The Phantom Business Problem

Chasing a problem that turns out to be a ghost might come back to haunt you. 

How many times have you as a leader seen something that appears to be a problem and you immediately mobilize your team to go fix it? It’s scary, it’s nebulous and your intuition says it’s something that needs to be solved. 

Large organizations are particularly challenged with this. There is always a need to innovate and optimize and staying in the same place just isn’t an option. The problem, however, comes when you’re mobilizing your team to solve something that isn’t really a problem. 

You have a lot of motion, but no action… because it’s not clear what the outcome really needs to be. 

Here are some ways I’ve found you can be sure the problem you’re trying to solve is really a thing and not an ominous shadow of what MIGHT be around the corner…

Ask for data - This seems obvious… but it’s actually true that real problems do exist even where hard data doesn’t. The value in ASKING for data is making sure you at least know what you’re working from and you get your stakeholders aligned on what can and cannot be measurably impacted. 

Quantify the impact of not acting - This is more of a risk-based approach, but it may be that by identifying the impact of not acting to be low, you can focus instead on higher-value things where problem statements are better defined (and truly exist)

Push back (ask good questions) - My biggest mistakes have come when I didn’t feel confident in the answer to something, but I was too afraid (intimidated?) to push back. Your leaders and your team need your insight and value your input. If they don’t, you can work to build credibility, ask better questions or ultimately find a new leader.

Problems can be scary. Chasing a problem that isn’t really a problem is actually deadly. 

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