fix? Plug the mouse directly into my laptop instead of the dock. Two seconds. Problem solved.

I’ll admit, I felt a bit silly. But it also got me thinking.

We do this all the time – not just with IT, but in business. Something doesn’t work, and our first instinct is to bring in outside help. Call the experts. Hire consultants. Launch a full-scale investigation. And of course, there are times when that’s absolutely the right thing to do. Consultants can dig deeper, look wider, and bring in perspectives we can’t always see ourselves.

But just like with my mouse, sometimes the answer is much closer than we think. Sometimes the real question is: what have we already tried?

In business, I’ve often seen teams rush to bring in consultants when what they really needed first was a pause – a chance to step back, look at the problem properly, and test the simple fixes that might already be within reach. Sometimes it’s as straightforward as tweaking the way a process is run, looking again at the data we already have, or just having a candid conversation within the team. More often than not, the practical solution is sitting there waiting – it just takes some effort to explore it.

That doesn’t mean external help isn’t useful. In fact, it becomes far more powerful when you’ve already done your own groundwork. When you’ve tried the basics and can say, “Here’s what we’ve tested, here’s where we’re still stuck.” That’s when consultants can really add value – because you’re not outsourcing your thinking, you’re partnering to go deeper.

So, back to my little office moment. Yes, Helpdesk fixed my screen and mouse. But the real lesson was this: before reaching out, take a breath and ask, what’s the simplest thing I can try myself?

Because whether it’s a stubborn mouse or a complex business challenge, that small step of practical problem solving is what builds confidence, saves time, and often reveals that the answer was within reach all along.