Here's why "Don't give me problems, give me solutions!" does not work. And what to do instead!

"Don't give me problems, give me solutions!" In this article, I share with you why this statement typically (counter-intuitively?) is the wrong kind of 'Tough Love' and I also give you an alternative, better approach.

"Don't give me problems, just give me solutions!" is a heads-on statement that I often hear Leaders quite proudly give to their team members. It sounds direct, forceful and a bit coach-like. Assuming you use it with good intent, you want to get away from habits of complaining and negativity and move to solution thinking. It sounds like bliss: your team members will always come to you with ready-made fixes for their problems, so you just have to evaluate their solutions.

And now let's look at reality.

Please mind the serious side effects

Unfortunately, this sentence and statement has serious downsides and side effects. One is very obvious. If your team members don’t have a solution yet to the problem they face, they have a strong incentive to keep it to themselves, unless they are eager to get a lecture. There is an obvious and simple fear of getting told this very line ("I TOLD YOU: Bring me SOLUTIONS!") in the face.

People might also hold back as they think their solution is not good enough. The problem then often ‘sits’ around until it becomes urgent and dire…until you have to jump in to firefight anyway.?And of course this will usually happen at the worst moments.

The best teams attack problems early and bring them out in the open, way before issues blow up.

In a culture where it is permissible to share our problem only once we have a solution handy at the same time, we therefore likely end up with more emergencies than less. It is quite an irony: By forcing our team members to only give us 'solutions', with end up with even more urgent problems than before.

And lastly, and more subtly, this thinking also sets an incentive for some people to grab the first 'solution' they come up with and go with it. They may not seek a wider view, just anything that helps. This way, we may exclude other viable options. The name for this tendency is 'availability bias'. It's a common mental shortcut that happens when (faced with a problem) you go with the first idea that pops into your mind just to move on, without digging deeper. It leads to poor overall solutions.

There's a better way to do this!

How can we still invite people to share with us problems BEFORE they blow up AND get their ideas on it? It is simple: we have to make it safer for them to share.

I suggest one possible approach here today for any Leader Coach to ask their team members instead:

“I understand the problem. What is your RECOMMENDATION based on your best judgment at this point in time?”

What are we doing with this question?

1. We show our trust in the team member's resourcefulness.
2. We invite them to share something that does not have to be perfect. A recommendation is a recommendation, not a final 100% solution.
3. We show high expectation towards our team member's THINKING effort and quality, not necessarily the outcome and result.

Here is why it works!

Allowing Imperfection: Insisting on a recommendation instead of a solution allows for imperfection and does not assume a perfect solution is needed. It counters 'availability bias' somewhat as it is understood that we are talking about solutions-in-progress.

Lives a coaching mindset: It shows a living coaching mindset in the Leader who believes that their team members have valuable resources. It is crazy how many people are NEVER asked by their own bosses for their recommendation, just because of an outdated understanding of hierarchical Leadership.

Just think about the impact of that: Asking for your team member's recommendation almost automatically puts you in a powerful 'partnering' mode. Because of this, it is also a very respectful way to respond to a team member.?

Trains Judgement: This approach also trains team members' thinking and judgment and adds just a bit of healthy discomfort, when we expect that they share their recommendation in the face of uncertainty.

A great developmental tool: Observing your team members' recommendations is a great developmental tool, as it gives you first-hand opportunity to observe a team member's quality of thinking, making it easier for you to observe challenges and growth.

Better preparation: Used over time and consistently, it likely helps team members think through their challenges better, before bringing them up to you, without unnecessarily holding back. This can save you lots of time!

It's reasonable! The great thing about this approach is that it is perfectly reasonable to be very firm here as a Leader in terms of insisting on a recommendation or at least opinion. While you can't expect a fully drawn out solution when a problem has just emerged, you can absolutely insist on an opinion and recommendation, given the expertise of the person and the available information. This is why this approach can be such an effective growth tool.?

One important note: This method and question only works, if DELIVERED respectfully and spiced with actual curiosity by the Leader to engage with the response! If you shoot down the recommendation and judge it hard, then this question won't make a difference, and you are ending up in the same place: You make it unsafe for people to share problems.

Pro Coaching Tip: What is a good follow-up question after your team member shared their actual recommendation with you?

“What makes this a good recommendation in your eyes?”

This gently ‘probes’ people’s thinking on their rationale. Or "What makes this work to help us achieve KPI X?", in case you have a specific goal/outcome that you can tie it to. Again, coaching questions are more powerful, when they are customized.

Summary

This article explored the frequent and quite popular Leader statement: "Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions!" I argue that the dominant effect of this statement is not better solutions, but more emergencies, as people hold back sharing about problems that they really should.

As an alternative, I suggest that Leaders ask their team members for a recommendation instead, in a manner that shows curiosity and with active listening. This way, they show trust, and see first-hand the quality of their team member's thinking. They also likely get better recommendations in the long run!

Best, Maik

I am on a mission to give world-class coaching skills to every People Leader. I am the CEO and founder of IntelliCoach.com and run the IntelliCoach Leader Academy Program (ILAP), a world-class online professional coach development program, specifically designed for People Leaders and HR Leaders.

If you are (seriously!) curious to peek into the program, let me know. We offer invite-only complimentary Explorer access to our learning platform with 6h of learning content that you can keep forever! www.intellicoach.com/leader-academy