The first step to solving the right problem is identifying it in the first place. And that’s where most businesses fail. Yet, many companies claim to be “innovative” and “proactive” about decisions.

A 2017 report by Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg for HBR surveyed 106 C-suite executives representing 91 private and public sector companies from 17 countries and discovered that 86% were bad at problem diagnosis. 87% also stated that this flaw carried significant costs. 

Fewer than 1 in 10 stated they were unaffected by problem diagnosis. But that when they struggle its about figuring out what the problems are. 

What are the right problems? 

Naturally, all problems are not created equally . There is no simple way to determine if you are solving the right ones. But then solving the wrong problems leads to wasted time, resources, and frustrations.

Think of notable real-life cases that led to multi-billion dollar losses:

Blockbuster turning down a deal with Netflix because it didn’t think customers would like to have movies delivered. Kodak failed to see how its invention of digital photography would be so disruptive. 

Many leaders focus on the wrong problems because they are not trained to identify them.

As leaders and managers, we are experts at solving problems. But only when these problems are mentioned to us through listening and developing ideas from others. 

 

Justin Berg’s research out of Stanford similarly showed that managers are poor judges of new ideas.

We have limited training in finding and defining which problems are better or more important.

This is because, as managers and leaders, we often tap into our own insights, experiences, and off-course biases to determine which problems to say no to. So, we can become the wrong managerial gatekeepers, preventing ourselves from tapping into new opportunities and revenue streams.

Fortunately, there is a better way to focus on the right issues. Let’s talk about the steps to reframe our approach and outcomes.

Focusing on the wrong problems might be costing your organization more than you realize Share on X

1. Too quick to want to solve “a” problem in the first place 

The first problem we often encounter is our speed and our innate desire to want to solve a problem. 

Supposing you are a manager in charge of a young tech company, supervising expansions. Before you came on board, the young company seemed to be at the forefront of technology. But with the ongoing expansions, there only seemed to be more and more problems. These problems keep occurring in record numbers.

It is more tempting to quickly deal with it than to take the time to evaluate it in relation to the organization’s goals and values. This common problem is caused by the fear of missing out or wanting to be the first to solve a problem.

One day, you are called in to deal with a minor issue that emerged in your company’s product. You and your team realized quickly that this problem seems easily fixable. 

But there’s a slight hitch; the software down for a moment, which may be detrimental to a budding company. So you take this first solution that comes your way, offering a quick band-aid.

A few days later, the same issue reappears, but this time it is more serious due to the rapid ongoing expansion and may take longer to fix. But then it seems like you’ve got it figured out; it’s just a small problem. But then the issue resurfaces again and again, leading to a frustrating cycle, and this time you and your team can’t find the root cause. Meanwhile, another issue is brewing. At the same time, your team is focused on finding easy fixes, competitors are releasing new products and services that outshine your company.

And your customers are beginning to notice. Despite these challenges, you and your team keep pushing forward, determined to fix the software issue and stay ahead of the competition. Yet, it seems the software issue took precedence, and you failed to see the bigger picture and how solving that little software issue truly mattered to your company. 

The solution: figure out why you should be solving that problem

Learning to question your objectives behind solving that problem might be the secret to ensuring that you are solving the right problems. 

Furthermore, what are your company’s goals and priorities? How do they connect  to these problems? 

If these connections aren’t clear enough, then it will be challenging to prioritize the right problems. The lack of clarity might also make it harder to evaluate which external influences you should also focus on, such as what your competitors are doing or what is currently trending in the industry. Of course, we already realize how important it is to keep an eye on the competition and stay-to-update with industry trends.  

But then, too much focus on external influences, and emerging problems without making any connections to our company’s goals or priorities might lead to trying to have numerous solutions to numerous problems at once. 

This can lead to a scattergun approach, where we try to solve too many problems at once, without truly addressing why we are solving them and how they matter to our organization.

4 Critical Steps To Solving the Right Problems And Being More Innovative  Share on X

2. Silos: isolated information and ineffective communication

As a leadership speaker, I’ve discovered that siloed information appears to be at the forefront of every organization, focusing on solving the wrong problems. When there is poor communication within the organization, how can managers identify and understand the real problems that need to be addressed? This deviation fuels the move towards symptomatic decisions. 

