The adage goes: “A problem well defined is a problem half-solved.” But, how do you go about discovering the real problem?
I was in a strategic planning session today where we were talking about problems facing our ministry. The leader of the time had actually brought a list of 5 or 6 for us to think about, and, as we discussed the problems around the room we discovered that there were problems behind the problems.
Have you experienced that in your leadership? You come to a point where you think you have discovered the problem, but after some thought (and probably getting a second opinion) you discover that the real problem is different.
I am watching the US Open Tennis tournament this week (stay with me, I have a point). The world #1 player is Darina Safina and she was recently ousted. On the surface, you might look at her game and think, “She needs to work on her serve…” or, “She should work on her backhand.” And, if you were her coach, you’d come up with a certain solution. But, what if the real problem is in her mind? What if she doesn’t believe that she can close out a match in a major? Now you have a whole different solution to pursue. See what I mean?
How do you discover the real problems? I think there are probably lots of things you can do, but here’s a couple thoughts:
-You have to keep asking the why question until you think you’ve gotten to the bottom of it.
-You get brutally honest with yourself and with your team. Don’t be afraid to uncover a sacred cow or call a spade a spade.
-Ask “What?” instead of “Who?” I wrote about this in an earlier post. Instead of blaming people, ask, “What in our system, or our way of doing things is causing the problem?”
What do you think? How have you been able to define the real problems facing your ministry or business instead of wasting your time coming up with solutions to problems that aren’t the real issue?
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