Stop Symptom-Chasing
Every business faces problems, challenges and glitches at one time or another. No sooner is one issue solved than another pops up like a game of whack-a-mole. Drawing from research by business schools and think tanks, here are some of the most common problems businesses face. They can be grouped into three main areas:
Strategic Challenges
- Defining a clear vision and direction. Many businesses struggle to set and communicate a strong vision and mission. This leads to confusion about goals and priorities. (INTERNAL)
- Adapting to a changing market. Keeping up with evolving customer needs, economic shifts, and technological advancements can be a constant challenge. (EXTERNAL)
- Handling competition. In most industries, businesses face fierce competition. This requires constant innovation and strategic differentiation. (EXTERNAL)
Customer and Sales Challenges
- Attracting and retaining customers. Finding new customers and keeping existing ones loyal is a core challenge for all businesses. Many see this as a sales and marketing challenge, but it is often a customer service issue. (INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL)
- Meeting customer expectations. Customer expectations are constantly rising and changing. This can make it harder to deliver exceptional service and value. This may seem like an external issue, but actually it is an internal one that businesses fail to recognize. (INTERNAL)
Operational Challenges
- Recruiting and retaining top talent. Finding and keeping skilled employees is crucial for success, but it can be a major challenge in a competitive job market. (INTERNAL)
- Managing workflow and productivity. Businesses need efficient systems and processes to get things done and maximize employee output. At times, these processes and systems work hand-in-hand with vendors. (INTERNAL and EXTERNAL)
- Effective communication. Poor communication between employees and departments can lead to confusion, errors, and missed opportunities. (INTERNAL)
- Financial management. Businesses need to manage cash flow, secure funding, and make sound financial decisions to stay afloat. Money serves as a lubricant to keep the wheels turning. While management of finances is an internal issue, the economy also plays a huge role in how much funding is available. (INTERNAL and EXTERNAL)
- Technology glitches. From cybersecurity threats to outdated systems and even implementation of updates, technology problems can disrupt operations and hinder growth. (INTERNAL and EXTERNAL)
These challenges consistently rank among the most common hurdles businesses face. But even knowing that these are the most common areas of trouble, it can still be difficult to diagnose a specific problem.
Distinguishing Between Cause and Symptom
Accurately diagnosing a business problem is crucial for crafting effective solutions. But leaders cannot fix problems if they don’t know the root cause. That’s true of any type of problem, from health and fitness to finances, relationships or business.
Rather than solve the actual problem, we tend to address the indicators. For example, when it comes to health, there’s a medical phenomenon known as “referred pain.” It’s when a person experiences pain in a part of the body different from the actual source or cause of the pain. Pain in the elbow, for example, is often caused by a pinched nerve in the shoulder. The pain in the shoulder is being “referred” to the elbow. This also happens with Sciatica. Sciatica pain is a nerve pain that originates in the spine and radiates down the back of one leg. The pain can feel like a mild ache, sharp burn, jolt, or electric shock, and can be almost anywhere along the nerve pathway, but it’s most likely to follow a path from the lower back, down the body, to the upper and lower leg. So, if a patient is complaining about pain in their lower leg, how does a doctor know if the issue is a pulled muscle or sciatica?
A poor diagnostician might suggest analgesics and cold compresses to reduce pain and inflammation in the hopes that that solves the problem. But a good diagnostician will take a medical history and review medications. That healthcare professional will also perform physical and neurological exams. The exam may include checking strength and range of movement, and asking patients to perform certain movements, such as walking on their toes, rising from a squat, or lifting legs while lying on their back. The exam may also help identify other issues, such as weakness when bending the knee, difficulty bending the foot, or abnormal reflexes. This will help rule out a pulled muscle and identify the root cause of the pain.
Just as in physical health, career and business problems have an annoying way of putting out a host of symptoms that could be mistaken as the actual problem rather than been seen as indicators of the real issue. And the consequences can be far worse than leg pain.
Case in point. US professional snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder. But, at one point, his career faced a big problem. After winning back-to-back Gold Medals at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, Shaun White was the favorite to win Gold at the 2014 games in Sochi. But…White didn’t even podium. Before his final run, White said he knew he was going to lose. He finished 4th.
