Are You Solving the Right Problems?
When the bathroom sink has sprung a leak, you might search for rags to mop up the collecting water. That’s a good place to start.
But when the rags are sodden, the next step should not be to find more rags. The leak needs to be addressed. We often see leaders in the grips of metaphorical ‘rag’ problems… “we need more rags” or “we need more meetings” or “we need to sell more”. When the truth is, we have to address the leak.
Chaotic, stressful situations make it difficult to understanding the entirety of the problem. So we must steady ourselves, take a breath, work to understand the problem fully, identify the source of the leak and then begin solving.
After all, you cannot simultaneously run for new rags and plug the leak.
Blockbuster Video opened in 1985, operated more than 1,000 stores by 1992, and sold to Viacom in 1994 for $8.4 billion. By the year 2000, Netflix had established itself as a real competitor. At first Blockbuster was trying to maintain growth numbers. Then they were trying to break even. Then they were trying to keep their heads above water. By 2005 they lost more than 75% of their market value, (Olito and Bitter, 2023).
It is suggested that their rigidity was ultimately their downfall. That’s true. They had an opportunity to purchase the then three-year-old Netflix in 2000 for $50 million but decided to stick with what had worked for them in the past. Worth noting that their rigidity was influenced by an inability to slow down amid the chaos of an evolving industry. They clung to the business model they understood, putting a fantastic degree of well-intentioned effort into renting more videos. They were perfecting the art of collecting rags to mop up the water while the leak went unaddressed.
The People Problem
This can happen in small ways as well. We have seen countless workplace relationships splinter due to focus on action despite insufficient understanding.
Business is changing. We are no longer turning lathes in precision parts factories, the assembly-line approach to productivity is long gone… it always people who bring an organization’s ideas to life. And people can be complicated.
In hopes of increasing productivity, a leader’s instinct might be to push harder, to hold his employees more accountable, to monitor screen time and drive the work forward with a heavy hand. What that leader might not realize is that the underperformance of top talent is not always due to lack of oversight or professional accountability.
For example, most if not all the early career professionals we have worked with identify some version of imposter syndrome. We have all heard of this phenomenon. It is understandable and, more often than not, fleeting. The best way to overcome imposter syndrome is to get in the arena, get your hands dirty, avoid perfectionism, get to the other side of the challenge, record successful processes, and hold on to the empowerment that comes with it (Abramson, 2021). Fear dissolves alongside a track record of success. With enough success, that person will undoubtedly take on new challenges, perhaps even receive a promotion, which is fantastic news! Except for the fact that the imposter syndrome can creep back in as they step into the new role…
The secret ingredient to this process is support (Corkindale, 2008). When that employee is supported, they can rinse and repeat within new roles and professional challenges.
But if they falter along the way, which is unavoidable to some degree, leadership can derail their growth if they do not fully understand what is occurring. Some employees will thrive in the presence of intense accountability. Some will not. The role of the leader in this case is not to judge, but to understand what motivates their talented employee.
An employee with imposter syndrome might only need to hear, “you’re not there yet, but I believe in you.”
From a performance perspective, working to understand an employee’s motives is far superior (and more cost-effective) than pushing too hard, defaulting to old habits, and burning out that employee.
Retention is generally preferred to firing, recruiting, rehiring, and training a new employee. And yet, this skill of understanding people is routinely overlooked.
Often, we see CEOs who can unbraid a complicated marketplace and create intricate plans for business expansion, but are blind to the complexity of the human condition. They would rather hammer an employee for not meeting quota than step up to the challenge of discovering why the quota was not met.
Keys to Solving the Right Problem
The level of a leader’s frustration is often dictated by the distance between expectation and outcome. The larger the gap, the more frustrations tend to rise. When you walk into a flooded bathroom, this is likely unavoidable. Put yourself in position to solve the right problem.
First, Meet Frustration with Curiosity. When you feel your temperature rising, unhappy with what you’re seeing, wanting (needing) more from your employees, start with questions. Work to understand your people and get curious about the gaps between expectations and outcomes. Don’t assume. Asking questions – with genuine curiosity – will always get you closer to ‘plugging the leak’.
Relax. Why are you getting so heated? Meet your frustration with personal curiosity as well. Is it really the situation around you, the behavior of others that has you worked up? It might be. But get curious with yourself first, while being patience and honest. Don’t let a crummy night of sleep or a stressful day hinder a workplace relationship. Take a breath. Reflect. Check out the lower levels of the High Order Performance framework and see if anything is missing or can be improved. It is difficult to make effective decisions when you are overly activated. Relax and slow down, if only to solve the right problem… then you can hit the gas again.
Support and Develop. Support your people. That might be all they need to close a performance gap. If they are struggling with work projects despite their talent, accountability is great when it is grounded in support. And if they don’t quite have what it takes to solve the problems at hand, consider some additional professional development to get them where they need to go. If they are untalented, underperforming, and unwilling to grow, they are not your people – if you hire well, that is rarely the likeliest outcome.
Leaders, invest in your people and your business – they are one in the same. Whether it is on a grand, company strategy scale, or on an individual, relationship level, slow down. Stop searching for rags and plug the leak.
Slowing down is hard for the exceptionally driven. Think of it more as intentional pacing. Get steady, work to understand, identify what’s really happening. Slow down just enough to fully understand, so you can confidently go fast in the right direction.
References
Abramson, A. (2021). How to overcome impostor phenomenon. Monitor on Psychology, 52(4). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/06/cover-impostor-phenomenon
Corkindale, G. (2008). Overcoming Imposter Syndrome. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2008/05/overcoming-imposter-syndrome
Davis, J. (2023). Using the High Order Performance Framework for Effective Leadership. Journal of Character and Leadership Development, 10(3), 77–84.
Olito, F. and Bitter, A. (2023). Blockbuster: The rise and fall of the movie rental store, and what happened to the brand. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-of-blockbuster