Are you a symptom solver?

Another day of kicking goals, ticking to-do lists and avoiding those back-to-back meetings.?Ah the sweet sound of success.?Or was it??

You probably spent the day dealing with consequence rather than cause. Solving symptoms rather than actual problems.?

The fact is, we are getting so used to solving symptoms, that we may have forgotten how to even diagnose problems, let alone solve them. ?

Take a moment to reflect on the last thing you “solved”.?

Was it a symptom or a problem??Here are a couple of familiar examples.

• Did the tablet really “fix” the headache, or was it the big glass of water?
• To fix the traffic “problem” we need bigger roads, so they can carry more cars, which encourages more road users, which creates more traffic, so we need bigger roads.….

You get the gist. ?And if we are being honest, it’s simply quicker to build another road and enjoy the temporary easing of traffic.?Or easier to take a headache tablet rather than carrying a water bottle around with you.?

How is this related to business and leadership? ?

I recently met with company who has roughly 10% staff turnover.?They have projects running late, unhappy clients and margin leakage.?

They are also sure that it isn't a leadership or engagement problem.?It's simply a matter of getting more people.

Everything will be fine as soon as they have more people “on the tools” and can replace those annoying people that keep leaving.?Afterall, simple solutions are the best, and the new people will be better than the previous ones.

Sound familiar??Is this an example of problem solving or symptom solving??

So if we know that this is sympton solving, why do we default to this mechanism of triage rather than diagnosis.

We are wired this way.

We seek instant gratification and avoid uncertainty. ?

Doing something now, creates a sense of accomplishment.?It’s gratifying.?It demonstrates action and creates momentum.?We also tend to avoid uncertainty and have difficulty controlling mood and emotion for long durations.?This makes it hard to implement solutions that require longer time frames. ?

We lack the required imagination to see alternative possible futures

Without being able to imagine, define and communicate an alternative future, it is impossible to develop the complex solutions that would be required.?Ie. What would it be like without cars??What are the challenges, and how could we address them?

Triage is a necessary evil.

We must still bail out the boat while we find the leak.?The risk is that we get so busy bailing that forget about the leak.

These factors (among many others) compel us to act quickly and do something that will produce near term results.?We often select, a tried and tested solution because it offers certainty, low effort, and a quick result.?

Even when we know it’s a poor solution, it still is likely to get implemented because the urgency creates a present-focussed state of mind, which tends to ignore past learnings and disregard future impact.?

We interpret instant gratification and results as a positive thing.

Are you reading this article on your mobile device??That ever-present mobile device providing instant answers, quickest routes, closest locations, and a never-ending range of shopping options. ?Combine it with the fear of missing out plus savvy marketing and we are continuously being bombarded with stimulus that encourages us to act on impulse. ?The Nike swoosh encourages us to just do it.?It doesn’t say, be patient and play the long game. ?Amazon delivers same day, before we can regret that latest impulse purchase.

Back to our business example

The business has 10% turnover, projects are late, clients are unhappy, and margins are getting thinner.?The boss demands a solution right now.?At that point, we have already entered the solution solving paradigm.?With our fallable human nature calling the shots, we reach for the quick solution and go with recruitment.?

The boss has got her solution, the need for instant gratification is met, and we can worry about the actual problem some other time.

Hurray for another symptom solved.

We also solve symptoms because it temporarily alleviates the discomfort caused by the problem and keeps us distracted with the busyness of implementing the quick fix plan.?

So now we know – let’s solve some problems.

Unfortunately, solving problems, or eliminating causes, is actual very difficult.?As noted early, we are not naturally wired that way.?Many industries rely on tools and processes such as Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Incident Cause Analysis Method (ICAM) to facilitate investigations rather than rely on human nature.

Also, the more time we spend solving symptoms and taking the quick “win”, the worse we get at solving problems.?It reinforces the brains need for instant gratification, and we miss out on opportunities for deep analytical thinking.?We also limit our exposure and ability to cope with the emotional strain that comes from uncertainty, duration, and the pressure to deliver.?

But all is not lost.?Awareness is the first step.?

So, the next time you are confronted with a problem, take a step back and ask if it is really a problem. It is most likely is a symptom.

• Drink more water or take a headache tablet?
• Less cars or more roads?
• Better people leadership and engagement or another recruitment drive?

If we ask better questions and take the time to uncover the real problems, we may just find real solutions and the symptoms will be solved in the process.

__________________________________________________________

David Bainbrigge is a passionate, people centric leadership expert, business executive and career coach with 20+ years of experience. He has qualifications in engineering, business, leadership and is a skilled advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He has held management, leadership and executive roles spanning multiple industries, businesses, and team sizes.