The Problem With Problems

Some years ago, in a graduate class called Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, the professor asked this question: Four frogs are sitting on a log, three decide to jump off. How many are left? I, along with many other students, quickly offered the answer that seemed obvious: one. Wrong, said the professor, gleefully! The answer is four, because deciding to do something and doing it are two different things. Duly noted!

It was during that same class that I learned to think about problems differently. Not all problems are as obvious as they first appear. Some are multi-dimensional, complex and layered. Many cannot be met at the same level at which they are first presented. This is where I learned what I call the “Zoom Concept” which describes the process of “zooming in” (getting the details) and “zooming out” (getting the gestalt; “the big picture”).

I also discovered the difference between difficult problems and unpleasant ones (we kind of know the answer to the unpleasant ones; we characterize them as “difficult” because we just don’t want to deal with the “unpleasantness”).

An especially useful book by Stanford Business School professor Jeffrey Pfeffer titled "The Knowing-Doing Gap" speaks to many of the challenges facing executives. Often, it’s not what we don’t know that holds us back, but what we know but don’t do. One chapter, appropriately titled “How Talk is a Substitute for Action” focuses on this phenomenon.

Problems, opportunities, obstacles and roadblocks are part of organizational life. Why is it that so few organizations overcome the hesitancy in taking actions they know they are required to take? Fear, existing relationships, the quest for still more data points? There are many reasons. A good place to start is to determine the level of organizational courage inside the enterprise. Are senior leaders comfortable with expressing alternate points of view, challenging ideas directly and giving honest, useful feedback? These are cultural issues which, once identified, may be addressed constructively and proactively.

To assess and measure the culture among your senior leadership team, contact me at joe@ajstrategy.com

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