My dad used to often say to me that moving or doing something new may make me feel better for a little bit, but wasn’t going to resolve my issue as it was part of me so would travel with me.

Problems come in a sorts of shapes and sizes. Being clear on the problem we are trying to solve is vital. Misdiagnose the problem and lots of interesting activity may occur, but the problem will not go away.

In our solution finding work, it’s also important think about very simple metrics that we can monitor or check in on that will tell us if the problem is improving or if our solution is not having any effect. People not submitting reports on time is unlikely to be resolved if we make the reporting process digital if the problem is management not holding people accountable.

Getting it wrong is part of life, which is why it’s super important to separate out our solution from who we are. As we do this we become more willing to acknowledge our diagnosis or our solution was incorrect and then try again. If we identify or connect ourselves, who we are, we our solution, we are slower to acknowledge the misdiagnosis or incorrect solution because it feels like we are needing to acknowledge there is something wrong with us.

I shared a few or my failures in the recent podcast “Things can come from mistakes“.