What is the problem?

Too often when we try to diagnose why things go wrong, we think we’re identifying the problem, but we’re actually identifying the symptoms of the problem.

Let’s say you’re feeling tired, and you think the problem is you went to bed late last night. That’s not the problem, it’s a symptom of the problem.

Or you have weak sales in your business, and you put it down to the store being quieter than normal. Not a problem, that’s a symptom.

Rushing to get the kids to school? It’s because the kids aren’t getting dressed quickly. Nope, still the symptom.

Very rarely will we land on the actual problem on the first thought. To work out the problem, it helps to keep asking yourself the following questions:

What is the problem?
What is the problem?
What is the problem?

Feeling tired? What is the problem? I went to bed late last night. So what is the problem? I kept watching TV for longer than I normally would (and finished a bottle of wine while doing so). So what is the problem? I couldn’t switch my mind off and needed an escape. So what is the problem? I’m probably obsessing over a project at work that is behind. So what is the problem? I’m lacking the confidence in my team to let go of control. So what is the problem? I probably haven’t communicated the key deadlines to my team as much as I should have.

The exercise is important as it influences the solutions we implement. If we keep identifying symptoms as problems, then the solutions we implement won’t be sustainable, because we’re not solving the underlying problem (even though we think we are, and then wonder why the “problem” keeps occuring).

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