Buried treasure
Problems are like buried treasure.
Photo, Courtesy of DogFromSPACE
I was reading a very politically-correct article the other day in which the author suggested, “let’s focus on solutions, not problems.� It suddenly struck me that this is part of the reason for our country’s lack of achievement in innovation. We are afraid to focus on problems. In our culture, the word “problem� conjures up emotions of fear, anxiety, and panic. For myself, on the other hand, there is nothing more exciting than facing a difficult problem. Why? Problems point us in the direction of hidden opportunities. They are the “X� that marks the spot where the hidden “treasures� of your business are buried. If you choose to ignore them, you spend a lot of time (and money) “digging� for treasures that you’ll never find.
In business, the great thing about problems is that if you have them, chances are good that your competition does as well. For those companies that are willing to focus on these problems and take the time to clearly define the issues, innovative solutions will follow. These are the “buried treasures�, the hidden business opportunities that are available for companies that are willing to invest the time and effort to discover them. These innovations will help your company improve its market share and increase its margins. So don’t shy away from problems and ignore them out of fear or anxiety. Focus on your problems, they mark where the treasures lie. If you don’t dig them up, chances are good that your competition will.
Tim Burke, President, M. Eng., P. Eng., co-founded Quark Engineering and Development Inc. in Halifax, Nova Scotia, motivated by his passion for R&D and his enjoyment working collaboratively with companies to improve their margins and customer satisfaction through innovation. He is also a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia.
The above response is a very interesting observation, especially as I have seen the opposite when applied to the healthcare setting. As a former front line health care provider and nurse manager, I have seen far too much of identifying problems, possibly studying them to death and then (possibly) applying an extremely poor solution process that is never assessed for effectiveness. I have experienced a tremendous amount of “analysis paralysis” and discussion, up to an including new and improved conceptual frameworks that analyze the analysis process. Now that I am in the private sector and visit other sites , I have found that this problem is endemic in the industry. One look at research grants reveals a culture that treasures identifying problems, but very little in assessing what to do with this information and how it applies to the status quo.
Many years ago, private corporations realized that the solutions are not exercised in the boardroom, and that the most successful companies have the fewest group meetings. Looking for problems and even openly discussing failures is a laudable trait in successful orgainizations. Its the failure to pick a target, implement a proposed solution and re-assess the same problem afterwards that creates stagnation and worker dissatisfaction.
Posted by: Ted Reesor, RRT on August 23rd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Both excellent comments, seemingly saying contradictory things against which it is very difficult to argue, having experienced both situations. Here’s my take on why these opposing arguments are indeed two sides of the same coin.
In Tim’s case he is referring to situations where companies continue to operate based on the status quo despite an elephant staring at them from across the room. Their fear is that dealing with the elephant might reveal a herd, so everyone just pretends they don’t see it. The problem is that eventually the herd (it is always there, the fear is justified) will rear it’s head and stampede - it’s best to know when and have the path cleared out for them, and hope that behind them is the buried treasure.
In Ted’s case everyone sees the elephant and talks about it, complains about the space it takes up, and laments the fact that nobody is willing to take it back to the zoo. These people may even recognize that there’s treasure buried under that elephant, but they want only the reward, not the risk associated with digging it up. So they might hide in a tree and shoot off a flare in the hopes of scaring the elephant away, but really they have no way of directing its flight nor of ensuring it doesn’t just come right back.
It’s my view that these situations are actually very strongly related. One of the greatest skills I have observed in successful people is the ability to identify not just a problem, but also the right question - something like “Why is there an elephant in the room to begin with?” Simply moving the elephant aside and cleaning up the mess is rarely sufficient. A legitimate ’solution’ is to find out what brought it there, and how to prevent it from happening again. In fact by asking the right question you stand to discover tremendous opportunity, not just from fixing a problem but from improving an entire operation - that’s the real buried treasure, as Tim points out.
People that ask the right question often seem to have an uncanny ability to think through the whole process for arriving at a solution as well. Any organisation that truly has the desire to be successful will find a way to breed that sort of questioning and reward creative and thorough solutions, as Ted says. In fact the greatest success is to be found by asking questions when there is no elephant in sight - if your organisation can develop the ability to continually question and thoroughly respond, with full freedom afforded to the range of ‘allowable’ solutions, your long-term success is all but guaranteed. Questioning is the foundation for innovation, which is the trigger for solutions. So don’t be led by ’solutions’ - develop better ones by questioning and innovating.
Posted by: Mike @ MaRS on August 24th, 2007 at 2:16 pm