After that disappointing performance, White tried to figure out what he did wrong. First, he assessed his physical ability. The qualifying runs took place four and a half hours before the Olympic finals. In those qualifiers, White scored a 95.75, which turned out to be the highest score of the night. “I had the winning cards,” as White put it. “I just couldn’t put them down when it mattered most.” White realized that “It had nothing to do with snowboarding”. “It wasn’t physical,” he said. “It was mental.” He was overly focused on winning, on the medal, on the external expectations. As a result, White said, “My mind was not in a good place.”
White picked apart his personal life away from the snow. He drilled down on the things that were upsetting him. He looked at how he was portrayed online and in ads. He thought about whether he liked who he was working with. He asked himself when he had last spoken to his brother and when he had last hung out with his friends. He considered when he had last exercised for himself, not for training. The answers were not good. Those were the things he started to change in his life.
None of the changes had anything to do with snowboarding. After Sochi, White started working out regularly, not for the physical benefits, but because he knew that after a good work out, he was happier. He deleted most of the photos on his social media pages because he no longer liked all the old photos of him with long hair. He reconnected with his brother. He prioritized spending time with his friends. He made changes that made him a more complete, happier person. He fixed his personal life. When he went back to snowboarding, he was just a happier guy on the snowboard, and that made all the difference.
By the 2018 Olympics, it was a repeat of the moment at the previous Olympics in Sochi. Just as in 2014, at the 2018 games in PyeongChang, it came down to White’s final run. However, that time, at the top of the pipe, he had the complete opposite feeling. He had an overwhelming confidence that he was about to win… and he did. White scored a 97.75, one of the best runs of his life and was able to reclaim the Gold. He didn’t focus on fixing what seemed like the problem but was actually a symptom: his career. What he fixed was the root of the problem: his personal life.
Finding the Root Cause
To identify the root cause of a business problem, Harvard Business Review suggested the following diagnostic steps:
1. Identify the “What” and the “Why”
Define the problem clearly. Be specific. Is the issue declining sales, low employee morale, or high production costs? Is the problem high turnover, weak customer support, or poor quality product/service? Don’t confuse symptoms with causes. Low sales might be a symptom of a marketing issue (the “why”), not the core problem itself. Poorly performing marketing, in turn, might be a symptom of poor budgeting or weak creative campaigns.
2. Gather Evidence. Don’t Jump to Conclusions.
Rely on factual information, not assumptions. That’s where data is key. Sales figures, customer feedback, employee surveys, and industry reports are all valuable tools.
Seek Multiple Perspectives. Speak to employees across departments, customers, vendors, and industry experts. This helps avoid confirmation bias and provides a more well-rounded view.
3. Drill down to the Root Cause
Consider External Factors. Are there industry trends, economic changes, or competitor actions impacting the business?
Consider Internal Factors. Are constant changes in staffing interfering with continuity of product or service quality? Have changes or updates in technology or automation impacted efficiency or effectiveness?
Ask a lot of questions. Based on evidence, brainstorm what might be causing the problem. Develop a hypothesis. Then, dig deeper. Don’t settle for surface-level explanations. Ask “why” multiple times to uncover the underlying cause. Multiple root causes might be a possibility.
4. Prioritize and Validate
Rank the root causes. Identify the most likely culprit based on the evidence. Then test the hypothesis. Conduct further research, experiments, or focus groups to validate the root cause theory.
Be careful to avoid symptom-chasing. This is a common pitfall: treating symptoms instead of the root cause. Look beyond immediate issues. Don’t jump to solutions based on the first problem identified. Explore how it might be connected to larger systemic issues. To do that, track trends over time. Sudden changes might be symptoms, while persistent issues are more likely to be root causes. Also, consider the bigger picture. How does the problem fit into the overall context of the business and its goals?
By following these steps and remaining vigilant against symptom-chasing, it is possible to effectively diagnose a root cause and then begin the process of crafting a solution that address the core issues for sustainable success. Next week, we will dive into the process of fixing a problem and ensuring it doesn’t pop up again. Stay tuned.
Quote of the Week
“A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved.” Charles F. Kettering
© 2024, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.
The post Diagnosing and Fixing Challenges at Work, Part 1 first appeared on Monday Mornings with Madison.