Solving Problems is a Bad Idea

Solving problems is a typically American approach. We see the West to be conquered, the space race to be won, the journey as a destination, the problem to be solved. And to be sure, there are problems in your business. But just solving them is at best a short term fix and at worst a recipe for disaster. Here are a few thoughts about why.

Continuous improvement
Great companies don’t become great, or last a long time because they solve problems, meet goals or complete the check list. Great companies know there is no finish line. There is no plateau, no solution. There is continuous improvement. Always getting better. Usually in lots of small, incremental ways. Developing new ideas, most of which are not sexy and seem almost insignificant, but move you constantly – not to a better place but; in a better direction. Toyota knows this, while GM and Ford do not. [Thanks to Andrew Leonard for the link]

Jim Collins has documented this idea in his books, Good to Great and Built to Last. Solving problems gives you a mind set that you can stop when you find the solution. Continuous improvement is a mind set about moving forward a little every day.

Polarity
A polarity is something that looks like a problem – but only if you don’t have a long enough time frame. It’s a polarity because what looks like the solution is better in some ways but actually worse in others. The classic example is the distinction between centralized control and decentralized control within a company. Whichever end of that spectrum you’re on, the other side looks better. Centralization has efficiency but stifles creativity. Decentralization pushes authority down the ranks but at the cost of alignment. Companies with a short-term view point swing from one extreme to the other as soon as they’ve forgotten the bad points of the other side. Barry Johnson explains this distinction and what to do about it in his book Polarity Management.

Don’t just Solve Problems – Prevent Them
I’m not trying to say your business doesn’t have problems. Of course it does. But when you find one, don’t just solve it. Take the next step and prevent it from happening again. That requires finding out the real cause – not just a scapegoat. And then making a change in how you operate. This process often looks too tedious for entrepreneurs who are too busy making things happen to figure out how to make them happen better. But if you make the change, you’ll institutionalize a way of learning from mistakes, and make fewer of them – or at least you’ll make different ones.

Takeaway:

• When you study truly great companies, ones that endure, you realize they get the best results by focusing on the process not the product – on the method, not the outcome. Just solving problems is too short-term for them.