What to Do When the Wrong Solution Looks Like the Right Problem

When you ask leaders about the biggest problems in their departments, they often tell you about a lack of resources. That’s because this is the most immediate pain point for them. However, the real problem is probably downstream somewhere, closer to the end user. That’s not to say more resources wouldn’t solve the problem—in fact, that might be the best solution. However, if we make that assumption too early, we stifle our own creativity and can easily miss opportunities for better, sometimes less costly solutions. Here are a few guiding questions to keep the ideas flowing:

Who is feeling the pain, and what does that look like?

For example, you may realize a certain market segment is under-performing. It’s easy to blame the team serving that segment, but perhaps there are other factors. The most important first step is to identify the initial pain point. Figuring out how your customer’s experience could be better is a good place to start.

Who has the most immediate access to that pain?

Identify employees who have their eyes on the customer experience. Make sure you are regularly asking those employees to share their opinions freely. Then, listen and believe them. It can be easy to dismiss front-line employees. Perhaps, they seem overly negative, or they want solutions that aren’t practical. However, their experience is real, and hearing it is a gift—even if it stings. When we set aside defensiveness and truly listen to understand, we open ourselves to more solutions.

What is the distance between pain and power?

Answering this question can be very uncomfortable because it challenges traditional power structures. More often than not the people close enough to a problem to see it clearly are too far away from the power to solve it. Decisions are often made through the telephone game: Front-line employees see pain points. If you’re lucky they tell their manager and suggest solutions. Maybe the manager tells their supervisor and so on. By the time it gets to anyone with real power, the problem is no longer immediate, and solutions are often watered down and slow-coming. By then, it may no longer be the right solution.

How can we create intentional access points?

You need to cut through silos and subvert hierarchy to get a real conversation going. Here are a few dos and don’ts when creating access:

Don’t

• Rely on anonymous surveys. You may not even know the right questions to ask, and nothing replaces a real conversation.

• Think an “open-door policy” is enough. Employees are busy with their own work, and there are lots of reasons they may not go out of their way to bring an uncomfortable conversation to your doorstep.

• Gate-keep the information necessary to make decisions.

• Thank employees for their input and then end the conversation.

Do

• Ask teams to choose a representative peer (not a supervisor) with whom they have regular, comfortable interactions. Then, give that representative time with decision-making leaders to have conversations about what they are seeing and hearing.

• Include employees from all levels in brainstorming sessions about potential solutions and be open about how the sausage is made. Be transparent about why some solutions are more practical than others. Even when your reasons are not popular with some employees, it’s better to be honest. People know when they are being fed a line.

• Explicitly tell employees how you are using their input to formulate creative solutions and show your genuine gratitude.

To learn more about how Peerstone Consulting can help you clearly identify problems and bring more creativity to your solution process, visit our services page or contact us at info@peerstoneconsulting.com.