Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: solutions

  • A Solution in Search of a Problem

    It is no secret that we get things backwards once in a while.

    Most common is when we discover a solution in search of a problem.

    Once in a while, an unanticipated solution reveals a “problem” that we didn’t know we had. The iPod and iTunes are good examples. It wasn’t until we had the option of listening to songs in any order we wanted and buying them in any combination we wanted that it occurred to us that the “album” package was severely limiting.

    More commonly we have a brilliant inspiration for a new policy or procedure, gadget or widget, service or organization, but then discover that we are filling a gap no one else perceives or solving a problem no one else is experiencing.

    Government agencies are famously addicted to designing rules, processes, paperwork, and systems that either serve no purpose at all (save justify someone’s departmental budget), or address an instance so peculiar and particular that the cost and burden to the 99.9% for whom that instance does not apply scandalously outweighs the benefit to the isolated few.

    In between the visionary iPod and the short-sighted NLRB dictating in which states a business can and cannot do business while jobs increasingly move to other countries altogether, is where most of us operate… trying to do a good job, make a difference, and add value.

    So three cheers for the creativity, initiative, and energy involved in proposing new ideas!

    Where we want to catch ourselves… What we want to make sure we have considered… What we want to stay laser-focused on… is what problem, real or perceived, our idea is solving.

    A solution without a problem risks being ignored as irrelevant, dismissed as extravagant, or opposed as burdensome.

    How do you communicate your great ideas?

    How well do you identify and explain the problem being addressed and the costs of not addressing it?

    It may be discouraging to discover that you have come upon a solution in search of a problem. But it will be disastrous if you continue to sell, implement, and/or impose your solution without one.

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> What the Dog Saw #8: Million-Dollar Murray

    thought-leadersWhat if the choice were between solving a costly problem and staying true to one’s principles?

    In other words, what if staying true to one’s principles actually perpetuated a situation where complex and intractable social problems were merely soothed without being solved.

    What-the-Dog-SawSuch is the fascinating observation Malcolm Gladwell makes in this week’s chapter about Murray.

    Yes, it is interesting that most of the costs related to homelessness are concentrated in a relatively small number of chronic cases.

    But absolutely spell-binding is the insight that those on both the political right and left cannot hear this fact because it violates their principles at too core a level.

    If the bulk of the costs of homelessness could be eliminated by focusing the aid resources on the few complex and intractable cases, those on the right would object because those people don’t deserve so much help, and those on the left would object because the distribution of aid would not be fair.

    As a result, almost no group of policy-makers or activists will ever choose the route that might actually solve homelessness. Being true to their respective principles will result in aid efforts that actually perpetuate homelessness.

    Ironic, wouldn’t you say? Maybe even tragic. In any case, extremely expensive.

    What was your main take-away from this chapter? Where do you stand on the solution-first versus principles-first spectrum?

    Each week I post my reflections from one chapter of What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. If you are just joining the discussion now, welcome! Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Question of the Week

    What are three recurring problems for which your current “solutions”—for all that they are doing—are not resulting in change?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.