An interesting thing happens when team members grappling with a major decision or opportunity can stare at the problem statement. The many parts or facets of the problem will stand out like flashing lights. Confrontation with a visual of the problem statement serves to keep the team on task and in focus.
IDK if I've shared this story in a previous Field Note...18 years ago, I led an HR Analytics Team. We had a giant two-sided whiteboard on wheels. When a hard problem with no obvious or optimal answer presented itself - someone would write it on one side of the board. Throughout the week, team members would write questions, potential root causes, ideas on the board. Then, first thing Friday mornings we'd all get coffee (one guy only drank expired energy drinks he'd buy at the 99c story - I believe he's still alive) and we'd gather around the white board for an hour trying to solve the problem. Sometimes, we'd figure it out in one session, sometimes we'd struggle through a problem for several weeks. The key was to have the white board in a visible space where we'd see it throughout the day/week.
We took an extra 15 minutes on Twitter to host a discussion that unpacked this one a bit more:
https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1ypJdkDLkjVGW
IDK if I've shared this story in a previous Field Note...18 years ago, I led an HR Analytics Team. We had a giant two-sided whiteboard on wheels. When a hard problem with no obvious or optimal answer presented itself - someone would write it on one side of the board. Throughout the week, team members would write questions, potential root causes, ideas on the board. Then, first thing Friday mornings we'd all get coffee (one guy only drank expired energy drinks he'd buy at the 99c story - I believe he's still alive) and we'd gather around the white board for an hour trying to solve the problem. Sometimes, we'd figure it out in one session, sometimes we'd struggle through a problem for several weeks. The key was to have the white board in a visible space where we'd see it throughout the day/week.
I read all the comments routinely on every one of these - I've not read it before, David... and glad you shared it.
There has to be an analysis of root causes to make a team understand what they need to do.
Absolutely, Art.
They've written about that in other entries here: https://admiredleadership.substack.com/p/admire-the-problem