t’s an understatement to suggest this is a time for creative problem-solving in our organizations. Everything about how and where and when we work is being challenged along with how we engage and serve our customers in the marketplace.
Too often, we react to symptoms or throw solutions at poorly defined problems. The failure to get to the root cause and underlying assumptions behind something that seems to be a problem results in half-measures and new, resultant problems. Consider this Hall-of-Fame list of cures that were targeted squarely at symptoms:
A Few Horribly Misdiagnosed Problems:
Our strategy is great! We have a sales problem.
Our marketing is great! We have a sales problem.
We don’t have a strategy problem. We have a profit problem. (Sears CEO….Sears was once the world’s largest retailer.)
Our customer service numbers are heading in the wrong direction—we need to restructure the area. (Every dumb executive who views restructuring as the first step of solving a bigger problem.)
Our business is losing ground to the competition—we need to reorganize. (Same dumb executives as above.)
Our competitors are eating our lunch. Our product team has missed the mark.
The project team can’t get out of first gear—we need to change the project manager.
We won’t compete in the low-end of the market—there’s no margin in it. (Within two years, the low-end ate the market.)
He misfired on that hire—I’m not sure we should continue to invest in his development as a manager. (He’s a CEO now.)
I know she was a first-time manager, but she’s failing, and it’s time to replace her. (She’s running a business unit in a major tech company.)
Should I keep going?
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