Here’s another example: As a young executive manager in charge of a team of sales representatives, you have big plans for the company and initiatives you’ve thought of from your previous position. These problems, are fueled by your previous experiences and insights. might cause you to focus on the wrong problems. So, for instance, you had the big dream of increasing sales by 20% and shared it at a team meeting with your equally excited teammates. However, they now have other information, which you might not at first consider a problem – they have been receiving feedback from customers, and these complaints had been ignored for a long time. 

You are frustrated that, although the sales representatives are excited, they keep failing to meet those sales targets. Perhaps, you consider more aggressive marketing measures only to find that the company continues losing customers and sales continue to decline.

The problem here is that you were so sure of ways to meet those sales targets, but by focusing on the wrong problem and failing to see the bigger picture, trying to solve these wrong problems only created more issues.

This might even prove destructive to the company, especially if your competitors are already taking advantage of those outdated aspects of your product’s features to create new and innovative products.

So by the time, the sales decline becomes quite visible and a reactive decision is made to conduct market research and develop new products, there might still be a significant loss of customers.

 

The solution: Leverage tools that prioritize end-to-end visibility on feedback and data

 

This isn’t just about data from your customers. Data from the salespeople, tech team, support staff, and every one of your people leads to unbiased and unfiltered information from the subject experts. As Rob Silzer rightly says, ” Financial resources may be the lifeblood of a company, but Human resources are the brains. There needs to be more communication between stakeholders and front-line staff. 

 

When you lack access to the right data or don’t use data to make informed decisions, focusing on your biases, personal agendas, or ideas would be your prerogative. 

 

Prioritizing data will equally require leveraging unbiased and authentic information from your teams. Collaborating with everyone on your team to find ideas will help you remain on track with solving the right problems. 

3. Failing to see the bigger picture 

We must also realize that data is only as effective as our ability to see the big picture. Another reason we often focus on the wrong problems is that we tend to prioritize short-term results instead of long-term goals. 

 

Think of Ford’s innovation of the car. If Henry Ford had merely prioritized customer feedback. His metrics and A/B testing would be centered on customers asking for faster horses, and metrics that point towards different types of hay, water, and horse breeds. 

But how did Henry Ford even come up with the idea of a mechanical device that was entirely different and not, in truth, what we commonly term “innovation,” improving the existing product? Henry Ford sought to reframe the question by saying that customers didn’t want faster horses but a better way to reach their destination faster. 

The solution: reframe the problem

Biases often stand in our way of finding real problems because it often makes more sense to rely on our existing skills, experience, and knowledge to figure out problems; this is thus our greatest limitation. And even if we shared these biased problems, it would be with other executives, company leaders, or even “expert” consultants who would equally share and approve them instead of questioning them. 

As echoed by Thomas Wedell-Wedellborg, take the unconventional path to question your problem and figure out if there is a better problem you should be solving.  To do this, you need to seek out fresher ideas and insights from other people who are not directly involved in decision-making. 

Think about new team members, old secretaries, and interns. All these are individuals who are not often directly connected with decision-making and whose career advancements are not directly linked to the ideas they offer. 

 

Allow them to challenge the status quo, reinterpret data, and come up with new ideas you wouldn’t think of. Do realize that you aren’t expecting solutions from them but merely more ideas or their perspective on the problems you seem to want to solve. 

And when they have these ideas to share, let them write down their own perspectives on their ideas.  When they write their definitions or descriptions down, it allows you to tap into more detailed insights on why they’ve brought those perspectives to the limelight. 

You may not be short on ideas but you might certainly be short on ideas you should prioritize, seek unconventional ways to find those real problems that matter to your business growth Share on X

Final thoughts 

Solving the right problems is vital to the success of any business. Hence as business leaders and managers, we must remain aware of the potential pitfalls of focusing on the wrong problems and actively work to avoid them. The willingness to carefully analyze the problem, staying true to your company’s goals and values, avoiding personal bias, fostering effective feedback and communication, and leveraging data are all important steps to ensure that you are solving the right problems. 

Ultimately, solving the right problems is about creating value for your company. So by focusing on the problems that truly matter, your goal is to make a meaningful impact at every turn.

Love this? Join Penny on the fantastic Positive Productivity Podcast and discover actionable tips to get more done with less stress: https://pennyzenker360.com/positive-productivity-podcast.