Coaching practices for Solve Problem Before Explosion

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Solve Problem Before Explosion, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• Every blow-up hits me like a brand-new emergency and I’m just putting out fires all day
• I keep trying to reason with my kid right in the middle of the meltdown
• Every time I put my foot down and insist, my kid blows up worse
• My kid and I agree on a fix and it sounds great in the moment, but a few days later it’s fallen apart again
• My kid blows up over the same things again and again, and I keep calling it defiance or attitude

Practices that may help

1. Maintain an unsolved problems list
   Write down recurring triggers so they become solvable problems rather than repeated emergencies.
   Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
2. Hold Plan B conversations proactively, not reactively
   Solve the problem before the next explosion, when everyone is calm.
   Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
3. Recognize when Plan A (unilateral imposition) makes things worse
   Adult-imposed solutions can win the battle and lose the war — notice when enforcement is escalating rather than solving.
   Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
4. Evaluate solutions for durability: realistic, mutually satisfying, safe
   A collaborative solution that fails one of three tests — realistic, mutually satisfying, safe — will not hold.
   Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
5. Identify the lagging skill behind the behavior
   Name the cognitive skill the child is missing, not the behavior you want to stop.
   Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
6. Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
   Ross Greene’s Collaborative Problem Solving model holds that kids with explosive behavior lack the cognitive skills to handle frustration and inflexibility — not the motivation. The approach replaces punitive consequences with structured adult–child conversations that build lagging skills over time. Randomized trials in clinical settings show significant reductions in explosive behavior, though most real-world evidence is clinical and observational.
7. Use inversion as the first model in every problem
   Before solving a problem, ask what would guarantee failure — then avoid those things.
   Mental Models: Charlie Munger’s Latticework Approach
8. Run a mental simulation before committing to a course of action
   Before acting on a recognized situation, mentally run through how your intended response plays out.
   Recognition-Primed Decision Making
9. Audit which constraints are real and which are assumed
   List every constraint you’re working under, then test each one for whether it is actually fixed.
   Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First
10. Run a pre-mortem before committing to a plan
    Imagine the plan has already failed and ask what went wrong.
    Confirmation Bias: Seeing What You Expect to See

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.