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Solutions 21 Weekly Insights
If you can only read one thing this week...
Slaying dragons
by Rob Salome | Posted on November 29th, 2017
Have you ever set out on a conquest to solve a huge problem your organization faces, certain that you have a solution nailed? You gain buy-in from your team and, with confidence in your analysis, the organization commits time and resources to solve the problem. Things go well — given that you have a good idea of the solution to your problem — and everyone is equally enthusiastic. After all, everyone enjoys solving problems! Implementation takes place and everything is on track to make this solution work.
After a month or so, everyone is asking for your thoughts on how things are going, along with your assessment of how long it will take to solve the problem. You remain confident in the solution you’ve implemented — all aspects of it are working perfectly — but the problem is not going away. As a matter of fact, more problems seem to emerge as your interaction with the multiple aspects of the issues unfold. There seems to be a lot more complexity than you originally thought, and soon your organization is spending time solving new problems that have emerged since you started and the original problem hasn’t been resolved.
Your boss calls a meeting and asks for an update. Management is concerned that there are a lot of resources being expended to solve unanticipated problems. He wants your assessment. You spend some time discussing the project, the successful implementation of the solutions you identified, and the many new problems that have emerged. When you get to the end of the update, your boss asks you, “Isn’t a lot of this above and beyond the original problem we set out to solve?”
Identifying the right problem is one of the hardest challenges any team faces. Read the rest at the Solutions 21 Blog >
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- What A Leader Really Looks Like
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Why you should read it: Because this "common blind spot for leaders" is the "No. 1 reason people leave their jobs." And while you no doubt feel this for your team, "predictably there is a gap between how much your team feels [this] and how much you feel that you [show] them."
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